Dew Tour 2011 – Portland, Oregon Street Skate, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.
As the Dew Tour rolled into Portland, Oregon with the first “Skate Street” event of the season, our goal was to create a modern, street-inspired course that would continue to complement the Dew Tour’s unique contest format – a combination of a timed run and an organized jam session.
In line with the street plaza movement, concrete is an integral part of this course and allowed the design to transform into a work of urban architecture. The course features the defining elements of a downtown plaza, while maintaining the perfect kind of flow that makes the Dew Tour events so fun to watch. With an innovative circular flow, free from any dead ends, riders are able to easily cruise up and down through the course and really let their style shine as they go from one feature to the next.
Anchoring the center of the course is an extra-wide staircase supported by concrete hubba ledges and a handrail, both inspired by real-world scale found in the streets. Landscaped planters and grass gaps add to the architectural aesthetic of the course, while providing exciting opportunities for big, crowd-pleasing tricks. An array of hips, ledges, manual pads and smaller hubbas and handrails round out the course, creating a near infinite number of lines and combinations.
Spohn Ranch crews arrived in Portland yesterday and are currently working hard on the construction of both the street course and concrete bowl. Follow us on twitter for the most up-to-date news!
