Winter Dew Tour 2023 took place in Copper Mountain, Colorado over the weekend, with men's  Superpipe as well as men's and women's 'Super Streetstyle' on offer.

Despite many of the usual comp skiers being in Georgia, for the World Championships,  there were still plenty of big names on show. Recent X Games gold medalists, Colby Stevenson and David Wise also graced the Dew Tour podium.

Winter Dew Tour has been around since 08/09, but some of the formats make it feel like a brand-new event. It may not be as radical as Jib League or Red Bull Play Streets but the rail-heavy Streetstyle course did feel much more street than most comps. As well as Super Streetstyle and Superpipe, there was also a Superpipe High Air and Best Trick, as well as Best Flip, on the Streetstyle course.

Men's Ski Superpipe

Canadian Brendan Mackay took first place on Saturday, after his disappointing 5th at X Games and 2021 Dew Tour bronze. Mackay beat X Games Champion, David Wise, who had to settle for 2nd place with fellow American Aaron Blunck completing the podium. 

Wise said he enjoyed the battle with the  Canadian "I love the fact that B-Mac came out and pushed me to do something new because the reality is that i hit the ceiling on my first run. I had pretty much executed that run about as well as I could do it in the conditions today, so I had to do something else. That is exciting for me and that's why I still love this sport."

Results

1. Brendan Mackay

2. David Wise

3. Aaron Blunck

4. Alex Ferreira

5. Ben Harrington

6. Hunter Hess

7. Matt Labaugh

Men's ski super streetstyle

The final event of the opening day was won by, X Games Slopestyle Champion,  Colby Stevenson. Colby was pushed by second-placed Tucker Fitzsimons and Alex Hall completed an all-American podium.

The course consisted of four sets of features and looked more like a rail jam than a traditional slopestyle course. Gus Kenworthy, who was on punditry duty, said that he spoke to judges and they told him that they judged it more like a slopestyle contest than a rail jam; overall impressions, spinning in multiple directions and awarding variety.

As well as the course, the format was fairly fresh, the top two in qualifying heats went on to head-to-head knockouts, where both runs counted.

Stevenson definitely enjoyed the event, heaping praise on the contest. "Tonight's event was awesome! I thought it was a creative format, definitely challenging."

He went on to say that he wants to see more events like this "in new formats."

There was a special award, The Papa Johns Flip It Award' for the best flip which was won by Eduoard Therriault. Ed Joy took home $2500 for Wallride Rodeo 540 off the top of the shipping container.

Men's Ski Super Streetstyle results

1. Colby Stevenson

2. Tucker Fitzsimons

3. Alex Hall

Women's Ski Streetstyle

The first ski event of the second and final day, of Winter Dew Tour '23, was the ladies turn at the streetstyle course. The same format as the guys and the head-to-heads were equally enthralling and saw Lisa Zimmerman come out on top.

The German hadn't even competed since 2017, but there was no rustiness as she dominated the field with two scored in the 90s. She put down two solid runs with difficult and varied tricks. Zimmermann said that she made Dew Tour part of a holiday this year! "I had stopped competing in 2017 and when I got an invitation to Dew Tour, all my friends said, 'do it Lisa.' So I flew here for two weeks on holiday with my boyfriend, to go skiing here. We had a super good time and winning the Dew Tour  is topping off our whole trip.

Marion Balsamo and Ske Clarke finished 2nd and 3rd respectively and Shonny Charbonneau took the 'Papa Johns Best Flip award' with a stylish front flip.

Results

1. Lisa Zimmerman

2. Marion balsamo

3. skye clarke

Men's and Women's Ski and Snowboard Superpipe High Air & Best Trick jam presented by the united states airforce.

A brand new event for Winter Dew Tour 2023 and it's definitely a bit of a mouthful! Whether you're a guy or a girl, skier or snowboarder, as long as you're a pipe rider, you can drop in on the jam.

Hunter Hess won the High Air with 4.4m above the coping, with Aaron Blunck taking the Best Trick title with a huge grind along the top of the pipe. Hess probably echoed what most of the competitors were thinking when he said. "It was epic to ride with all my buddies today. I loved having a jam format for a halfpipe contest." He then said how much he loved mixing guy/girl/snowboard/ski and how it changed the feel at the top. Finishing with "I hope we can do it again." 

Me too Hunter, Dew Tour is always a lot of fun and the tweaks to the formats this year only added to that. A less stringent format added to the vibe and while a few favourites were otherwise engaged Dew Tour 2023 was an awesome event that showcased some amazing skiing.