Extreme Sports
Dew Tour
The Dew Tour was established in 2005 as the world's premier season-long action sports tour. With five stops from June through October, the Dew Tour is owned and operated by Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports. NBC Universal and MTV, along with USA Network, are the broadcast homes of the Dew Tour. They combine for 52 hours of Dew Tour coverage, the largest in all of action sports. In its fourth year, the Dew Tour is the most watched and attended action sports property in the world, reaching 100 countries and 280 million homes worldwide.
Each event features skateboarding (park and vert), BMX (park, vert, and dirt) and freestyle motocross. With cumulative points earned at each of the five stops based on performance, the overall points leader in each of the six disciplines is crowned year-end champion and awarded the prestigious Dew Cup. The winner with the most overall points is also awarded the title of Athlete of the Year. Past Dew Cup winners include Bucky Lasek, Ryan Sheckler, Jamie Bestwick, Shaun White and Nate Adams.
Key lifestyle elements at each Tour event include the Festival Village, specialty competitions, and live cutting-edge music. The Dew Tour's partners include Mountain Dew (tour title sponsor) and Wendy's (whose seat was previously occupied by Vans), Toyota and PlayStation (all event title sponsors). Associate partners include Ball Park, Mongoose, and Verizon Wireless.
Kite Boarding
Location: The Gorge, Hood River, Oregon (One of the best places on the planet and only 1 hours from Portland.)
Best Seasons: Summer (You can kite all year long with enough rubber or a drysuit.)
Wind Conditions: W/SW/NW (or sometimes E)
Wind speeds vary considerably, from 15 mph to over 30 mph (don't forget that there is a 2-3 knot upwind current in the main channel of the Columbia River and an offshore current coming out of the Hood River when the water is high). The bread-and-butter kite for an average-size guy is a 12 m (surface area).
Wind Check: www.iwindsurf.com or www.windance.com
