A Free Ride

A A A Comments By Colin Bane Thursday, Jan 13 2011

Last month, Torin Yater-Wallace, a fifteen-year-old skier from Basalt, finished in fifth place in the Winter Dew Tour’s Men’s Ski Super-pipe Finals at Breckenridge. Torin who? Exactly: Yater-Wallace is a product of the Gatorade Free Flow Tour, an amateur series that also serves as a feeder system for sending new competitors to the pro ranks in action sports. Turning up new talent you’ve never heard of is precisely the point.

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“I couldn’t be more stoked on how I came out,” Yater-Wallace said after the contest, as he watched his hero, Simon Dumont, climb to the top of a podium he just missed standing on himself. “Top five is great for me! It’s better than I ever dared to dream this would turn out.”

Dreaming of a similar fate? Your own journey from flow to pro could start today, when the Free Flow Tour makes its way to Vail for free-ski and snowboard superpipe and slopestyle competitions. The winners will advance to the Free Flow Tour Finals at Snowbasin in Utah, where they’ll battle it out for the chance to compete with the Dew Tour pros and the opportunity to be the next big thing to come out of nowhere. For online registration and more information, visit www.gatoradefreeflowtour.com. The contest is open to amateur riders 21 and under, and the entry fee is $20 ($30 to compete in both superpipe and slopestyle); riders must check in by 9 a.m.
Sat., Jan. 15, 2011

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