The Dew Tour: It's Huge!

SNOWBASIN, Utah -- It was the final stop of the winter Dew Tour, and it showed just how hot halfpipe and slopestyle for both skiers and snowboarders has become. The talent level has exploded as well. Women are not only throwing down high above the pipe, they are nailing historic 1080s -- three full rotations in the air before riding up for another hit.

But this Dew stop made news for other reasons. It had the largest attendance since the Winter Dew Tour began -- more than 46,000 people crowded the finish and visited the villageover the five-day event. That's not counting the skiers and snowboarders who came to ride the snow in other parts of the huge resort. The big news was that this year's tour had nearly two cool mil in cash prizes -- that's two million dollars paid out to the athletes!

Top finishers would come into the portable Dew Tour office at one end of the portable "village" and stand in line for their pay. Tyler, the money man, would ask, "Halfpipe or slopestyle?" "Skier or boarder?" "Name?" He would tick off the answers, hand over the tax forms, then the athlete would quickly sign, hand them back and get a check.

Torgeir Bergrem, who came in fifth in men's snowboard slopestyle, waved his check for $2,800 and grinned. "Not bad for a weekend's work," he said. But that pay pales when the year-end bonuses, winners' bonuses and multi-Athlete of the Year awards are all counted in. When it comes to payouts, the Dew Tour treats its athletes like they are CEOs.

After each contest, the winners would sit at a table at one end of the village, signing autographs and talking with fans. The big news on the final day was the win of slopestyle's new star, Alex Schlopy. He started the year off right by coming out of nowhere to win Big Air gold at the X Games, then, just a week before the Dew, he won the title of World Slopestyle Champion when both slope and pipe were included in the Freestyle World Championships for the first time.

The slope course, with jumps that hit 80 feet, was not for the faint-hearted. Features on top, two major jumps at the bottom, with a quick change of direction needed to make the big final jump that came down in the finish area, where skiers and riders who pulled off their tricks would skid to a stop and pump arms.

This was the third and final stop for the Winter Dew Tour, and the coveted Dew Cup was on the line for many competitors. The suspense was hiked by an addition to the event: the 'Last Chance Qualifier.' The tour flew in 100 of the top qualifying athletes from its previous stop in Breckenridge, Colo. They each were given the chance to compete against the best in their sport at Snowbasin -- Louis Vito, Kelly Clark, Bobby Brown, Rebecca Torr, Jossi Wells, Simon Dumont, Jamie Anderson and more. Some of those qualifiers are upcoming stars -- they nailed a podium.

There were numerous Athlete of the Year awards from sponsors; everyone from PlayStation to PowerBar. Major sponsor Toyota gave away cars. The Toyota AOTY, judged by points, had a tie: Both Kevin Rolland (skier, pipe) and Torstein Horgmo (snowboard, slope) will be driving new vehicles, along with women's winner Jamie Anderson.

But the biggest prizes in terms of personal satisfaction (and bonuses, of course) were the Dew Cup winners. An actual traditional award cup, huge and ornate, that says the winner is this season's overall champion in his and her sport. The Dew Cup winners are:

Snowboard Superpipe: MEN: Louis Vito, WOMEN: Kelly Clark

Skier Superpipe: Kevin Rolland, France (No women's category yet)

Snowboard Slopestyle: MEN: Torstein Horgmo, Norway, WOMEN: Jamie Anderson

Skier Slopestyle: Bobby Brown (No women's category yet)