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Even after he moved away from Salt Lake City to Pocatello, Idaho, Colton Satterfield returned to northern Utah almost weekly for its BMX culture and skate parks.

That, along with appreciation for skating and motocross, has helped make the Salt Lake City the most successful stop on the Dew Tour, the four-day action sports extravaganza that starts Thursday.

Last year, the Salt Lake City Dew Tour, in its third year here, drew 57,329 fans. The next-best attended stop was in Orlando, which sold nearly 8,000 fewer tickets.

Satterfield, trying to work his way up as a BMX dirt rider, spent most of his middle school and high school years in Idaho, but as a teenager went to a BMX competition in Layton.

"We just went there to watch it when I very first barely started riding," he said. "And I saw all these big name pros were here."

Satterfield, who reached finals in Salt Lake City last year, said many of the top BMXers in the world live in Utah, including legend Fuzzy Hall and Mike Aitken.

Among local athletes competing at this week's Dew Tour is Adam Dyet, the self-described "party guy" of skateboarding. With his trademark long hair and skater punk image, Dyet is a "fantastic personality," said Chris Prybylo, the vice president of events at Alli Sports, the umbrella organization that runs the Dew Tour.

"Salt Lake City has always done extremely well," he said. "I can't even begin to count how many attendance records they've set or broken."

Its not just local athletes that have contributed to the Dew Tour's success here, Prybylo said.

"When you go to Salt Lake, one of the things you see is Utahns are passionate action sports enthusiasts," he said.

Part of that is FMX, the freestyle motocross event that the Dew Tour puts on a bigger stage in Salt Lake than anywhere else. Here, there is a qualifying round for FMX and then finals, whereas it was something of a forgotten discipline at the Portland stop.

More than its connection with one particular discipline, Salt Lake is successful, Prybylo and the athletes said, because of an appreciation for all action sports.

"If you're an action sports fan, I think it cuts across everything," he said.

Dyet is among the top skaters to ever come out of Utah. He finished third in the X Games last year, despite limited success on the Dew Tour.

"I try to skate good, but there's so many good kids," he said. "But I'll get my time."

Dyet lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., but said he is in the process of moving back to live part-time in Salt Lake City. His 10-month-old daughter, Annibel Dianne, lives here.

Dyet dropped out of school after stints at Tooele and Granger high schools to pursue a career in skating.

"I didn't really know where I was going," he said. "I just wanted to have fun and skateboard. My mom didn't like that it. Just went from there and I made it from there."

For both he and Satterfield, doing well at the best-attended Dew Tour stop carries extra-special meaning.

After reaching the final round in dirt here last year, Satterfield — who said it didn't make him any more nervous to ride in front of family and friends — is eager to again have a strong showing at home.

"It was like a dream come true, kind of," he said.

For Dyet, this week is a test of sorts. He said he quit partying — image or no image — on his 25th birthday, Aug. 29, and that this week, "Daddy Dyet will be in full effect."

"I might be a skateboarder," he said," but I'm not a little punk."

boram@sltrib.com Twitter: @oramb —

Dew Tour at a glance

What • Action-sports competition featuring stars of skateboarding, BMX and motocross.

When • Thursday-Sunday

Where • EnergySolutions Arena and surrounding areas

Tickets • Available at http://www.SmithsTix.com or the EnergySolutions box office; start at $15

Athletes you may know • Skateboarder Shaun White will be there, as will veteran skateboarders Bucky Lasek and Bob Burnquist, plus BMX riders Jamie Bestwick and Dave Mirra.

When to see Colton Satterfield • Thursday at 7 p.m. in the BMX dirt prelims

When to see Adam Dyet • Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the skateboard park prelims. —

Dew Tour schedule

Thursday

• BMX vert prelims, 3:30 p.m.

• Skateboard park prelims, 4:30 p.m.

• BMX dirt prelims, 7 p.m.

Friday

• Skateboard vert prelims, 1:30 p.m.

• BMX park prelims, 4 p.m.

• FMX open qualifier, 5 p.m.

• BMX vert final, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

• BMX dirt final, 2 p.m.

• Skateboard park final, 5 p.m.

• FMX, 8 p.m.

Sunday

• Skateboard vert final, 2 p.m.

• BMX park final, 5 p.m. —

Packing 'em in

2009 Dew Tour attendances:

Salt Lake City • 57,329

Orlando • 49,558

Portland • 47,680

Boston • 40,328

Chicago • 26,042