Monster Energy congratulates its team of freeski and snowboard athletes on a strong performance in the 2024 Winter Dew Tour Copper Mountain competition in Colorado this weekend.
COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo., March 11, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- So many wins at Copper! Monster Energy congratulates its team of freeski and snowboard athletes on a strong performance in the 2024 Winter Dew Tour Copper Mountain competition in Colorado.
- 17-Year-Old Mia Brookes from the United Kingdom Claims 1st Place in Women's Snowboard Streetstyle and Best Trick Trophy in Dew Tour Debut
- Colby Stevenson Takes 1st Place in Men's Ski Streetstyle, and Alex Hall Takes 3rd
- Ayumu Hirano Defends Title in Men's Snowboard Superpipe, Full Podium Sweep for Monster Energy with Yuto Totsuka in 2nd Place and Monster Army's Lucas Foster in 3rd Place
- Darcy Sharpe Takes 3rd Place in Men's Snowboard Streetstyle
- Kaishu Hirano Earns U.S. Air Force Highest Air Award in Snowboard
- Brendan Mackay Claims 3rd in Men's Ski Superpipe and Earns U.S. Air Force Highest Air Award in Ski
- Team Riders Claim 8 Medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze) in Ski and Snowboard Competitions
Starting the weekend on a high note, 17-year-old Mia Brookes from Sandbach, United Kingdom, claimed first place in Women's Snowboard Streetstyle on Friday night. In her Dew Tour debut, Brookes also won the trophy for Best Trick. The victories kept coming, with 26-year-old Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, barging into first place in the heated Men's Ski Streetstyle final. The Men's Snowboard Superpipe final on Sunday finished with defending Dew Tour Superpipe champion, 25-year-old Ayumu Hirano from Japan, claiming the victory in a full podium sweep for the team.
Over the course of an action-packed weekend, Monster Energy team riders claimed 8 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze) in Ski and Snowboard Competitions.
From March 8-10, the legendary Copper Mountain resort in the Rocky Mountains hosted the world's elite of freestyle skiing and snowboarding. Celebrating its 20th year of premier snow competitions, the event once again wrapped up the winter snow sports season in a festival atmosphere. With more than 80 competitors, including multiple X Games gold medalists and Olympic champions, the live crowd on Copper Mountain witnessed the current state-of-the-art superpipe and streetstyle competitions alongside musical performances, including DJ duo and Ship Wrek.
Here are the highlights for team Monster Energy at Dew Tour Copper Mountain 2024:
Women's Snowboard Streetstyle: Monster Energy's Mia Brookes Finesses into First Place, Wins Best Trick Trophy
Starting Friday night with a bang, the Women's Snowboard Streetstyle final featured some of the world's most technical rail and street riders. That list definitely includes 17-year-old Mia Brookes from Sandbach, United Kingdom, making her Dew Tour debut this year by bringing her deep bag of tricks to the jib course.
In the knockout-style final, Brookes started Round 1 of Heat 3 by posting the highest score of the entire night: A technical switch boardslide switch-up to frontside boardslide to fakie, half Cab the shipping container gap into frontside boardslide blunt 270 down the waterfall rail, and frontside boardslide pretzel 270 on the down rail earned a score of 94.33 points. She also raised the technical difficulty by posting a switch boardslide switch-up to frontside boardslide 270 in her follow-up run, clinching the night's Best Trick trophy.
"This one is extra special to me because I grew up riding rails… I just love riding rails! And I've always loved this streetstyle format, where it's a real battle to get through to the finish," said Monster Energy's Brookes upon taking the Streetstyle win at Copper Mountain.
Speaking on her trophy for Best Trick, Brookes added: "I didn't realize I'd won Best Trick until the podium presentation when they handed it to me! It's a tremendous honor and a great bonus to my first Dew Tour experience."
Before coming to Dew Tour Copper 2024, Brookes clinched X Games Aspen 2024 Slopestyle gold and earned the 2023 FIS World Championships Freeski Slopestyle title. "It feels so good to be setting these really big goals for myself and knocking them down one after another," said Brookes.
Men's Ski Streetstyle: Monster Energy's Colby Stevenson Clinches Victory, A-Hall in Third
Closing out the first night on Copper Mountain, the live crowd went wild for the Men's Ski Streetstyle final. As riders attacked the four jib sections in their own unique style, 26-year-old Colby Stevenson from Park City, Utah, soared above the rest of the pack.
In his winning run, Stevenson finessed right 270 on the first rail, then hit the Dew Tour section with a left nosebutter 450 pretzel 270 up top, followed by switch on frontside switch-up to backside switch-up to forward off the Woodward warming hut. Maintaining his energy, he dropped a 180 switch 270 continuing 270 on the U.S. Airforce rails, and a frontside switch-up continuing 450 off the Baja Blast rail for 96.00 points and the win.
"I'm really stoked! Dew Tour has been a huge one for me my whole life… I really wanted this!" said Monster Energy's Stevenson upon winning Men's Ski Streetstyle at Dew Tour Copper 2024, adding: "I was stoked because yesterday I hit my head pretty hard and missed some training. I showed up today really motivated… and then it all came together."
Throughout the final, Stevenson faced heat from fellow Park City rider and Monster Energy teammate, 25-year-old Alex Hall. In his opening run, A-Hall set the bar high by posting a switch 270 on Tokyo drift slide backside switch-up to forward that impressed the judges (and spectators). When all was said and done, Hall scored 84.00 points on Run 2 of the final round with tricks like 450 on to pretzel 270, switch 270 on the step rail, and rightside on the transfer over the barrel rail at the bottom for third place.
Quick trivia: This year's Dew Tour Men's Ski Streetstyle podium is an exact repeat of the 2023 results, with Stevenson in first place, Tucker Fitzsimons in second, and Hall in third. Stevenson also won the Men's Ski Slopestyle competition at Dew Tour Copper 2021.
Men's Ski Superpipe: Canadian Team Rider Brendan Mackay Takes Third Place
On Saturday, the 22-foot-tall halfpipe at Copper Mountain saw a furious showdown in the Men's Ski Superpipe final. In a field of the world's top competitors, 26-year-old Brendan Mackay from Calgary clinched third place.
In his highest-scoring run of the final, Mackay strung together his signature switch left alley-oop double 900, switch left double 1080, right double 1260 mute, and left double 1260 tailgrab, and right tailgrab 900 on the last wall for 90.33 points and third place.
On Sunday, Mackay earned the U.S. Air Force Ski Highest Air award by blasting 19 feet, 7 inches above the lip of the Superpipe.
Before Dew Tour 2024, Mackay took home second place in the FIS World Cup in Calgary, Canada. He is the reigning Men's Freeski Halfpipe World Champion after winning the freestyle skiing world championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, in 2023.
Men's Snowboard Streetstyle: Darcy Sharpe Claims Third Place with Technical Tricks
The Monster Energy team's podium run continued in Saturday's Men's Snowboard Streetstyle final. When all was said and done, 28-year-old Darcy Sharpe from Comox, Canada, took third place in the heated knockout session.
After already posting technical bangers in practice, the four-time X Games medalist showcased his consistency and technical tricks in the final showdown against Canadian snowboarder Liam Brearley and American Luke Winkelmann. Standouts for Sharpe included a half Cab layback double hand drag 360 on the tall wallride, 180 up the snow hut to switch boardslide pretzel 270, gap 270 to lipslide, and 50-50 transfer to lipslide 270 on the cannon rail for a score of 86.33 points and strong third-place finish.
Speaking about the elimination format, Sharpe said: "It's stressful! We haven't had a head-to-head format in snowboard contests for a long time, and it just adds stress because you have to win every round. It's not like you're just trying to qualify for the top 10, and you're in the final. You have to try to win every round to keep moving on."
When asked about the anniversary of the event, Sharpe added, "Thank you to all the people who organized this. I hope the event lives on because I know all the riders and crowd really enjoy it, and I think it's good for snowboarding."
Men's Snowboard Superpipe: Full Podium Sweep with Ayumu Hirano Taking 1st Place, Yuto Totsuka in 2nd Place, and Monster Army's Lucas Foster in 3rd Place
Literally saving the best for last, Team Monster Energy swept the entire podium in Sunday's Men's Snowboard Superpipe final. Leading the charge, defending Dew Tour Superpipe champion and Olympic gold medalist Ayumu Hirano returned to Copper Mountain to claim the victory in a down-to-the-wire final.
In his highest-scoring third run of the final, the 25-year-old from Murakami, Japan, put down a stacked routine to knock teammate Totsuka from the top position. Combining a huge frontside double cork 1440 mute into a Cab double cork 1440 mute, tweaked frontside 540, and a finishing combo of corked backside 1260 and frontside 1260 earned Hirano 97.00 points and first place.
"Thank you so much, everybody!" said Monster Energy's Hirano upon defending his Dew Tour Superpipe title at Copper Mountain.
Hirano was followed by 22-year-old Yuto Totsuka from Yokohama, Japan in second place. Finishing a fraction of points behind his Japanese teammate, Totsuka on Run 3 put together 180 into the pipe, switch backside 1260, switch backside double cork 1080, frontside double cork 1260, backside double cork 1260, and frontside double cork 1440 for 96.33 points and second place.
"I'm happy now because I landed the switch back twelve for the first time! I want one more gold medal," said Totsuka after his run at Copper Mountain.
Rounding out the podium sweep, 24-year-old Monster Army rider Lucas Foster from Telluride, Colorado, took third place at Copper Mountain. In his last run of the final, Foster hit the Superpipe with a huge backside 540, frontside 1080 nosegrab, switch double cork 1080, and a massive alley-oop double McTwist on the last wall for 94.00 points. And like that, Foster barged into third place in what otherwise would have been an all-Japanese podium.
Speaking on his final trick, Foster said: "It was so relieving! I learned that trick about a year and a half ago, and it took a while to finally get it in a contest. Finally putting it in a run… that's the highest score I've ever gotten. I'm so stoked!"
One more thing: On Sunday, Ayumu's younger brother Kaishu Hirano earned the U.S. Air Force Snowboard Highest Air award for soaring 19 feet, 9 inches above the edge of the Superpipe.
Congratulations to the entire team on these incredible results at Copper Mountain!
For more on Ayumu Hirano, Colby Stevenson, Mia Brookes, and the Monster Energy snow sports team, visit http://www.monsterenergy.com. Follow Monster Energy on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok for exclusive updates as the 2024 snow sports season continues.
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About Monster Energy
Based in Corona, California, Monster Energy is the leading marketer of energy drinks and alternative beverages. Refusing to acknowledge the traditional, Monster Energy supports the scene and sport. Whether motocross, off-road, NASCAR, MMA, BMX, surf, snowboard, ski, skateboard, or the rock and roll lifestyle, Monster Energy is a brand that believes in authenticity and the core of what its sports, athletes and musicians represent. More than a drink, it's the way of life lived by athletes, sports, bands, believers and fans. See more about Monster Energy including all of its drinks at http://www.monsterenergy.com.
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