South Lake Tahoe woman wins Dew Tour superpipe
By Taylor Morris, ESPN
Sixteen-year-old phenom Torin Yater-Wallace double-corked his way to a first place finish at Saturday’s Dew Tour men’s ski superpipe finals in Killington, Vt. Yater-Wallace held a comfortable lead through the first set of runs with his first-run score of 90.25, until Wallace himself bested the score, muscling two doubles (a cork 1260 and a double flair), a 900, and a switch 9 en route to a second-run 93.75.
The grey skies cleared and the snow lessened as the day wore on, allowing for higher speeds and huge amplitude from every competitor. Second place Tai arrymore dropped a pair of 9s and a double cork alley-oop 12 on his second run, for a score of 88.50, while Tucker Perkins backed up two 9s with a double cork 12, stomped clean, for a score of 85.75.
Of his win, Yater-Wallace said he set a goal in his head and it “ended up happening.” He went on to commend his competitors, saying, “I don’t think there’s one person that was in the finals today that couldn’t have won.” He hopes to carry his momentum into this week’s Winter X Games. Yater-Wallace’s win makes him the youngest winner in Winter Dew Tour ski pipe history.
Earlier in the day, a video tribute to Sarah Burke christened the start of women’s ski superpipe finals. Burke, the groundbreaking athlete responsible for progressing and popularizing women’s freeskiing, died Thursday from injuries sustained while practicing superpipe in Utah on Jan. 10. Burke’s name was painted and stickered, in memoriam, on the sides of competitors’ helmets.
The women’s ski pipe winner, Maddie Bowman of South Lake Tahoe, said the day was hard for everyone, but that, “Sarah would have wanted us to ski, and that’s what we did — in her honor, of course.”