Canadian snowboarder Liam Brearley impressed in all three rounds of the 2024 Men’s Snowboard Streetstyle Final on his way to his first Dew Tour win, beginning from Run 1 of Heat 1. His frontside boardslide 360 gap to frontside boardslide in that run ended up taking U.S. Air Force Best Trick honors for the entire contest and helped him bump defending 2023 Streetstyle champ Nate Haust out of the contest early, the first of several surprises.
“Basically, I just wanted to put down a line from the start,” Brearley says. “That very first run gave me a lot of confidence to build on and everything after that was working: I was landing consistently and just kept moving on. I’m stoked that it worked and the judges liked it.”
Next, Brearley won his head-to-head duel with Pat Fava in the Semifinal round, another upset, to advance to the three-man Final round against Luke Winkelmann and Darcy Sharpe.
He had the only score in the 90s from the Final round for his Run 1 pass: Switch boardslide switch up to frontside boardslide, frontside 270, frontside boardslide 360 gap to frontboard to fakie, switch backside 270 down the clacker rail, and Cab 270 to frontside boardslide 270 at the bottom.
It’s been a breakthrough year for Brearley, who had never won a major pro contest prior to 2024. He won his first FIS World Cup event in January at the Laax Open in Switzerland, then won Knuckle Huck at X Games Aspen 2024, also in January.
“I’ve been doing a lot of training in the past few years which may have helped with some of that,” Brearley says. “I’m honored to be getting the invites to these big contests now and getting some wins is helping my career so much. I’m really thankful for that, and to be sharing a podium with guys like Luke and Darcy who I look up to so much, and all these street riders whose video parts I love watching.”
Winkelmann also started strong, winning his Round 1, Heat 2 group and advancing along with Benny Milam, then defeating Joey Fava in the Semifinal duels.
“I always love the head-to-head aspect in these kinds of contests,” Winkelmann says. “We don’t get to do that much in snowboarding but it makes it fun! The head-to-head was my favorite part, for sure.”
Winkelmann, who won the Dew Tour Streetstyle event in 2021, says he’s been learning to control his nerves and just enjoy the moment, especially at Dew Tour, where the party vibes suit him.
“I’ve learned I do best when I’m just keeping it cruisey with no expectations, no pressure,” Winkelmann says. “This is a contest where everyone coming in is as good as anyone else, so you can’t be too hard on yourself for anything less than the win. I’m hyped for sure to be back on the podium.”
Darcy Sharpe won his Round 1, Heat 3 group, advancing with Joey Fava and knocking Frank Jobin and Nik Baden out early. He then faced Benny Milam in the duels
“It’s stressful! We haven’t had head-to-head format in snowboard contests for a long time and it’s just a whole ‘nother stress because you have to win every round,” Sharpe says. “It’s not like you’re just trying to qualify top-10 and you’re in the Final: you have to try to win every round to keep moving on.”
In his duel, he matched up with the one person he most feared facing.
“Last time I talked to you, on that first night of practice, I said Benny Milam was the standout, and then I got paired with him in the head-to-head Semifinals. Like, ‘Oh, Damn, I’m gonna have to really be on it.’ I was hyped to make it through that round and hyped to ride with this whole crew.”
Sharpe had one of the most innovative tricks of the night, opening one of his Final runs and several earlier runs with a half-Cab layback double hand drag 360 on a tall wallride feature that analyst Todd Richards was calling “Darcy slide.”
“If that sticks, I’ll be hyped!” Sharpe says. “I was just trying to bring some style and keep it fun. Thank you to all the people who organize this. I hope that the event lives on, because I know all the riders really enjoy it and I know that the whole crowd really enjoys it, and I think it’s good for snowboarding. So thank you for all the years it’s been going on and hopefully many more.”
Dew Tour 2024 Men’s Snowboard Streetstyle Final Results
1. Liam Brearley (CAN) 90.33
2. Luke Winkelmann (USA) 88.66
3. Darcy Sharpe (CAN) 86.33
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