Waynesboro gets Xtreme

Event celebrates outdoor sports
By David Royer/staff
droyer@newsleader.com

WAYNESBORO — Joshua Phillips was a little leery stepping into a shaky kayak with his father on the lazy green water of the South River on Saturday.

A few minutes later, the bright-eyed second-grader climbed up the riverbank, smiling and ready to do it again.

"It's a boys' day out," Joshua said. "My mom's at work, and I just wanted to spend some time with my dad."

Joshua was one of more than 2,000 extreme sports fans and outdoor enthusiasts expected to visit Ridgeview Park for Xtremefest '07, a sun-loving sports celebration that has gained traction since the Waynesboro Parks and Recreation Department organized the first event last year.

While people piled into canoes and kayaks from Blue Ridge Mountain Sports and Rockfish Gap Outfitters on the river, five bicycle daredevils with the Keith King BMX Stunt Show soared above spectators with no-hands vertical ramp stunts. Awestruck children formed a line for autographs from their gravity-defying heroes.

The BMX stunts were a favorite activity for 8-year-old Cheyenne Wood. She didn't try any bike tricks herself, but she did almost make it to the top of a 25-foot vertical rock-climbing wall.
"I just wanted to give it a try," Cheyenne said.

Waynesboro's location on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains creates the perfect setting for outdoor activities, and Xtremefest is the perfect fit for the city's extreme-sports crowd, said Dwayne Jones, superintendent of parks and horticulture in Waynesboro.

"It's just perfect," Jones said. "All of these activities, you can do within 10 minutes of Waynesboro."