At just 16 years old Alex Perelson is the youngest skater on the AST Dew Tour and is turning out to be one of the most exciting. As attention on the vert ramp shifts from veteran skaters like Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist, and Andy Macdonald to newcomer Shaun White and his steady streak of wins, Perelson is sharing the spotlight with smooth, fast lines and huge tricks like 720 tailgrabs that make the rookie rider seem likes hes been around forever.

When I was starting out this was my dream, to be competing with these guys and making it to the Finals, says Perelson, who grew up riding with Andy Macdonald and other pro riders at the vert ramp in Claremont, California. Right now my only goal in any of these contests is to make the Finals, and so far Ive made two out of three. It feels pretty cool.

Perelson first started making a name for himself back in 2004, winning the Damn Am vert contest. He also won the Tampa Am vert contest in 2006 before deciding he was ready to go after the big guys.

He finished in 6th place in his Baltimore debut at the Panasonic Open, and is currently in 11th place in the overall Dew Tour standings. Commentators and other pros are starting to suggest hes capable of winning one, and might very well be the guy to upset Shaun Whites string of big wins. For his part, Perelson is only focused on keeping his own runs together as best he can.

Towards the beginning of my runs I like to try to start off with a few really big airs, then go into some flip tricks and a few 540s, says Perelson. I know that putting the 720s into my runs is the biggest thing I can do to really be able to compete in the Finals. Its the one thing thats really keeping me in the mix.

Many of the biggest names in Vert skateboarding are more than twice as old as Perelson, and he says hes stoked to have had them as friends and mentors. Hes equally stoked to see a new generation of Vert riders coming up, with young riders like Rob Lorifice (19), Shaun White (20), and Jean Postec (22) making it to the Finals.

Street skating got really, really popular after the veteran Vert guys that are around now came up, and there was almost like a generation gap, says Perelson. But now there are a lot more kids coming up in Vert skating again. Im not sure why, but its so fast and so fun, you get to go so high, that it makes sense. Its so exciting just to be on a vert ramp, and I think kids are starting to rediscover that fact.