The votes are in and Vernon freestyler Patrick Dew is $25,000 richer.
The 19-year-old has been named winner of the online Advil Highlight of the Month contest on TSN.
The other finalists included a Nova Scotia hockey dangler named Quinn, an Ontario wakesurfer known as Dave and an Ontario mogul skier named Robbie.
Dew, a member of Canada’s NextGen Team, has been travelling the globe for competitions and found out he won early one morning in Austria.
“When I found out I had won the contest, I was actually in a hotel in Innsbruck, where I was spending the night to then catch an early flight back to Canada the next day,” said Dew. “The contest was announced live at the Raptors game in Toronto on the evening of March 17. Of course due to the time change, the winner was announced at about 1:30 a.m. in Innsbruck. Due to excitement and stress, I was unable to sleep that night. I tried streaming the game, but due to me being in Europe I could not find a live stream of the game without having a VPN blocker, which I do not have on my computer. This left me completely relying on my parents to tell me the results. Time was slowly ticking by until half time. I then received a video message from my mom. She had filmed the TV screen so that I could still live the moment. I was completely speechless when my name showed up on the screen.”
His 20-second video clip was entitled Misty Progression, and it included Dew doing some major skywalking.
“I’m honestly a little speechless about winning the contest. I am so grateful for all the people who took the time out of their day to share my posts and to go and vote; it has really made an impact on me and my skiing career. This win will really take the weight of costs off the shoulders of my family and I going into next season. I’m really looking forward to see what next season brings, should be great. I had no words to say and all my friends were asleep. It was just me and my unstoppable smile until the next morning when we all got up to go and catch a plane.”
Dew is currently in Quebec for the last two contests of the year and returns home April 2 after six weeks of being on the road.
“I would like to thank you (The Morning Star) and everyone one last time for all the support; I will be forever grateful.”
Dew, who started performing dazzling bumps and jumps as a tyke at Silver Star Mountain Resort, has enjoyed a stellar first year on the World Cup circuit.
Dew, the son of Todd and Karen Dew, carries sponsorship from: Skevik Skis, Smith Optics, Lange Boots, Silver Star Mountain Resort, Solo Energy Bar.
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