By Corina Knoll

Toby Dawson celebrates on the podium after winning first place at the Suzuki Freestyle FIS World Cup in Inawashiro, Japan, on Feb. 14. It was the second of three wins so far this season.
(Photo courtesy of the U.S. Ski Team)

Toby “Awesome” Dawson has kicked into high gear, winning three World Cup events over the past month, making him No. 1 in the world in the dual moguls division of freestyle skiing.

It began on Jan. 30 in Park City, Utah, when Dawson overcame a shaky preliminary run to take his first win ever on home soil. Thirty miles away from Salt Lake City, the home of the 2002 Winter Olympics that Dawson just missed making the U.S. team for, the 25-year-old executed a heli-iron cross (a 360-degree rotation with skis in an X-formation) and a corked 720 (off-axis double twist like a corkscrew) in his finals run.

He then moved on to Inawashiro, Japan, for his second straight victory. On Feb. 14, Dawson pulled out two 720s (two double-spins) to edge out the competition on a slushy course.

But the icing on the cake was the Feb. 22 win in Naeba, Japan. Picking up the fifth win of his career, Dawson led the best showing by U.S. men in a world cup competition in history. The entire U.S. freestyle ski team made the finals and finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 10. According to Dawson, being surrounded by his team made his win “unbelievable.”

“We all train so hard together, pushing each other, and this has taken so long,” Dawson told the Vail Daily. “It’s just so nice to have all your teammates up on the podium.”