The final day of the Dew Tour Copper was all about creativity in the Men’s Snowboard Toyota Modified Superpipe. The roster was stacked with ten of the most talented snowboarders from around the world, each rider took three runs down the one-of-a-kind superpipe.
The technicality and ingenuity took an incredible jump, especially in regards to the lines taken compared to what we saw when the Team Challenge took place Thursday. An increased number of riders pushing one another upped the ante, as well.
Opening up the contest was the familiar face of a five-time Dew Tour champion, Louie Vito. Absent from the event in recent years, Vito showed off a perfectly stomped run on his first go that included a frontside double cork 900 off the shark fin before hitting the pipe with a cab double cork 1080 to set up for a roast beef crippler.
Another five-time Dew Tour champion, Danny Davis came to throw down a fun run to watch. Davis’ final was a total switch up from his first two runs, and after tossing an alley-oop rodeo over the channel he literally did a switch up across the flat-bottom of the pipe to set up for a double cork 900 of his own off the shark fin before cranking out crippler, his classic tweak on a McTwist before wowing everyone with a tail grab 1260 attempt. The slip out at the end didn’t earn him the score he needed, but it definitely earned him an explosion of cheers from the fans.
“I’m just having fun,” said Davis between runs. “There are only ten of us. That is always nice, not having to do the qualification, just makes it a little more free riding. We don’t have to stress about making it finals, we can just lay it all out, as you saw all the boys putting it down. It’s a nice format to have.”
Two of the most memorable tricks of the event came from Toby Miller, but unfortunately, they were the only two he made during his runs. Nevertheless, Millers laid out front flip to fakie over the channel was impressive, followed up with a switch double roll off of the shark fin.
Though the entire field was stacked, it came as little surprise when Scotty James emerged as the victor. James has been absolutely unstoppable in the pipe, and with a four-trick run on his first go, he earned the highest score of the day with a 95.33. James went with a switch back rodeo over the channel, a switch double cork 900 off the shark fin and then hit back-to-back double cork 1260s to finish going frontside then backside.
“The [Toyota] Modified Superpipe is definitely challenging,” James confessed. “It really makes us have to get creative with our snowboarding, and historically that is what snowboarding is all about. It’s about coming out and expressing yourself in different ways, and I think the Modified Superpipe really channels that, which is cool for us. Doing the same halfpipe can get repetitive. It’s nice for us to mix it up, and it tests us.”
Rounding out the podium were Yuto Totsuka, who stomped an insane tuck knee front 1440 straight into a switch 1260, and Pat Burgener, that included a switch back rodeo up top and an alley-oop rodeo grabbing nose to end his own epic run.
Men’s Snowboard Modified Superpipe Results
1.) Scotty James, 95.33
2.) Yuto Totsuka, 93.33
3.) Pat Burgener, 91
4.) Chase Josey, 90.66
5.) Jan Scherrer, 90.33
6.) Danny Davis, 85
7.) Jake Pates, 78.66
8.) Louie Vito, 70
9.) Toby Miller, 31
10.) Taylor Gold, 25.33
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