By Colin Bane
Louie Vito's been killing it this year, dominating the Winter Dew Tour Superpipe contests in Breckenridge and Killington, and he's heading into the Toyota Championships at Snowbasin in Ogden, Utah thirsty for his first Dew Cup. Can anybody stand between Vito and his quest for the Cup?
At the Nike 6.0 Open in December Vito beat out Matt Ladley and Greg Bretz for the top spot with a front double cork 10, Cab double cork 10, crippler, Michalchuk, frontside 10, and a Cab 7 in his second run, each trick a reminder of why Breckenridge and the other Winter Dew Tour venues had to step it up this year with 22-foot superpipes to accommodate this level of riding. Vito's run under heavy snow at Breckenridge made for one of the most decisive wins in Dew Tour history: His score of 90.25 obliterated next-closest finishers Ladley (75.00) and Bretz (73.75), and left the rest of his competitors far behind.
At Killington Vito was similarly in a league of his own, the only rider in the competition to land a double cork (he landed two, back-to-back, just to emphasize the point). His score of 93.00 trounced JJ Thomas (88.00) and Mason Aguirre (86.50), and now leaves him with a massive overall points lead for the Dew Cup. His perfect score of 200/200 puts him well ahead of Thomas, with 174 points, Ladley (166), and Mason Aguirre and Steve Fisher, tied at 152.Vito also picked up a bronze medal at X Games this month for good measure, behind Shaun White and Scotty Lago, and is currently in the lead on the US Snowboarding Grand Prix after winning the event at Copper Mountain in December.
To lose his hold on the Dew Cup, Vito would have to finish in 5th place or worse, unlikely given the season he's been having but not impossible: Vito likes to put it all on the line no matter how big his lead may be, and he'll be pushing himself even harder at Snowbasin next weekend since we haven't even seen some of his biggest tricks yet. He may very well be his own toughest competitor.
heck out footage of Louie shredding the pipe in January at the Winter Dew Tour in Killington