Seventeen-year-old Mia Brookes stunned in Women’s Snowboard Streetstyle, the first final of Dew Tour Copper Mountain 2024, with a commanding performance from the outset.
Brookes’ Dew Tour 2024 win, in her first appearance, adds to a growing stack of snowboard achievements for the young British rider that also includes X Games Aspen 2024 slopestyle gold and the 2023 FIS World Championships slopestyle title.
“I’ve always wanted to win these big contests I grew up watching and it’s been an incredible year, starting with the World Champs a year ago, then X Games, and now Dew Tour,” Brookes said after the podium presentation. “It feels so good to be setting these really big goals for myself and knocking them down one after another. This one is extra special to me because I grew up riding rails—I just love riding rails!—and I’ve always loved this Streetstyle format, where it’s a real battle to get through to the finish.”
In Round 1, Heat 3, Brookes’ opening run––switch boardslide switch-up to frontside boardslide to fakie, half-Cab frontside boardslide from the shipping container gap, blunt 270 down the waterfall and rail, and frontside boardslide pretzel 270 on the down rail––earned a score of 94.33. It ended up being the highest from all three Round 1 heats.
In Run 3 of the same heat, Brookes upgraded the first trick of her line to a switch boardslide switch-up to frontside boardslide 270 out; that trick ended up taking the night’s Best Trick honors.
“I didn’t realize I’d won Best Trick until the podium presentation when they handed it to me,” Brookes said. “It’s a tremendous honor and a great bonus to my first Dew Tour experience.”
Veda Hallen also advanced out of Heat 3, leaving Kaleah Opal and Grace Warner out of the Round 2 head-to-head matchups.
From Heat 1, Jaylen Hanson and Madison Blackley earned the top scores, beating out Egan Wint and Sierra Forchheimer. And from Heat 2, Iris Pham and Lex Hernandez-Roland advanced, leaving Desiree Melancon and Ellie Weiler behind.
In the Round 2 duels, scored on overall impression of two runs, Lex Hernandez-Roland handily dispatched Jaylen Hanson after Hanson crashed in her first run, Hallen similarly beat Pham after Pham crashed on her final rail trick in Run 2, and Mia Brookes posted the highest score of the night, a nearly unbeatable 97.00, to trounce Madison Blackley.
For the Final round, a three-rider showdown scored on the best of two runs, Brookes dominated from the start, but judges liked her Run3 victory lap best. Brookes opened Run 3 with 50-50 to fakie, switch boardslide switch-up to frontside boardslide 270, frontside 180 to cab 270 on the roof gap, blunt 270, and frontside boardslide.
Lex Hernandez-Roland took 2nd, just barely beating out 3rd place finisher Veda Hallen with a Run 3 pass in the Final round that included a switch frontside boardslide, half-Cab 50-50, 50-50 gap to 50-50 to frontside 180 out, and a switch 50-50 to Cab 360 out.
It’s Hernandez-Roland’s third Dew Tour podium, after winning Streetstyle in both 2023 and 2021, and their first contest after breaking their right collarbone in January 2024.
“I’m beyond stoked,” Hernandez-Roland said. “I came in really nervous, feeling very unprepared, but I’m stoked that I was able to make it as far as I did.”
Dew Tour judges deliberated more about the 2nd and 3rd place finishers than any other runs of the night: Veda Hallen’s Run 2 pass was also strong, with a lipslide, 50-50, half-Cab frontside boardslide, gap to lipslide on the clacker rail, and blunt 270 out from the down rail. While Mia Brookes was way out in front, winning by 13 points, just 3.33 points separated 2nd and 3rd place.
Dew Tour 2024 Women’s Snowboard Streetstyle Final Results:
1. Mia Brookes (GBR) Run 2: 97.33
2. Lex Hernandez-Roland (USA) Run 2: 84.33
3. Veda Hallen (USA) Run 2: 81.00
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