Here in Sunday River, Maine, at the Inaugural Dumont Cup, the sun was shining, but you know what, the athletes were making it rain out here. Near perfection was witnessed on the slopestyle course, as the athletes systematically dismantled each feature, for the crowd’s visual entertainment. But as the sunshine turned to clouds, as the morning turned to afternoon, as the cheers turned to autograph requests, Pennsylvania-Turned-Utah resident Tom “T-Crack” Wallisch walked away victoriously.
The glorious morning started off with the 68-ish open athletes session-ing the course in a three-hours JAM format. Under the watchful eyes of the judges, five pre-qualified pros and Simon Dumont, the ams utilized all of their aerial and freestyle prowess to impress the powers that be, in hopes of making it to the finals. And after the slush settled, names like Matt Margetts, Henrik Lampert, Joss Christensen, Joe Schuster, Dale Talkington — and many more — had successfully advanced to finals, 14 in all. But rather than move straight into the final round, Simon and Nike treated the whole event to a tremendous BBQ lunch, something almost no other comp does.
After washing down the grub, the 20 riders headed up for a quick practice session and then it was on to the big show. The Dumont blew minds with cork 1080s, The Cheeseburglar was popping off switch 1080s like it was his job (it is), Matt Margetts pumped off not one, but two different double flips, Lolo did some screamin’ seamens that can’t be beat, Jossi Wells dub cork 1260 was so flawless that the women in the crowd literally were screaming for his number.
But in the end, Mike Riddle took third with a run that included a ballin’ ass cork 900 and switch 1080 poke. Joss Christensen took down 2nd with a flip off the cannon box, a switch right 1080 and a switch dub 1080. And of course, T-Crack Wallisch set the roof on fire with a misty off the cannon, right 900, and switch dub 1080. Immediately concluding the final run, autographs were signed, swag was thrown and kids definitely went home happy. The Dumont Cup even remembered to bring the champagne to the podium, a tradition that seems to have fallen to the wayside. Although these three gentlemen were crowned the winners today, the real winners were the crowd, and the competitors, for being a part of such an existential event here in Maine.
After the podium, The Dumont Cup was kind enough to hold a rail jam for the ams, on the Red Bull / Sunday River staircase feature. A number of groms slayed the rail, with Owen Tulip (Sorry if I spelled your name wrong or even got it completely incorrect), walked away with a brand new pair of Salomon Dumont skis. Another kid won some Oakley Thumps, too, but I didn’t manage to catch him, he was as fast as a roadrunner with those new peeps.
With any new comp, especially an open formatted one, a number of difficulties can arise, leading to a less than satisfactory event. But looking in the rear view mirror to the recently concluded inaugural Dumont Cup, the event was not only well run and fun, but has set a new standard in open formatted events, and everyone will be looking forward to next year’s event, here in Sunday River, Maine.
Final Results:
1) Tom Wallisch
2) Joss Christensen
3) Mike Riddle
4) Simon Dumont
5) Matt Margetts
6) Vincent Gagnier
7) Clayton Villa
8) Joe Schuster
9) Laurent Favre
10) Sammuel Lasagn(sp?)
Big ups to Salomon, Oakley, Nike, Red Bull, Giro, Target, Empire, Sunday River, the park staff at SR, and The Grand Summit Hotel.
A special thanks goes out to Simon Dumont and Michael Spencer.
