ESPN called it the surprise of the season, but it’s no surprise to us. Telluride’s own Gus Kenworthy took second in the Dew Tour superpipe final, the biggest career finish yet for the local freestyle skier.
We used to call kids like Kenworthy “park rats” because they were always hanging out at the terrain parks. But it was probably all of those afternoons he spent in the halfpipe here that made him so good. Afternoons when he was supposed to be doing his homework. But now, after graduating in 2010, Kenworthy has embarked on his dream career: he’s a professional skier.
Kenworthy was deemed the dark horse in the competition because he was the ninth and last qualifier. But the halfpipe isn’t even his specialty—it’s the slopestyle event that Kenworthy most often dominates. That didn’t stop him from upsetting some of the premier pipe riders in the world at the Killington, VT stop on the Dew Tour.
Check out the video of Kenworthy and see why he makes Telluride so proud.