The 2002 Winter Olympics put Utah on the map for international sports competition. Now the state will further seal its reputation as one of the world’s greatest play places by hosting the biggest extreme sports competition in state history.
This weekend the EnergySolutions Arena, home of the Utah Jazz, will be extreme sports headquarters, no whistle-blowing refs allowed. Downtown Salt Lake City will host the Action Sports Tour: Dew Tour this Thursday through Sunday. Billed as the Toyota Challenge, AST is bringing the biggest collection of professional skaters, boarders, BMX bikers and motocross riders to the Beehive State, one of only five nationwide stops.
The festival-style event will span nearly three city blocks of downtown Salt Lake City in and around the Energy Solutions Arena. Competitions include: vert and park skating; BMX vert, park, dirt and supercross; and Free Style Motocross.
Crews began work last Monday building countless ramps, rails, pipes and tabletops, turning the downtown area into a daredevil’s paradise. The buildup will take a staff of more than 50 people working 10 days to complete.
Rivaling the preparation of the competition areas is the media’s setup to capture every tail-whip, no foot nac and Mctwist. NBC will have 12 cameras at each site and four trucks to support its high definition live broadcasts during Saturday and Sunday’s competition. Friday’s coverage will air on USA.
Vans, Verizon, Slim Jim, Panasonic, Toyota, Play Station and Mountain Dew are just a few of the sponsors that will have interactive booths for festival-goers to sample new products, play games, get autographs and of course “swag.” The outdoor festival will be stocked with food and drinks for spectators to grab as they bolt from one event to the next. A mini skate park and BMX dirt course will also be open to children.
Since nothing goes better with extreme sports than loud music, the festival provides spectators with an ample amount of tunes. Full P.A. systems at each of the event sites, as well as in the festival area will provide a nonstop soundtrack of rock, hip-hop and metal for the entire event. A live concert featuring Chevelle and The Photo Atlas will kick off after competition Friday night.
Shaun White — also known as the flying tomato and one of the most exciting athletes in both skateboarding and snowboarding — will attempt to maintain his undefeated status in the skate-vert competitions on tour thus far. While Ryan Sheckler, star of MTV reality show “The Life Of Ryan” will look to get back on top after taking second in the skate-park event of the tour’s previous stop. BMX greats Dave Mirra and Ryan Nyquist, as well as BMX-vert point leader Jamie Bestwick will pedal into Salt Lake City to thrill fans of all BMX events. High-flying Nate Adams is the current leader in the FMX, standing only 71 points above Adam Jones who took the top spot at the Portland contest.
These competitions are serious business to these athletes, said Jeff Sturgis, director of events at the arena. In preparation for the Salt Lake date, Sturgis traveled to the tour’s Baltimore competition.
“These guys were out there practicing with trainers, working out, they’re definitely pros.”
They’re also guys that stand to make a lot of money in both prize money and endorser bonuses.
Sturgis believes the tour to be even better than ESPN’s X Games, citing the tour’s concentration on fewer events, media coverage, interactive element and simply “a better looking show.”
“This is like putting on a full rock concert, mini Olympics and street festival all at once,” Sturgis said.
Fans have already shown their excitement for the event, showing up to watch early stages of setup and buying tickets. Despite being what organizers call a “walk-up event” as far as ticket sales go, Salt Lake City has had better pre-event sales than any of the three previous tour stops. Organizers expect attendance to be between 40 and 50 thousand over the three days. Thursday’s prelims and practice sessions will be free with the purchase of any other Dew Tour ticket.
“We’re excited to try this new type of event,” said Scott Williams, EnergySolutions Arena senior vice president.
The tour, arena and Salt Lake Sports Commission have partnered together with the goal of keeping this event coming to Salt Lake City for the next three years, Williams said.
“We expect a strong attendance during the competitions,” Williams said. “Through big events like this and others, Utah is really becoming known as a place of sport.”
For full list of competitors, events schedule and ticket prices, including student discounts, go to www.astdewtour.com.