Three Kiwi’s competing in prestigious Dew Tour Finals this weekend in Colorado

Nico Porteous, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Finn Bilous will all be competing in the finals of their respective disciplines at the Winter Dew Tour this weekend. Dew Tour is an invite only event and an USA Olympic Team qualifier, showcasing the best skiers and snowboarders in the world. 

Nico, Zoi and Finn have all been named to the team to represent New Zealand at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games in February. 

Nico Porteous competed in the Men’s Ski Superpipe qualifiers on Thursday (NZT) and qualified into finals in third position. Despite the challenging conditions, including strong winds and fresh snow affecting visibility, Nico put down a solid, technical second run. David Wise (PyeongChang 2018 gold medallist) and Alex Ferreira (PyeongChang 2018 silver medallist) qualified in first and second respectively in the heavy field. 

Snow Sports NZ halfpipe coach Tommy Pyatt said "Nico gave it his all today in really adverse weather conditions. Him and I are stoked to see it all come together and looking forward to putting on a good show in the finals on Sunday". 

Finn Bilous was a first alternate for the Men’s Ski Slopestyle this morning, finding out just before the event started that he would be dropping in to compete. With fresh snow slowing down the jumps Finn had to think on his feet, changing up his run to adapt to the conditions. He scored a 76.75, putting him in 10^th position, right on the bubble for finals. 

Finn had a nerve-wracking wait at the bottom while the remaining 16 athletes made their way down the course to see if his score would hold up to allow him to clip his ticket to the finals.   

“Having this be the first event in my season I’m really pumped to get through to the finals and think it is a good confidence booster given the season ahead with the Olympics coming up in February”.  

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, will be competing in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle on Sunday morning at 5am NZT. The stormy and windy weather in Colorado on the scheduled qualifications day resulted in a cancellation of qualifications, with all 15 women going straight into what will be an exciting three run final.  

Finals Schedule: 

• 8.45am Saturday 18 December – Men’s Ski Slopestyle (Finn Bilous) 
• 5am Sunday 19 December – Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle (Zoi Sadowski-Synnott) 
• 9.15am Sunday 19 December – Men’s Ski Superpipe (Nico Porteous) 

Live streams available on the Dew Tour Website and the Dew Tour YouTube Channel.