They came. They flew. They did the Dew.
Last weekend thousands of fans, hundreds of athletes and countless cans of highly caffeinated soda converged at the EnergySolutions Arena for the biggest extreme sport event in Utah history. Fans of freestyle motocross, BMX biking and skateboarding came from miles away, even crossing state lines in some cases. They were not disappointed.
The sports’ biggest names threw down with vengeance. The Salt Lake City competition was the penultimate in a five-city nationwide summer tour. After traveling, partying and competing with each other over the course of an entire summer, athletes showed up with something to prove going into the final stop next month in Orlando.
“It’s like the regular season is over, now the gloves are off,” said BMX fan Jake Bailey of the athletes’ competitive mind-set.
One of the competition’s biggest upsets came down to the last day of competition on the skateboard vert ramp. Shaun White, thus far undefeated on the Dew Tour and X Games vert gold medalist, came to Salt Lake City looking to shoot the moon, winning all five contests. Canadian Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who has been climbing the point ladder since the beginning of the tour, stole White’s thunder and the first place trophy. Veteran skater Bucky Lasek took second, leaving White the third place position on the podium. White retains the overall point advantage, a comfortable 101 points ahead of Gagnon, his nearest competition.
Skateboard park favorite Ryan Sheckler reclaimed his throne after dropping to second in the previous tour stop. Sheckler, the star of his own reality show “The Life of Ryan” on MTV, managed to stay focused on his skating despite the best efforts of hundreds of screaming preteens, sealing his third straight Dew Cup championship, and turning the Orlando gig into his personal victory lap.
The crowd-pleasing freestyle motocross event packed the outdoor bleachers despite rainy conditions Saturday morning, riders turned 300 truckloads of dirt in a parking lot into high-flying, jaw-dropping entertainment for Utah’s motorheads.
“These guys are freakin’ crazy, it’s sweet,” said 10-year-old Tanner Laney, who sported a huge smile, along with two or three riders’ autographs written in permanent marker, on his face.
Nate Adams took home the first place trophy and didn’t forget the $15,000 cash purse, either. Adams let his flawless cliffhanger backflip, nac-nac backflip and flip whips speak for themselves, showing why he’s the overall point leader and a clear favorite for the Orlando show.
After Zach Gerber gave BMX park fans a scare, landing on his back while attempting the first ever double front flip in competition, he walked off the course bringing the crowd to the edge of their seats with relief and excitement. Scotty Cranmer made his Dew Tour victory dreams a reality, while breaking the point trend and making Orlando anybody’s game. BMX star Ryan Nyquist took third in the park competition this weekend, bringing the Dew Cup-which is awarded to the overall point leaders-within his grasp.
When fans weren’t watching dudes launch themselves, they were packing their stomachs and backpacks with more free stuff than either could hold. Mountain Dew and Slim Jims constituted the entire diet of some festival-goers who didn’t see the need to pay for food when people were throwing it at them. Fans also entered drawings to win plasma screen TVs, custom skateboards and even motorcycles. Event attendees enjoyed access to their favorite athletes, an opportunity seldom seen in today’s mainstream sports. Rather than being told by a security guard to get out of the way of some NBA star’s SUV, Dew Tour fans got to rub shoulders with their idols, getting pictures and autographs to take home. “I just hugged Bob Burnquist,” screamed a red-faced teenage girl as she ran through the crowd towards her friends.
“The accessibility of these athletes is what attracts a lot of these kids to the sport,” said EnergySolutions Arena Senior Vice President Scott Williams, who worked with the Utah Sports Commission to get and keep the tour coming to Utah. “We see this event as a success, we’re hoping to get the winter tour here next year.”
The announcement that the Dew Tour would be taking on winter events came as the tour rolled into town, raising some eyebrows and hopes that the Salt Lake City area will be one of the competition’s winter sites in 2008.
Christain Petersen