Dew Tour is doing it

By Ryan Brower

Double back flips, 900s and jaw dropping action is what you’ll see at this young but star-studded event. The Dew Action Sports Tour just completed its second full season, culminating at a blockbuster four days in Orlando from Oct. 12-15.

The tour had its inaugural season in 2005, spanning from June to October and saw immediate success. Because the X Games is only a twice a year event (summer and winter) the Dew Tour was quickly named the pro tour of action sports, also offering the biggest competitive cash purse in action sports at $3.5 million.

NBC and USA also offered live coverage of some of the tour. 2005 saw an estimated 232,000 spectators attend the tour, and there are no doubts that this year’s totals, when tallied, will surpass that number. With sponsors like Toyota, Panasonic, Vans, Right Guard, Verizon, NBC Sports and many others, the tour is getting big-time coverage at every stop and in between.

Five stops comprise the tour; Louisville, Denver, Portland, San Jose and Orlando, and it includes a multi-sport offering of freestyle motocross, BMX (park, vert, and dirt) and skate (park and vert). The tour has the whole generation X package, offering concerts and a festival village where spectators can enjoy the latest video games, prize giveaways and lots of other events for the entire family.

It is without a doubt though that skateboarding is the star of the tour, presenting skaters by the likes of Bucky Lasek, Paul Rodriguez, Rune Glifberg, Sandro Dias, Shaun White and adolescent phenom Ryan Sheckler.

These skaters continually push each other and the limitations of the sport, as well as all the other athletes on the tour. They are bringing their sports to new heights, as well as themselves (as evident in the vert sessions.)

With two action-packed seasons already under its belt, the tour looks to raise the bar for the next year, as possibilities for more stops and the addition of more sports is being discussed. So pay attention during the tour’s off-season, and begin getting stoked for the new year, because even though it won’t start to June, I can guarantee it will bring the action even harder.