The Winter Dew Tour today announced the world’s top freeski athletes that will compete for the coveted Dew Cup and a share of the $1.5 million prize purse offered at the end of the three-stop series, which will kick off December 18 in Breckenridge, Colo.

The athlete roster reads like the who’s who of the modern freeski movement, highlighted by superstars Tanner Hall, Sarah Burke and Simon Dumont.

Dumont, who will compete in slopestyle and superpipe, is known for his mastery of big air and currently holds the world quarterpipe height record for launching 35.5 feet out of a 38-foot pipe. Dumont has multiple X Games medals and is looking to add a Dew Cup this season to his ever-growing list of accomplishments.

“I’m thrilled for the start of the Winter Dew Tour this December,” said Dumont. “This is just what we need to give skiing the exposure it deserves. We’ll have live TV coverage and the resorts chosen are some of the best in the world.”

Hall, who turned pro when he was 15 years old, has seven X Games gold medals to his credit – including three consecutive superpipe titles.

Burke leads the stacked roster of female athletes who will compete in the inaugural tour. Burke was the first freeskier to win an ESPY Award (Female Action Sports Athlete of the Year) and the first woman to land a 1080 in competition.

“This is shaping up to be as impressive of an athlete field as anyone could hope for in a winter event; the Winter Dew Tour competition is bound to be a fight to the bitter end,” said Wade Martin, AST president. “With more than 28 hours of original programming on NBC, MTV, MTV2 and USA, there will be action-packed content for the crowds onsite in addition to the fans at home tuning in to the broadcast.”

The roster of snowboard athletes includes the following notables:

Freeski Superpipe

• Tanner Hall
• Simon Dumont
• Peter Olenick
• Colby West
• Jossi Wells

Freeski Slopestyle

• Andreas Hatveit
• Jossi Wells
• Matt Walker
• Charles Gagnier
• Jon Olsson

Freeski Women

• Sarah Burke
• Jen Hudak
• Kristi Leskinen

The complete list of Winter Dew Tour competitors will be released on Monday, Nov. 24.

Similar to the Dew Tour’s summer competition structure, the Winter Dew Tour will be based on a cumulative points system as the top snow athletes battle it out for a piece of the $1.5 million prize purse and the chance to take home the Dew Cup at the conclusion of the season in February.

The complete 2008/09 Winter Dew Tour schedule is as follows:

1. Dec. 18-21, 2008
   Breckenridge, Colo
2. Jan. 8-11, 2009
   Mount Snow, VT
3. Feb. 19-22, 2009
   Northstar at Tahoe, CA

AST
The Action Sports Tour (AST) is the recently created umbrella brand and organization of the world’s most prestigious action sports events. Currently the AST consists of two national tours, one international event and an amateur series: AST Dew Tour (debuted in 2005), AST Winter Dew Tour (debuting in 2008), AST China (debuting in 2008), and Free Flow Tour (debuted in 2005). The AST properties are home to over 280,000 spectators each year and broadcast in 100 countries and 280 million homes worldwide. The AST Dew Tour consists of five major, multi-sport events spanning across the country, with a cumulative points system, a $2.5 million competitive purse – the largest in action sports – and an additional $1 million bonus pool. Each event features skateboarding (park and vert), BMX (park, vert, and dirt) and freestyle motocross. At season’s end, the overall point’s leaders in the six disciplines are crowned year-end champions and awarded the prestigious Dew Cup. Key lifestyle elements at each Tour event include the Festival village, specialty competitions, and live cutting edge music. The AST Dew Tour partners include Mountain Dew (tour title sponsor); and Panasonic, Right Guard Xtreme, Wendy’s, Toyota and PlayStation® (event title sponsors). Associate partners include Ball Park, Mongoose®, Nike 6.0, NowWhat.com and Verizon Wireless. More information can be found at www.ast.com.

NBC Universal
NBC Universal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates the No. 1 television network, the fastest-growing Spanish-language network, a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.

MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services – MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, LOGO, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.