With winter in the rearview mirror, folks all across the country are chomping for a little warm weather – but not professional freeskier Simon Dumont.
This weekend, Dumont, 27, will host the sixth annual Dumont Cup, one of the biggest professional-amateur ski events, on his home mountain in Newry, Maine.
The world record holder and X Games medalist started the event back in 2009 in the hopes of creating opportunities for up-and-coming skiers to gain exposure – and what it’s become is the premier east coast event.
“The east coast doesn’t have many big contests, so that’s what I’m trying to build,” Dumont said in an interview. “It’s among the highest-caliber events in freeskiing and it’s a jam session, which alleviates some of the pressure for the athletes.”
The Dumont Cup wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for the help of one of Dumont’s biggest sponsors – Target. The event has continued to grow over the years thanks to the company, and for that, Dumont is certainly grateful. It’s also helped lead to one big change this year.
“The big thing with Target is just the support I get,” Dumont said. “There’s a lot of different ideas I want to do and it’s nice to have Target come in and support something like this – they made it possible to build a bigger course.”
The course Dumont is talking about is a new 15-acre terrain park Sunday River, the mountain which hosts the event, is boasting this year. Inspired by Dumont, the course is complete with an 18-foot Superpipe, a jib park, all-natural tree lines and a progression jump line, providing the expected 100-150 participants with the best terrain to push their skills to the limit.
“It’s kind of my way of giving back,” he added. “It’s my home resort – I grew up here, I broke the quarterpipe record here and I realized they have the ability to make a good course.”
With the most skiers in event history expected for this year’s event, there will be plenty of competition for spectators to watch – but there are a few names certain to bring the most cheers. While past winners Tom Wallisch and Alex Schlopy will certainly garner attention, most eyes will be on Nick Goepper and Gus Kenworthy, who respectively won Olympic bronze and silver this year at Sochi.
For Dumont, there won’t be a chance to ski with his friends and fans, as he continues to recover from a torn ACL, an injury that ended his Olympic hopes. But that won’t keep him from enjoying the trip home.
“I just like being back home – that hometown feel,” he admitted. “It’s great to have that.”
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
