Kids adore adventures, and this year’s Mountain Sports Festival will deliver a variety of kid-centric outdoor adventures and activities. “Every kid should go, because it’s fun and you get to be outdoors.” So says 8-year-old Flat Rock resident Samuel Ray-Alverson, a first-time participant in several events at last year’s MSF. He grooved on the dirt […]

What it feels like… To mess up a river-rescue rope toss: Photo courtesy of All Terrain Images “A fellow guide was trying to throw the rope bag to [someone who’d fallen out of their boat] on the French Broad. He had the bag in one hand and the rope in the other, like you’re supposed […]

Talk to past Mountain Sports Festival participants, and they stress one word: fun.

Many also point to the event’s evolution since its first run in 2001. Early editions featured teams of adventure racers converging on the lawn at City/County Plaza, map in hand, planning the best way to navigate mountains, rivers and roads during rigorous cross-country hikes, frantic cycling and frenzied kayaking. Those who weren’t into such extreme sports could practice rolling a kayak in a big portable pool, climb a wall in the shadow of Asheville City Hall, or watch a variety of demonstrations.

The core of MSF: Asheville’s Carrier Park becomes Festival Village during Mountain Sports Festival weekend. Photo by Margaret Williams

The adventure racing is no more, and the festival moved to Carrier Park on Amboy Road several years ago. But the heart of the event beats strong.

In part, that’s due to the other F-word behind most festival components: free. “We’ve expanded the clinics and demonstrations this year,” says organizer Jeff Makey, who owns River Right Instruction. Demos and clinics will get their own space at the Festival Village (aka Carrier Park), he mentions. Sessions will cover everything from knot tying for white-water sports to bicycle maintenance to backpacking equipment and skills. Among the more esoteric offerings are nonwinch recovery systems for off-road adventures and even a Hula-Hoop clinic.

“One of the keys to the festival mission is increasing awareness and participation in mountain sports. The festival is a chance to talk to the pros, check out equipment and learn something,” Makey explains.

1) Festival Village Carrier Park, Amboy Road, West Asheville. From downtown Asheville: Go south on Biltmore Avenue for about two miles; at light, turn right on Meadow Road. At the second light (at bridge), turn left onto Amboy Road. Travel 1.5 miles; Carrier Park will be on the left. From I-26: Take I-240 east to […]

Teen quintet Jazz The Ripper plays with a savvy beyond their years. Check their MySpace page for a playlist that reads more like a fast-food menu (“Java Chiller,” Paco’s Taco,” “No Pickle”), but the tongue-in-cheek stops with the songs’ titles. Each piece is a serious composition displaying skilled musicianship, layered textures, complex rhythms and tasteful […]

What it feels like… Friday, May 29 Road Racing, 5 p.m., Festival Village Saturday, May 30 Wheel Ride for Food, Metric Century Bike Ride, 8 a.m., Festival Village Bicycle Commuter Clinic, 10:30 a.m., Festival Village Road Racing, 5 p.m., Festival Village Bicycle Maintenance Clinic, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Festival Village Sunday, May 31 Mountain […]

What it feels like… To hit a hole-in-one in disc golf: “I was playing a tournament in Austin, Texas, where I used to live. I’m getting ready to throw, and there’s a big tree near our tee. A squirrel runs down the tree, stops right by me, plants a nut behind the rope [that marks […]

What it feels like… Saturday, May 30 Knots for Whitewater Clinic, 10 a.m., Festival Village Ducky Trip on the French Broad, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Festival Village Whitewater-Rescue Rigging Clinic, 11 a.m., Festival Village Intro to Kayaking, 2:30 p.m., Asheville Outdoor Center Throw Ropes for Whitewater Clinic, 5 p.m., Festival Village A History of […]

What it feels like… To get hit playing dodge ball: Photo by Jonathan Welch “Mentally or physically? Physically it’s not bad. You can get hit in sensitive areas that sting for a couple of minutes. But all in all, the balls are like foam balls. Some of the guys who throw it harder, it feels […]

What it feels like… Friday, May 29 Rock2Rock Trail Run, 5 p.m., Camp Rockmont Saturday, May 30 Kids Stampede 1K Fun Run, 8:15 a.m., Martin Luther King Park Sunset Stampede 10 Mile and 5K, 9 a.m., Martin Luther King Park To take the wrong turn in a trail race: “A running buddy of mine followed […]

Friday, May 29 Mountain Sprouts Kids Climbing Competition, 5 p.m., Festival Village Saturday, May 30 Youth & Adult Climbing Competition, 10 a.m., ClimbMax Sport Rock Climbing Skills Clinic, 2 p.m., Festival Village Rock Climbing Cam-Repair Clinic, 6 p.m., Festival Village To climb with your inner child: “If you look at little kids, they almost all […]