AST Dew Tour unveils street-inspired skate course

The AST Dew Tour, the world’s premier season-long action sports tour, today announced a new street-focused skate course for the Wendy’s Invitational, held August 21-24 in Portland. This is the first time in Dew Tour history that the skateboard park course will focus on the elements of street skating with a plaza-inspired design.

The street-focused course in Portland will feature stairs, rails, jersey barriers, and cement ledges along with elements that will give the course a real-life feel – including a picnic table, fire hydrant, brick stamped Skatelite, and shrubbery. Legendary professional skateboarder Eric Koston was granted a wildcard to compete in the event, as his specialty is technical, street-skating.

“We are thrilled to unveil this new design,” said Wade Martin, AST president. “When the ’08 Skate Park Dew Cup champion is crowned at the end of the season in Orlando, it will be an athlete that is well rounded and who has remained consistent across the different styles of courses – both park and street focused.”

“This course is definitely my cup of tea. I saw the drawing of it, and it looked great,” said Paul Rodriguez, currently first in 2008 Skate Park Dew Cup standings. “For me personally, this style of course gives me more options of tricks to try. So hopefully when I skate it in Portland I’ll feel the same way.”

Rodriguez expressed his approval of the new course and is excited to compete at the upcoming Wendy’s Invitational. He excels at this style of skating, as does Koston. Watch for some fierce competition from fellow skaters including three-time Dew Cup champion Ryan Sheckler, Greg Lutzka and Jereme Rogers. All athletes are top contenders for a podium spot in Portland.

Currently in its fourth year, the AST Dew Tour is the most watched and attended action sports property in the world. Attendance for the 2007 AST Dew Tour totaled 280,000 and an average of 41 million viewers tuned in via NBC and USA each year. The top athletes in the world will take part in this year’s Tour, all competing for the highly coveted Dew Cup that will be awarded in Orlando at season’s end to champions in each of the six disciplines. The 2007 Dew Cup winners include Nate Adams (Freestyle Motocross), Jamie Bestwick (BMX Vert), Ryan Nyquist (BMX Dirt), Daniel Dhers (BMX Park), Shaun White (Skateboard Vert) and Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park).