2021 Winter Dew Tour: A crucial test for snowboard and freestyle skiers ahead of Beijing 2022

More than 80 of the world's best skiers and snowboarders compete in Copper Mountain, Colorado, to earn vital points for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.

6 minBy Ash Tulloch

Analisa_Drew_Ski_Womens_Pipe_Practice_Copper_DewTour_2021_WALTER

The world's best snowboarders and freestyle skiers have descended on Copper Mountain, Colorado for the 2021 Winter Dew Tour taking place from 16 - 19 December.

As well as vying for the respective halfpipe and slopestyle titles, there are valuable points up for grabs in order to qualify for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The competition also serves as an Olympic qualifying event for U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

There are several key match-ups that will make this event extra interesting and one man who will have eyes on is three-time Olympic Champion Shaun White.

The American snowboarder will be looking to impress after finishing eighth at the first qualifying event (U.S Grand Prix) last weekend. The 35-year-old is aiming to make his fifth Olympics in February.

Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy is a notable absence from the freeski halfpipe starting list.

Posting on Instagram he said, "I pulled out of the Dew Tour just because I'm having this ongoing issue with my head so I'm going to fly home to LA to get it resolved."

Earlier in the week the Sochi 2014 silver medallist explained that six weeks ago he suffered a concussion and that he had been forced to withdraw from the first World Cup event of the season last week due to what he and his team believes are lingering effects of him recently been infected with COVID-19.

“I was worried it had to do with the concussion but I’ve consulted with specialists and because I had previously passed all the tests and was cleared to return to sport we think it’s more likely residual effects of COVID,

Read below to learn more about who you should be keeping an eye on.

Snowboard stars to watch

Pyeongchang 2018 Halfpipe gold medallist Chloe Kim will be dropping in for her first competition of the season.

After becoming the youngest halfpipe Olympic champion at 17, she will try to secure her spot on Team USA for her second Games this week.

She will face some stiff competition though. China's Xuetong Cai stomped her authority at the US Grand Prix season opener. The two-time world champ currently leads the overall rankings while PyeongChang 2018 halfpipe silver medallist Jiayu Liu sits in third and fellow American Maddie Mastro is ranked fourth.

In the women's slopestyle Jamie Anderson will be aiming to retain her 2020 Dew Tour title and claim her 12th overall gold at the event. The double Olympic champion will need to draw on her arsenal of tricks to outshine the likes of Big Air Olympic champion Anna Gasser, New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synott and a plethora of other young stars wanting to take top spot, such as Japan's 17-year-old Murase Kokomo and Iwabuchi Reira who claimed her first big air World Cup title of the season a week ago.

In the men's halfpipe competition, Shaun White's biggest competition will come from the likes of Japanese riders Ruka Hirano, defending world champion Yuto Totsuka and two-time Olympic silver medallist Ayumu Hirano. Australia's Scotty James, who won the 2020 Dew Tour title is not attending this year.

Slopestyle is going to have no shortage of drama with defending Olympic gold medallist Red Gerard no doubt hoping to put on a show on his home summit. Fellow American Dusty Hendrickson is set to make his highly anticipated Dew tour debut. The 18-year-old has been on fire since winning gold at Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympics and then taking home gold at the 2021 X Games. Watch out for Canada's double Olympic bronze medallist Mark McMorris who has also been in fine form and is sure to let rip.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eileen Gu 🖤🌈🧊🐉 (@eileen_gu_)

Freestyle ski stars to watch

Last year's slopestyle title winner, Olympic silver medallist Mathilde Gremaud may not be partaking this time around but the competition is going to be fierce either way. China's Eileen Gu has won the last two big air World Cup events in a row and will be looking to dial in and draw from those victories this week. The 18-year-old is a triple threat and is currently world champion in both halfpipe and slopestyle as well.

Keep and eye out for Youth Olympic Games slopestyle champion Estonian Kelly Sildaru, reigning halfpipe Olympic champ Canada's Cassie Sharpe, and French powerhouse Tess Ledeux. The young female skiers coming through the ranks are sure to impress.

The men's competition is equally going to be interesting with pressure on double Olympic champion David Wise to prove he is still the king of the halfpipe.

His toughest rivals are likely to be Canada's Noah Bowman, who took top spot on the podium last year, along with third-placed Kiwi Nico Porteous. Hot competition is expected from Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic champ Birk Irving, Alex Ferreira and world champion Aaron Blunck, whose rivalry is going to make for a fantastic competition.

The men's slopestyle is sure to not disappoint. USA will be gunning for top spot with 2020 runner-up Alex Hall and Colby Stevenson who will be hoping to make the podium after finishing fifth last year.