KEY POINTS:
New Zealand snowboarders and free skiers made a flying start their North American campaign this morning (NZ time), posting three top-10 results including a podium finish for Jossi Wells.
Wells, 18, New Zealand's top ranked free skier, finished second in the slopestyle event of the Winter Dew Tour at Breckenridge in Colorado (USA).
He was leading the slopestyle event until the last run when American Bobby Brown knocked him off the top with a near-perfect run, scoring 90.50 to Wells' 89.50.
Due to lingering knee troubles, Wells pulled out of the superpipe finals, leaving brother Byron Wells, 16, and teammate Lyndon Sheehan, 19, of Wanaka to represent New Zealand. Sheehan placed a respectable ninth.
Rebecca Sinclair of Taupo finished seventh in the women's snowboard superpipe competition - in a field featuring four Olympic medallists - to record her first career top-10 finish.
The competitive Winter Dew Tour is in its inaugural season after three successful years as a summer-only tour.
It is based on a cumulative points system and features a total prize purse of US$1.5 million ($2.6 million).
The next stop is scheduled for January 8 at Mt Snow Resort, Vermont.
- NZPA
