You don’t have to be a halfpipe or slopestyle athlete to appreciate the competition throwing down at Snowbasin Resort in Utah this weekend. In fact, Saturday’s ski halfpipe finals for the 2012 Dew Tour drew huge crowds from skater teens to families.

The annual event debuted in 2008 as the first-ever winter action sports tour with a stop in Utah. Like the X-Games, the Tour crowns champions in six disciplines (Men/Women Snowboard Superpipe, Men/Women Snowboard Slopestyle, Men/Women Freeski Superpipe and Freeski Slopestyle). Over $2.5 million and the Dew Cup are at stake for the overall winners. For spectators, there’s a Festival Village with video gaming, giveaways, product demos and athlete autograph signings.

Louie Vito
stomped the afternoon’s snowboard superpipe finals and earned his second Dew Cup in a row with a double crippler, followed by a double Michalchuk, front double 1080, cab double 1080, and frontside 1080, ending with a cab 720. Snowbasin’s pipe is the world’s longest ever built for competition.

The ski girls stalked the pipe at dusk after the lifts closed. Devin Logan won the Cup and the Finals with a Japan grab, to 5 tail grab, flair, mute grab, alley oop critical, 7 mute, to finish with a switch alley oop 5.
“I had slope this morning, so I was a bit tired,” Logan said. “But I got some energy, found some deep down and ended up doing it, so I’m thrilled.” Canadian freeskier Rosalind Groenewoud took second, with favorite Maddie Bowman finishing third.

As the sun went down, the action heated up. The top men in the world hit it big under the lights. David Wise won the Freeski Pipe Finals but it was Kevin Rolland who walked with his second consecutive Dew Cup. Sixteen-year-old phenom Torin Yater-Wallace was third. Wise pushed full throttle on the second run with his first-ever 14 in addition to the switch double 1080, and alley oop flatspin 5 tail to end with a double cork 12. “My first run was good, so I kind of felt like I had to add a little bit of something to it,” Wise said. “The 14 was the first thing that came to mind, so dropping in I was like, ‘OK, I’ll go for that 14 at the end.” He didn’t stick the 14 but it was enough to keep him in the winner’s spot.

Rolland, in 11^th place after the first run, pulled it together with a switch into a 900, to switch 720, back-to-back double flips to finish with a double cork 1260.

Yater-Wallace lost a ski when he landed his last trick of an outstanding first run that included a double cork 12 mute into an alley oop flat 5 and a double flair. He skied it out on one ski while the crowd cheered. Boos followed when the judges deducted for the equipment gaff. His second run with a double cork 12, alley oop double, double cork 9, left 10, into a switch 9 edged out Simon Dumont for a 3^rd place finish.

The Sunday action starts on the slopestyle course with the women’s and men’s snowboard and ski finals before moving back to the superpipe for the Gatorade Free Flow (junior) Tour.

Dew Tour organizers say it was Snowbasin’s handling of the 2002 Olympic Downhill that attracted them to the resort. In honor of the 10^th anniversary of the Winter Games, Snowbasin will offer $20.02 lift tickets to everyone who shows up wearing their Olympic volunteer jackets or credentials on February 16th

All sorts of fun hits the Historic Park City District this month. Most of the events are free to the public and open to all ages so bundle up and get your butts out. My favorite decision of all year is FREE PARKING on Main Street. Now why we don’t have this all year round is beyond me but take advantage of the ‘deal’ through December 16.

Dec. 3-4 The festivities kick off with The Silly Holiday Bazaar, Park City High School. One hundred unique vendors selling jewelry, clothing, accessories, gourmet foods, and more.Take photos with Silly Santa, holiday kids’ activities, live acoustic holiday music.

Dec.4 Also, this weekend The Nutcracker Tea Party, at the Hearth Club at Promontory. Tea treats and a holiday ornament are included.

Dec. 10 The following weekend support the Kimball Art Center (and party down) at one of the new hippest holiday bashes in Park City. The 2^nd Annual Charity Lift will be in the Grand Summit Ballroom. Tickets are $60. The food and drink last year was worth the price of admission. And you get to see some kick-ass ‘extreme’ art auctions to boot.

December 15-23 Jesus Christ Superstar plays at the Egyptian Theatre. The super hip play is
loosely based on the last week of Jesus’ life. The rock opera is written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice. Ted Neeley returns to the role he made famous in the 1973 major motion picture. 

December 17 Santa lands at the Town Lift Plaza …after he skis free at Canyons

December 21 is the 2^nd annual Winter Solstice Electric Light Parade

Dec. 23 & 25 Santa skis Canyons. He hits
Deer Valley Dec. 24., and then joins PCMR’s ski instructors for their torchlight parade & Christmas Eve celebration Dec. 24.

December 24-25 My favorite “soundtrack” musician performs his annual concert at the Egyptian Theater: Kurt Bestor – One Silent Night. I’ll be volunteering for that one, so come say hi!

December 30 The final PC Gallery Stroll of the year, 6-9pm

Overheard at the Cow Ballet in Peoa, Utah, this afternoon: “You just can’t describe this thing; you gotta be here to see it.”

We considered skipping the 13^th annual event when the torrent of rain washed over Park City this afternoon. But way off in the distance- in the direction of the ranch where cows would be dazzled with tutus and children’s faces painted like mystical creatures, the weather looked clear. I doubt a little sprinkle would keep the cows away anyway so we piled into the car and headed out towards Browns Canyon to support Mountain Town Stages. The non-profit is responsible for all the live free music you hear around Summit County. Those concerts at Canyons, Newpark, Quarry Village, the Silly Market, and more. We don’t want them to disappear so we rally to help them raise money.

The Cow Ballet is one of those few fundraisers where any age kid can get down and dirty. I mean where else are you hucking your meat over a hulking pile of cow manure? The irony is that the beer drinking race came after the jump.

The tickets were a fairly priced $12 with kids under 10 free. Now why can’t more benefits be this reasonable? The upcoming Utah Avalanche Fundraising Party is $35 and you get to stand around a parking lot for four hours drinking beer with your backcountry buds. Of course, it’s all in the name of a cause that could very well save your life and the lives of those friends. I suppose the price is in the realm of value when you consider that we also spent $4/beer and $7 for a cheeseburger at the Cow Ballet. And then there are the benefits that keep out the riffraff. I volunteered at the Friends of the Animal’s Barking Ball the night before and tickets were $100 a pop! Granted, you got hors d’ oeuvres and wine included and an excuse to dress up but the Cow Ballet offered something those fancy bashes don’t- a benefit to share with the whole family. Plus, you have a lot more money in your pocket to spend on the silent auction.

So what exactly is the cow ballet? A bunch of big kids dressed in cow costumes, dancing to songs about cows and making their friends and families laugh out loud.

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by altopower

To see specific deals at participating businesses, head over to www.historicparkcityutah.com.