Winter Dew Tour - comin' at ya!

Registration is open for the third season of the Winter Dew Tour and the list of pre-qualified athletes has just been released, highlighted by Olympian snowboarders and defending Dew Cup champions. The three-stop Tour kicks off at Breckenridge Ski Resort for the Nike 6.0 Open, December 16-19, 2010, continues on to Killington Resort, January 20-23, 2011 and concludes with the Toyota Championships at Snowbasin Resort, February 10-13, 2011. The top snowboard and freeski athletes will compete in slopestyle and superpipe disciplines for the coveted Dew Cup awarded at season s end and for a total of $1.5 million in prize money.

The men's freeski athlete roster is highlighted by defending Dew Cup champions Jossi Wells in superpipe and Andreas Hatveit in slopestyle. With stiff competition from the likes of Simon Dumont and Xavier Bertoni in superpipe and Bobby Brown and Tom Wallisch in slopestyle, it promises for a dynamic season with numerous contenders for the coveted Cup.

"Last season was unbelievable for me, and I couldn t have been happier to end it as the Dew Cup champion," said Wells. "The level of talent and competition is going to be insane this year. I m so stoked for the Tour to start again!"

All eyes will be on Olympian snowboarders in both men and women's superpipe disciplines this season. Defending Dew Cup champion JJ Thomas spotlights the men s pre-qualified list, along with two-time gold medalist Shaun White and his Vancouver teammate and bronze medalist Scotty Lago. In women's superpipe, top contenders include Olympic bronze medalist Kelly Clark and Kaitlyn Farrington, who holds the 2009-10 Dew Cup title.

"I'm really excited to compete on 22-foot superpipes this year on the Winter Dew Tour," said Thomas. "Breck is an awesome mountain to ride, and I m proud to call it my home mountain. There s not a better way to kick off the winter season than with the Winter Dew Tour at Breckenridge."

In snowboard slopestyle, young-gun Sage Kotsenburg will defend his Dew Cup champion status against the likes of Torstein Horgmo and Tyler Flanagan on the men's front. Jamie Anderson will defend her 2009-10 Dew Cup status in women's slopestyle, while athletes like Jenny Jones and Spencer O'Brien, 2008-09 Dew Cup champion, will be vying for the top spot at the end of the season.

Through the support of Paul Mitchell, the upcoming season will also feature expanded women's freeski slopestyle and superpipe competitions at the Nike 6.0 Open in Breckenridge, Colo. and again to close out the season at the Toyota Championships in Ogden, Utah. Although not a Dew Cup discipline, the women's freeski events will include full athlete fields competing in both preliminary and final rounds of competition.

Athletes are pre-qualified based on their 2009-10 Winter Dew Tour rankings. Athlete registration for the 2010-11 Winter Dew Tour season is currently open and the full, final roster will be announced prior to each event. As a way to continue growing winter action sports and spotlighting new talent, the Winter Dew Tour will hold Open Qualifiers at the Nike 6.0 Open in Breckenridge to allow spots for emerging talent on the Tour.

The full list of pre-qualified athletes is below. The first round of confirmed athletes for the Nike 6.0 Open will be announced on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010.