DOVER- It’s back, ladies and gentlemen. The Winter Dew Tour returns to Mount Snow for its third and final destination of the winter. From Thursday, February 4, to Sunday, February 7, the eyes of the winter action sports world will zero in on Mount Snow, where freeskiers and riders compete for the 2010 Toyota Championship in slopestyle skiing and snowboarding, and superpipe skiing and snowboarding. Greg Fisher, Mount Snow events director, expects the Winter Dew Tour will attract up to 20,000 fans to Carinthia Snowpark to what is fast becoming one of the major professional winter sporting events in the country.

“The X Games, we all know, is like the Olympics of action sports. But the Winter Dew Tour, last year, really solidified itself as a legitimate competition series,” said Fisher. “The X Games has snowboarding, snowmobile, freeski, and X Course, but the Dew Tour really showcases freestyle skiing and snowboarding, which has pretty much been integrated into terrain parks at every ski resort across the country.”

Events kick off Thursday morning with the freeski slopestyle preliminaries. The freeski slopestyle championship will come down to the wire as four competitors all have a shot at winning the title. Andreas Hatveit, of Norway, and Pittsburgh native Tom Wallisch are tied for first place with 190 points. Hatveit finished first at Breckenridge, CO, second at Snowbasin, UT, and won the silver medal at last week’s Winter X Games in Aspen, CO. Wallisch finished second at Breckenridge, won at Snowbasin, and came in eighth at the Winter X Games.

Seeking to upset Hatveit and Wallisch is Sammy Carlson, of Tigard, OR. Carlson is tied for third in the Winter Dew Tour standings, finishing third at Breckenridge, and fourth at Snowbasin. He won the bronze medal at the X Games.

But Bobby Brown, of Breckenridge, could be a spoiler in this weekend’s competition. Brown struggled with a fourth-place finish at his home mountain of Breckenridge and placed third at Snowbasin. Brown is currently tied for third in the Winter Dew Tour standings, but he is also coming off a fantastic gold medal-winning performance at the X Games. Brown is hoping that will parlay into a Winter Dew Tour championship, but anyone could win the freeski slopestyle title this weekend.

Preliminaries take place on Thursday at 9:30 am, while the final takes place on Friday at 10:30 am.

The women’s snowboard slopestyle event also kicks off Thursday morning. Spencer O’Brien, of Courtenay, BC, Canada, is fighting for her second Winter Dew Tour title, but she is currently deadlocked with X Games silver medalist Jamie Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe, CA. O’Brien and Anderson are tied at 175 points apiece. Jenny Jones, of Bristol, England, is not far behind with 170 points and she is coming off a big gold medal performance at the X Games. If Spencer can pull out the win, she will be the first person to win two consecutive Dew Cups on the Winter Dew Tour.

Preliminaries take place on Thursday at 12:45 pm, while the final takes place on Friday at 1:30 pm.

The men’s snowboard slopestyle takes place Thursday afternoon. Proving that age is just a number, Tyler Flanagan, of Mammoth Lakes, CA, and Sage Kostenburg, of Park City, UT, are a pair of 16-year-olds who hold first- and second-place going into the championship. Flanagan won at Breckenridge and finished second at Snowbasin, while Kostenburg finished second at Breckenridge and third at Snowbasin. In order to steal the cup from his friend, second-place finisher Kostenburg will need to finish third or higher to claim the title. However, Charles Guldemond, of Reno, NV, is the spoiler who could ruin both of their chances. Guldemond won at Snowbasin and is coming off a bronze medal performance at the X Games. He is only 30 points behind Flanagan and 10 points behind Kostenburg in the Winter Dew Tour standings and all of them have an excellent chance to win.

Preliminaries take place on Thursday at 2 pm, while the final takes place on Friday at 2:30 pm.

Thursday’s events close with the freeski superpipe preliminaries. Sitting in first place in freeski superpipe is Wanaka, New Zealand’s Jossi Wells. Wells has a comfortable lead over Bethel, ME’s, Simon Dumont and he is seeking his first Winter Dew Tour title. Wells, who won the X Games silver medal, needs to place in the top six to take home his first Dew Cup. Second place is up for grabs between Dumont and Xavier Bertoni, of Bonneville, Haute Savoie, France. Bertoni also won the bronze medal at this year’s X Games.

Preliminaries take place on Thursday at 4 pm, while the final takes place on Saturday at 1 pm.

Queralt Castellet, of Spain, and Elena Hight, of South Lake Tahoe, CA, are the top two riders in the women’s snowboard superpipe standings. However, Castellet and Hight are skipping Mount Snow for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC, Canada. As a result, the women’s snowboard superpipe title is up for grabs. Kaitlyn Farrington, of Sun Valley, Idaho, holds a five-point lead over Kelly Marren, of Hillsborough, CA. 2010 Olympian Kjersti Ostgaard Buaas, of Norway, is looking to upset the other competitors and with only 15 points between the three, each run will be critical.

Preliminaries take place on Friday at 6 pm, while the final takes place on Saturday at 6:30 pm.

Danny Davis, of Highland, MI, was on his way to a Winter Dew Tour men’s superpipe title and a spot on the men’s US Olympic snowboarding team until he sustained a season-ending injury in an all-terrain vehicle accident. That puts Steve Fisher, of Breckenridge, in first place. He is ahead of the next top competitor, Jack Mitrani, of Mammoth Lakes, by 56 points. Fisher placed second behind Olympian Shaun White at last year’s competition at Mount Snow.

This year, Fisher placed fifth at Breckenridge, second at Snowbasin, and sixth at the X Games. Fisher is determined to win the title, however Mason Aguirre, of Mammoth Lakes, may come out of nowhere to upset his chances. Aguirre, who won last year’s superpipe competition at Lake Tahoe, placed fourth at Breckenridge this season. Aguirre placed fifth in last year’s superpipe final at Mount Snow and has shown that he has what it takes to win. Aguirre also placed in the top three in the 2008 Burton US Open at Stratton. As for Fisher, he is looking forward to returning to Mount Snow for the all-important competition. “Mount Snow is a great venue. I was pleased how it turned out last year and I’m excited to be back,” said Fisher. When asked if the Winter Dew Tour championship was on his mind, Fisher said “absolutely.”

Preliminaries take place on Friday at 7 pm, while the final takes place Saturday night at 7:30.