The Annual Dumont Cup... Simon says bigger and better...

At 24, Simon Dumont of Bethel, Maine, has skied and competed all over the world. His trophy shelf of big air and halfpipe medals is as vast as his passport stamps. Just this winter he’s travelled from the Rockies, to New Zealand, South America, Scandinavia, Austria and France – where I spoke with him in Tignes during Europe’s first ever Winter XGames last week.

Simon was amped about coming home for his signature Dumont Cup in March. The inaugural free ski event was held last April 11, 2009, at Sunday River, bringing together 70 amateur skiers to compete head to head with 10 pro skiers including Simon himself. “At our first annual Dumont Cup some things went really well, some didn’t,” said Dumont. “The second annual is going to be even better. The field of pros I have coming is deeper and we are focusing on making the jumps bigger and safer.”

Those are high hopes, Sunday River built a huge park venue for last year’s event with 50 and 90-foot jumps on Rocking Chair (located under the Barker quad for prime viewing). Jake Largess, Simon’s manager and lifelong friend from Bethel, said, “We travel to events all over the world, and the course Sunday River created for the first Dumont Cup was amazing.”

Simon has a habit of continually pushing the envelope. You may remember Simon’s World Record jump; in April 2008 at Sunday River he launched 35’ above a quarterpipe and into the Guinness Book for highest vertical ski jump.

Simon has had his ups and downs (pun intended). He’s won seven XGames titles, and the Dew Tour, but he has had some horrendous crashes too, including this year’s Aspen XGames - a super pipe super hard fall knocked him unconscious for a few minutes. He’s seen friends go down too, like skier Tanner Hall and filmmaker Riley Poor. Simon and Poor, of Poor Boyz Productions, collaborated on a ski film released last fall, “Transitions” about the risks and rewards of freesking. The film production had its own challenges since Poor was paralyzed in January 2009 (non ski related) but was able to edit the documentary to its completion despite his wheelchair confinement.

Simon surrounds himself with his ski friends, most of whom are his competitors. The celebrity ski entourage rolling in to Sunday River’s event March 26 include big air, big trick names like New Zealander Jossi Wells, Norwegian PK Hunter, Canadian TJ Schiller, Colby James West of Canterbury N.H., Peter Olenick of Aspen, and Tom Wallisch of Salt Lake City.

Tom Wallisch, who won 2009's Dumont Cup, said, “A lot of great talent came out for the first Dumont Cup. With the three round format, everyone got a chance to throw down and go crazy. It was the best course in the East, so I look forward to seeing what they build for the second.”

Dumont said “The course has been in the works for weeks, with Sunday River stock piling snow there all winter. I’ll be back East in March to tweak the final details, then its game on.” Simon says he has some new tricks up his sleeve for this year’s Dumont Cup, and he’s sporting new threads – retiring the flashy red and white Salomon he wore last season. “I designed the new outfit in Aqua and Black; I will definitely still stand out.”

If it’s anything like last year’s event, the sun and the stars will collide. The first annual Dumont Cup brought sunshine, soft snow, and lively crowds watching young free skiers go big in front of their idols. Simon and his invited pro friends showcased huge tricks for the fans and spent time talking with the younger athletes encouraging them to pursue their passion. Sponsor Target gift cards and Red Bull were tossed out to the audience as well.

Tom Wallisch’s $10,000 winning trick last April was a misty fired off the cannon, followed by a 900 and a superb switch 1080. If that’s Greek to you, you should go to The Dumont Cup to get your park vernacular on. Sponsors have upped the prize purse to $12,000 for first, $5,000 and $3,000 for second and third this year. Friday, 150 amateurs will compete before the panel of pro judges to qualify for the final 20 spots. Saturday, they ski the course along with the pros and Simon – for big air and big money.

"Simon skis all over the world. He honed his skills at Sunday River and the fact that he has created the Dumont Cup to give other freeskiers that same chance benefits everyone involved." said Dana Bullen, General Manager for Sunday River. "We're extremely fortunate to have Simon Dumont as an ambassador for Sunday River and look forward to his return for the second annual Dumont Cup," Simon Dumont started skiing at Sunday River at age three, competed at his first X Games at 15, and won his first Gold at 17. Now he competes globally and stars in ski films, he’s currently shooting in Austria with Poor Boyz Productions.

Simon is also serving as a board member on the AFP (Association of Freeskiing Professionals) to convince the Olympic Committee to sanction Skier Superpipe in the 2014 Sochi Russia Olympics (much like Seth Wescott petitioned the IOC to include Snowboard Cross in 2006). “For six years we have been trying to convince the IOC to include skier superpipe. The older people in Europe are very race based, so it’s been a long uphill battle,” said Dumont. “I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but if skier pipe is in the next Olympics, I will fall off the face of the earth, and go train my butt off in some secret location like Shaun White.”

This is your chance to see Simon Dumont go big at his home hill Sunday River, and watch the future of free skiing unfold at the annual Dumont Cup.