The Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships is piling up not only U.S. Olympic hopefuls but also star international snowboarders and freeskiers on early entry lists.
The Dew Tour, which is Dec. 12-15 in Breckenridge, Colo., took on added significance when it was named one of five U.S. Olympic Team qualifying events for snowboarding and freeskiing in September.
The five events will determine Olympians in snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle and ski halfpipe and slopestyle, the latter three being new Olympic events for Sochi.
The standings will be determined by an athlete’s two best results over the five events. Olympic rosters are expected to be announced Jan. 22.
Here are the top athletes who have registered so far (by discipline):
Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe
Shaun White — two-time Olympic champion
Peetu Piiroinen — 2010 Olympic silver medalist (Finland)
Scotty Lago — 2010 Olympic bronze medalist
Greg Bretz — 2010 Olympian
Ayumu Hirano — 2013 Winter X Games silver medalist (Japan, 14 years old)
Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe
Kelly Clark — 2002 Olympic champion
Arielle Gold — 2013 World champion
Elena Hight — two-time Olympian
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
Max Parrot — 2013 Winter X Games silver medalist (Canada)
Piiroinen — 2012 Winter X Games bronze medalist (Finland)
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
Sina Canadrian — 2013 World silver medalist (Switzerland)
Ty Walker — 2013 World Championships fifth place
Men’s Ski Halfpipe
Kevin Rolland — 2011 Winter X Games champion (France)
Thomas Krief — 2013 World bronze medalist (France)
Mike Riddle — 2011 World champion (Canada)
Women’s Ski Halfpipe
Maddie Bowman — 2013 Winter X Games champion
Virginie Faivre — 2013 World champion (Switzerland)
Rosalind Groenewoud — 2011 World champion, 2012 Winter X Games champion (Canada)
Men’s Ski Slopestyle
Alex Schlopy — 2011 World champion
Russ Henshaw — 2011 World bronze medalist (Australia)
Andreas Hatveit — 2012 Winter X Games bronze medalist (Norway)
Women’s Ski Slopestyle
Grete Eliassen — 2013 World bronze medalist
Anna Segal — 2011 World champion (Australia)
Ashley Battersby — 2013 Winter X Games, fourth place
