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Huntsville • In some ways, Sunday's result in men's ski slopestyle at the Winter Dew Tour was inevitable.
Two friends, who grew up in Park City challenging one another, dominated a loaded field to finish first and second at Snowbasin.
For Joss Christensen, 19, finishing second was a surprise. He had never reached the podium in a major competition before, and didn't even compete at Winter X Games or the World Championships. He barely made it into the event, sneaking in as a last-chance qualifier.
For Alex Schlopy, 18, finishing first was merely a continuation of his recent success: Big Air champion at the Winter X Games last month and first-place finisher at last weekend's World Championships at Park City.
"I think they're both the reason each of them got into this," said Schlopy's mother, former Olympic downhill skier Holly Flanders.
Schlopy said he was happier for his friend than he was for himself.
"I was actually up top talking to him," Schlopy said, "and I said, 'How does it feel? You're on the podium.' "
The skiers went to preschool together, started training together in the sixth grade, and then attended the Winter Sports School in Park City.
"There's so many good kids coming out from Park City," Schlopy said, "because everybody likes skiing so much here."
Sunday marked the final day of the Dew Tour's Toyota Championship, the last of three stops, where snowboarders and skiers competed on the halfpipe and in slopestyle. Tour general manager Chris Prybylo said it was the best-attended event in the three-year history of the winter tour. Official attendance was 44,300, which would make it the state's biggest winter sports event after the 2002 Winter Olympics.
"Obviously, it's a great action sports community," Prybylo said, "and those sports really resonate here."
This year, the Dew Tour made Snowbasin the site of its championship event, where athletes competed to secure the Dew Cup, the coveted end-of-season points championship, in each event.
While athletes such as skier Bobby Brown and snowboarder Torstein Horgmo overcame sluggish performances on Sunday to win Dew Cups, nothing quite matched the excitement of the locals in ski slopestyle.
Of course, it wasn't a surprise to everyone.
Flanders said she suspected even when Christensen and Schlopy were young that there would eventually be a day they dominated a major event.
"I thought they are so little," Flanders said, "they're both so talented, that if they stick with it they'll do it."
While Schlopy has had more professional success, he said Christensen took to the sport more quickly. He performed his first tricks in Christensen's backyard, and he remembers riding the chair lift past jumps as Christensen performed tricks he envied.
"Joss was definitely better than me growing up," Schlopy said. "I still think he is."
But Christensen failed to qualify for the Winter Dew Tour at the open qualifiers at Breckenridge in December. On Thursday he rebounded by winning the last-chance qualifier and he placed first in Friday's preliminary.
"My goal was just to make it to the podium," Christensen said. "To make my first slope podium, maybe make the final. I'm stoked at how far I made it."
Whenever he was asked about his own accomplishment, Schlopy made sure to turn the focus to his longtime buddy.
"I'm happier for Joss than I am for myself," he said.
Twitter: @oramb —
Sunday's Dew Tour results
Women's ski slopestyle
1 • Kaya Turski, 89.5
2 • Devin Logan, 85
3 • Anna Segal, 79.25
Men's ski slopestyle
1 • Alex Schlopy, 94.5
2 • Joss Christensen, 92
3 • Russ Henshaw, 87.5
Women's snowboard slopestyle
1 • Janna Weatherby, 96
2 • Jamie Anderson, 95
3 • Spencer O'Brien, 91.75
Men's snowboard
slopestyle
1 • Eric Willett, 97.25
2 • Mark McMorris, 95
3 • Torstein Horgmo, 93.75