Danny Davis flying out of the pipe. *Credit: Karlos Jeri (@Karlosjerimedia).*

Dew Tour at Copper Mountain in Colorado kicked off today and was jam-packed with competitions, practices, and concerts. Dew Tour has been running for twenty years and features some of the best on-snow athletes in the world who compete across ski and snowboard disciplines for titles in the Superpipe and on the Streetstyle course. Dew Tour is widely considered to be one of the most important on-snow competitions for athletes, while at the same time, maintaining an electric and community based atmosphere.

This morning began with an exceptionally early start in order to make the first tracks media ride with Danny Davis. A true snowboarding icon, Davis, joined us to lap a few groomers off of the Timberline lift and even took a hot lap with us through Copper’s world-renowned Woodward Terrain Park. Being able to start day one of Dew Tour by making some fresh turns with Danny was an incredible experience, and getting to ride up the chair with him and have a real conversation provided real insight into a competitors train of thought.

nick flying pipe — Nick Goepper. Flying in blue jeans. *Credit: Karlos Jeri (@Karlosjerimedia).*

The first event that was supposed to happen, Women’s Ski Superpipe, got postponed until Sunday because it was dumping snow all morning. So, after first tracks with Danny, until later in the day, I watched and photographed several different practices. In the halfpipe, getting to see Eileen Gu, Nick Goepper, and Zoe Atkin warm up was a high-flying affair. With Eileen and Zoe coming off an X-Games SuperPipe podium, and Nick coming in fourth place, respectively, it was clear that all of the athletes were locked in and hunting for the perfect line. Goepper, airing 15 feet out of the pipe in blue jeans, is always amazing to watch and he is looking forward to putting on a show Saturday at 10am live on DewTour.com or the Dew Tour YouTube channel.

mia BS — Mia Brookes with the impressive wire-to-wire performance! *Credit: Karlos Jeri (@Karlosjerimedia).*

After an exciting morning of riding first tracks and sitting in on several practices, the Women’s Snowboard Streetstyle began this weekend’s events with a bang. The Streetstyle course features upwards of 25 high-risk rail features that are separated by only a few feet and require maximum recognition from all of the competitors. Mia Brookes, who just won her first X-Games gold in Slopestyle and is only 17 years old, absolutely crushed this event. She finished with two runs graded above a 94 out of 100 and made it clear that she will be winning competitions for a long time. She frontside boardslid the biggest rail on the course and 270d off of everything else. Overall, this performance from Mia was a strong follow-up of X-Games and she is one of the most promising young athletes in the world.

In a quick interview following the award ceremony, I got to ask Mia a few questions, including what comes next after sweeping rail events in both X-Games and Dew Tour. Her response was simple: “Olympics. I got my eyes set on that.” Brookes is a fierce competitor that can truly go head to head on steel with any snowboarder.

skis treet podium — Alex Hall (Bronze), Colby Stevenson (Gold), and Tucker Fitzsimons (Silver) took podium in Men’s Ski Streetstyle. *Credit: Jesse Orlean.*

The night was capped off with Men’s Ski Streetstyle coming down to it in a heated matchup between Colby Stevenson, Tucker Fitzsimons, and Alex Hall, with Stevenson eventually winning the gold. Colby had a dominant performance and was a fan favorite right when the competition started, but Hall and Fitzsimons kept it close throughout the entire night. The way this years Streetstyle events work is through heats of riders that move through rounds and go head to head at the end of the event, and the men took full advantage of this. It provided for a very intense, competitive atmosphere that was complemented by the DJ and raging crowd on the other side of the fence. Big spins, onto and off of rails, consistently kept energy flowing into the crowd during the Men’s Ski Streetstyle event.

I got to catch up with Colby Stevenson directly after winning gold and he mentioned the importance of feeding off of the crowd and that Dew Tour has “the best crowd energy from any event.” Stevenson looked comfortable in the park on a variety of features and he gave a shoutout to the Woodward park crew, stating that they have created something amazing here at Copper Mountain. Stevenson embodied the competitive nature of this year’s Streetstyle format and was a memorably nice guy to interview.

A hall legend street — Alex Hall after his final run in Men’s Ski Streetstyle. *Credit: Jesse Orlean.*

Day one at Copper Mountain’s annual Dew Tour was a thrilling day from dawn ’til dusk. The contrast between photographing the athletes during practice, when they are in their element, and getting to talk to them post-competition, when there are more emotions running, was interesting to see from an outside perspective and made for a fantastic first day. Days two and three should provide just as much excitement, for both the athletes and the crowd, with a packed schedule of events including the postponed Women’s Ski Superpipe.