Athletes, officials and fans "labeled the Dew Tour's stop in Portland, held over the weekend at the Rose Quarter, nothing short of a success," according to Skyler Archibald in a special to the Portland OREGONIAN. A total of 47,680 fans attended the four-day event and "watched top athletes competing in the action sports of BMX, freestyle motocross and skateboarding." Event officials said that attendance was "down slightly from last year's total of 51,000 but compares to other stops the Dew Tour has made this year." Alli Sports VP/Events Chris Prybylo, whose company organizes the Dew Tour, said that Portland "continues to be an outstanding location for all that the Dew Tour offers." Prybylo: "The community understands action sports and they support action sports. The crowds are strong, the weather is beautiful and to have the opportunity to come to this unique venue with two arenas in close proximity and all the other space we have here is great." Alli Sports "brought roughly 200 staff to Portland for the week while 139 athletes took part in the various competitions." Portland served as the "first stop on the Dew Tour that had the facilities to accommodate both BMX and skateboard events while Chicago and Boston, the previous stops the tour made earlier this summer, only featured either BMX or skateboard." Fans also were "able to witness a first-of-its-kind event as tour organizers held a 'real street' skateboard event where competitors performed tricks on one of Memorial Coliseum's loading dock rails." Prybylo: "It's something that we haven't done before but were grateful to the staff here for allowing. We searched all over the grounds here for the best spot and the skaters battled it out for a $2,500 prize" ( Portland OREGONIAN, 8/17 ).
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