Luke Mitrani Kills It in Pipe, Vito Takes Cup, Clark Gets Win and Cup

After pulling the run of his life, Luke Mitrani stood at the top of the podium and in classic style, said that all he remembered is that he blacked out, got to the bottom of the pipe and the crowd was screaming for him.

The 20-year-old Frends rider just happened to pull the highest scoring Winter Dew Tour pipe run ever, and his 97.00 bumped his older brother Jack off the podium into fourth place. They jokingly duked it out at the base of the Snowbasin pipe, and Jack said he was super stoked for his little bro.

Luke linked together a double Michalchuk, frontside 9, backside 5, front 10 and cab double 10 for the win.

Luke Mitrani launching

“I’ve actually never won a contest this big so I’m pretty pumped right now,” Mitrani said. “I didn’t do so hot at the past couple stops and my confidence level wasn’t so high, so I went into this contest not really stressing, just having fun, and I guess that’s when I do best.”

Louie Vito won the last two stops of the Winter Dew Tour and came into this weekend’s Toyota Championships favored to win the overall Dew Cup, and that’s exactly what he did. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to pull the runs he wanted and finished off the podium in seventh place.

“You know I would have liked to get up on the podium, but Luke and Greg rode super well,” Vito said. “It would have been nice to get on there with them because the riding level was sick tonight, but it is what it is. I got the Dew Cup, so I guess on the bright side I’m happy to be ending with that. It’s a love hate. I’m stoked I got the Dew Cup, but bummed I didn’t get on the podium.”

Louie Vito, your new snowboard pipe Dew Cup Champ

Greg Bretz, 20, was killing it in finals, and the Mammoth local finished second with three 1080 variations that earned him a 95.00. He even pulled back-to-back double corks in his second run.

“I’ve only linked back-to-back doubles once before that and I put it down and it was amazing,” Bretz said.

Third place with 92.00 went to the veteran of the bunch, 28-year-old Steve Fisher, who decided to keep his secret weapon, well…secret, until an opportunity like this presented itself. And it was in front of a capacity crowd lining the pipe that Fisher landed his first ever frontside 10 double cork.

“I’ve done it into an airbag a few times, but that’s it,” Fisher said. “I tried it on a wall once but didn’t even come close.”

Dialing in tricks like that is exactly how he keeps up with the progression of the sport and competes against the younger guys.

In the women’s field, Kelly Clark went from dead last in Finals at the first event of the season, to impressive back-to-back wins at last month’s Winter Dew Tour and tonight’s Toyota Championship. Her results put her in first place overall and she collected the second Dew Cup of her career.

Kelly Clark blasting

“I’m glad I could recover from my Breckenridge experience and to come back and win the last two and walk away with the Dew Cup,” Clark said. “It’s a lot of fun and I’m even happier with my riding.”

Her winning run had a frontside 7, cab 7, frontside 10, cab 3, frontside 5 and backside 5.

Last year’s Dew Cup champ Kaitlyn Farrington was in third-place going into her final run, and she stepped it up with a backside 5, frontside 7, cab 7, backside 5 and an alley oop 5 that bumped her up to second with a 91.00.

“I’m super stoked,” Farrington said. “This is one of the best pipes I’ve ridden this season so it was just great to come here and be comfortable.”

Japan’s Soko Yamaoka also increased her score on her second run and finished in third overall after a solid run that included a McTwist, frontside 7, and back-to-back 5s and a score of 86.25.

“I’m really, really happy,” Yamaoka said. “Snowboarding is my life.”