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DUMONT WINS THST HALFPIPE

For Immediate Release
 
SIMON DUMONT CLAIMS HALFPIPE VICTORY AT THE INAUGURAL HONDA SKI TOUR IN SUN VALLEY, ID, WALKS AWAY WITH $25,000  
 
The first stop on the 2007 Honda Ski Tour and BaseCamp Music Experience series concludes in groundbreaking form  
 
Legendary drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crue DJs the Honda Ski Tour wrap-up party  
 
Sun Valley, ID, January 16, 2007—Thousands of spectators turned out to watch the finals of The Honda Ski Tour superpipe competition under the lights Sunday night on Sun Valley, Idaho's Bald Mountain. Two dozen of the world's best halfpipe competitors put on an incredible show under the stars, but it was Simon Dumont who stole the show with his signature grace, style, and accuracy.  
 
THST is North America's new elite, four-stop mountain festival and skiing competition that features the best halfpipe and ski cross skiers in the sport competing for $500,000, the biggest purse in skiing. Additional tour stops are Breckenridge, CO, Aspen/Snowmass, CO, and Squaw Valley USA, CA
 
The halfpipe finals on Sunday night were a sight to behold as pipe legends boosted up to 20 feet above the lip. Peter Olenick, the first athlete to successfully land a double back in halfpipe competition, was consistent with his signature trick but could not pull together an entire run, landing him in 10th place overall.  
 
Candide Thovex was sitting in fourth position after the first run but had some bad luck when he made a small mistake in the finals costing him to drop a position. Always one to put a positive spin on things the Frenchman says he will be back for more, "The Honda Ski Tour is a really good event for the progression of the sport. There's not just the halfpipe, there's the concerts and good ambiance. It's very cool and I want to do more."  
 
Mike Riddle's solid second run included a 540 into an unnatural 540, 1080 and a switch truckdriver 720 which catapulted him from 6th to 2nd place overall winning him $15,000 on the spot.   Simon Dumont's signature run included a truck driver 540, rightside mute 540, tailgrab 900, alley oop five, and 1080. His amplitude and smooth style easily launched him into first place ahead of Matt Philippi. But when Philippi fell in his second run he dropped from 2nd to 4th overall securing the win for Dumont, without even needing a second run. Dumont chose to ski his last run like a victory lap, nailing every trick he attempted.  
 
Sixteen-year-old Jossi Wells from New Zealand snatched third place from the legendary field of halfpipe skiers. He laid down the same line as Dumont, but missed a grab and couldn't match the amplitude of the THST halfpipe champion.
 
"It's really cold but these people came out here so we're going to put on a good show, and hopefully psyche these people up," said winner Simon Dumont of knowing he had won the $25,000 before he dropped in for his second run. "I wanted to go big, do a little backflip at the end. Get them psyched so they come and watch more of The Ski Tour."  
 
THST co-founder Steve Brown says of ski cross versus halfpipe, "They're two very different competitions but they are both spectacular and really fun to watch. We saw these guys going for it tonight. The night pipe really focuses everything on the athletes. These people really got their moneys worth—of course it was free. And Simon was just going huge which was fun for everyone to see."  
 
The groundbreaking event came to a close Sunday night with a final canon blast of fun—a VIP mansion party DJ'd by none other than Tommy Lee with DJ Aero while the Red Bull freestyle snowmobile team put on a big-air exhibition in a nearby snowfield. Next up: Breckenridge, Colorado. See you there.  
 
THST will be covered in four hours of network television—one hour per event— scheduled to air on ABC. Event and airing schedules are as follows: 
 
Event date: January 11-14, Sun Valley, Idaho ABC airdate/times: Saturday, January 20, 4pm PST / 5pm MST / 2pm EST  
 
Event date: February 1-4, Breckenridge, Colorado ABC airdate/times: Saturday, February 10, 4pm PST / 5pm MST / 2pm EST  
 
Event date: February 22-25, Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado ABC airdate/times: Sunday, March 11, 11am PST / 12pm MST / 2pm EST  
 
Event date: March 8-11, Squaw Valley USA, California ABC airdate/times: Sunday, March 25, 11am PST / 12 pm MST / 2pm EST  
**air dates and times are subject to change. 
 
For up-to-date photos, videos, blogs, general information and BaseCamp Music Experience ticket information, go to the THST website www.theskitour.com  
 
The Honda Ski Tour would like to extend a special thanks to its sponsors, American Honda Motor Co., Paul Mitchell, Crocs, Spyder, Salomon, Ice Breaker, Atomic and media partner Outside Magazine.  
 
For more information and downloadable high-resolution images of Honda vehicles, please visit www.hondanews.com. Consumer information is available at www.honda.com  
 
For media queries please contact;
The Honda Ski Tour
Director of PR & Communications
 Keith Carlsen
801-349-4632
keith@mtsports.com