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• Hudson native Mike Casanova wins Dew Tour event

Mike Casanova, son of Pat and Linda Casanova of Hudson, took first place in the snowboard division of the Wendy's Invitational in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 23.

The invitational was part of the Dew Tour, a five-event action sports series featuring skateboarding, motocross, snowboarding and skiing competition. The Tour awards a total of $3.5 million in prize money and is televised by NBC, MTV and USA stations.

A prize purse of nearly $14,000 was at stake in the Nike 6.0 Snowboard and Ski Rail Jam won by Casanova.

The 2003 Hudson High School graduate beat out Chris Rotax, Trevor Jacob, Riley Nickerson and 2007 champ Jonas Michilot in the 30-minute competition featuring handrails and ledges.

The tour's Web site, www.ast.com, reports that the riders began their runs from the top of a 30-foot high snow-covered platform, dropping in to hit handrails with ledges on either side. Three judges ranked the competitors based on the variety, difficulty, technical ability and use of course obstacles in their performances.

"It's awesome to be snowboarding under the lights in downtown Portland in the middle of August," Casanova was quoted as saying on the Action Sports Tour Web site.

The writer said Casanova was interviewed at the base of a 30-foot platform covered in snow made from 44,000 pounds of ice.

"This is such an inspiring place to be riding, with all these FMX, BMX and skateboarding athletes I look up to, and in front of tons of kids who are just looking to see progressive snowboarding firsthand," Casanova added. "It should be insane to see where it all goes once the Winter Dew Tour gets underway this year."

The Winter Dew Tour will feature Slopestyle and Superpipe competition for both snowboarders and skiers, with events at Breckenridge, Colo., (Dec. 18-21), West Dover, Vt. (Jan. 8-11), and Lake Tahoe, Calif. (Feb. 19-22).

Casanova honed his snowboarding skills at Badlands Sno-Park east of Hudson as a teenager. In the fall of 2004, he moved to Breckenridge to pursue snowboarding full-time.

He broke into the sport as a professional at the Hondo Sessions in Vail, Colo., in January 2005 - and has been making a living at it since then.

See the Sept. 4 Star-Observer for a complete report.