Next to Last Stop: Salt Lake

Sep 22 2007 / Salt Lake City, UT

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It takes a village to host a Dew Tour stop. There's a big one on the streets around the Energy Solutions Arena.

It's called "Festival Village," and it's got everything fans of skateboard, BMX and FMX could want, especially the kiddies. You've got the weekend to get to Salt Lake and share one of the most exciting stops on the Tour, or maybe make it down to the final stop in Orlando, but this is one event you don't want to miss.

Thursday, the party was just getting started. Skateboarding vert prelims went on inside the Arena, home of the Jazz basketball franchise. Shaun White got the most attention because the mainstream press still doesn't quite get it; most have never heard of Pierre-Luc Gagnon, who qualified first; while White wore himself out taking practice runs between each rider and ended up fifth, six and a quarter points under Gagnon. Still, White's perfect 540 McTwist and fakie 180 show that even tired, he's still a phenom.

There was some fine air at the pipe, with tricks that looked like freestyle skiing on wheels. But the intense un-fun of the Olympics has not yet infected skateboarding. White, perhaps to set an example for the press who paid attention only to him, loudly applauded the runs of every rider, board nose to deck.

The TV stations still don't get it. There was Ryan Sheckler (pictured, right) ready to ride Park and the TV cameras had all gone home after White's run.. Though Sheckler is the dominator, he is taking nothing for granted. Asked if anyone could possibly beat him this year, he grimaced and said, "Yeah, Greg, Rodil---they are all the best skateboarders in the world, so anything can happen."

Meanwhile, Greg Lutzka stood on the other side of the drop in, carefully rubbing black wax onto the underside of his deck.

"You can use regular candle wax," he said, denying that there was anything special about the stuff he was using. Asked how he thought he might do at this stop, Lutzka said cautiously, "I don't know how I'll do, we'll see how it goes."

He came in second, close to Sheckler.

Some Park skaters were slammed by the big wind that came up just as the prelims started. The flags that surrounded the park were standing straight out, and those riders hit by a sharp gust while doing a flip or spin trick got stuck with the uncertainty about where their board would be when they landed.

Outside, a block-sized parking lot had been covered with dirt for the BMX supercross. The stakes are high: Saturday's final in this stop at an Olympic city is the only U.S. Olympic qualifier for the Beijing Olympics, where BMX Supercross will make its debut next August and Park will be a demonstration sport.

In the dirt prelims, James Foster squeaked out a close win less than a point ahead of Cameron White, with Ryan Nyquist fourth.

Meanwhile, those who didn't spend $15 on a ticket got to enjoy the show at the village. One tent for Fathead enticed with a life-sized figure of Ryan Sheckler and a banner saying, "Get inside Ryan's head." The new FOX action sport TV channel had a tent and a big wheel of fortune to give away prizes.

There were action parks for the kiddies; a tiny skate park with mini quarterpipes and spines, a BMX cross run with rollers and a tight berm; and the most popular: an actual race track where kids 12 and under could ride a real motorbike and were loaned a protective uniform, helmet and gloves in which to do it.

Perhaps the best part is the 'House of Dew," a real home-like house that despite its solid, hardwood-floor and fireplace appearance, is portable, and can be taken apart and loaded on a truck to be put up again at the next stop. Inside, there's a dance floor, a sturdy wooden flight of stairs the leads to a game room with free games, a nicely appointed dining area where several artists airbrush tatoos on various body parts of people who don't mind waiting in a long line to get their free tatoo. There's even a deck outside, with landscaping---plastic, of course, but it's the thought that counts.

The enthusiasm of Utah fans is the highest on the Tour, according to several of the athletes. No surprise; Salt Lake is, after all, an Olympic city. They not only know how to put on a show, they know how to appreciate one as well.