Race for the Dew Cup: Kevin Rolland Vs. Simon Dumont

By Colin Bane

Kevin Rolland and Simon Dumont are neck-and-neck in the race for the Dew Cup, with 186 points each as the competition heads to Snowbasin for the Toyota Championships this week. Dumont won the Nike 6.0 Open at Breckenridge in December, beating out Rolland and Thomas Krief. Rolland answered with a win at Killington last month, ahead of Dumont and Dan Marion. For those of you looking for a fight in Finals, it won’t get any closer than this.

Kevin Rolland

Dumont has just missed winning the Men’s Freeski Superpipe Dew Cup for the last two years running: He finished in 2nd place behind Tanner Hall in 2009 and 2nd behind Jossi Wells in 2010, and now he’s thirstier than ever. Rolland, meanwhile, is used to being a bit farther back in the Winter Dew Tour pack, finishing in 7th overall in both 2009 and 2010. But after a win this month at Winter X Games 15 (ahead of 15 year-old phenom Torin Yater-Wallace and Dumont, and making it two in a row at Winter X) and a couple of big years on the FIS World Cup circuit, Rolland just might be on a tear. Will Dumont be denied for the third year in a row? Both skiers have sick doubles and big spins in their bags of tricks, and the Freeski Superpipe Finals at Snowbasin promises to be one for the ages, an epic rivalry if ever there was one.

Simon Dumont

Let’s not forget the rest of the field either: Krief is just behind Rolland and Dumont in the overall standings with 160 points, followed by Justin Dorey (146), Dan Marion (127), and Gus Kenworthy (123). And we do love a good underdog story, especially when said underdog came up through the Gatorade Free Flow Tour, as Torin Yater-Wallace did. He raised some eyebrows in Breckenridge with a 5th place finish at the Nike 6.0 Open and wowed the world this month in Aspen, beating Dumont for the silver medal at Winter X on his home mountain (Yater-Wallace hails from nearby Basalt, CO). Any of them could shake up the race for the Dew Cup with a big podium finish at Snowbasin, but they’d need to win big to unseat Rolland or Dumont. However it shakes it out, this will be a must-see event.

Check out Kevin, Simon and the rest of the field in January at the Winter Dew Tour at Killington

Check out Kevin and Simon and the rest of the field in December at the Nike 6.0 Open Finals at Breckenridge