Shaun White, Danny Davis? Kelly Clark also in snowboarding spotlight

The inaugural Winter Dew Tour resumes today with its second of three events and will run through the weekend at Mount Snow, Vermont.

The brightest spotlight will shine on the men's snowboard superpipe competition Sunday, as 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shaun White tries to improve after finishing second at the last Dew Tour event to 2010 Olympic hopeful Danny Davis.

But considerable attention will be on the women's snowboard superpipe competition, also Sunday, and specifically on Kelly Clark (pictured).

Clark, 25, was  born in Rhode Island but grew up in Vermont, and her home mountain is Mount Snow. Her parents, Terry and Cathy, own T.C.'s Family Restaurant in West Dover, and on display inside is Clark's gold medal from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Clark will enjoy community support and be among the favorites to win. She's off to a strong start this season, with a victory in the first Grand Prix event and a second-place finish, behind Gretchen Bleiler, in the last Dew Tour contest.

But Clark said in an interview that it's not about winning or losing -- yet. It's about fine-tuning her tricks and psyche so she'll be peaking a year from now -- at the Vancouver Olympics.

"I've been through it twice already so I know where my snowboarding is going to have to be and how I'm going to have to be prepared mentally and physically," she said. "So I'm moving toward that more than anything in the short term."

Translation: Clark, after finishing in fourth and off the podium at the 2006 Turin Games, has tunnel vision set squarely on the top spot at the Vancouver Games. "I'm a goal-oriented person and I can't tell you that I don't want to win this next Olympics," she said.

Of course, Hannah Teter and Bleiler, who were first and second, respectively, at the Turin Games, are likewise ramping up for the Vancouver Games, along with Australia's Torah Bright and a small group of podium contenders.

The same can be said of White and Davis, along with Danny Kass, Steve Fisher and a handful of others with realistic podium expectations a year from now in Canada.

-- Pete Thomas

Photos: Kelly Clark soars above the superpipe wall en route to a second-place finish in the inaugural Winter  Dew Tour competition last month at Breckenridge, Colo. In second photo, Danny Davis, flanked by Shaun White (left) and Scotty Lago, celebrates triumph in the men's competition. Credit: Bo Bridges/Winter Dew Tour