Local, visiting athletes step it up for sick and twisted stunt show

Athletes sailed through the air on skateboards, BMX bikes, swings and trampolines Saturday during Shawn Goodner's Xtreme Air Sick, Wild And Twisted stunt show.

Carson High School student Chelsey Wilkens performed for the first time with a group of flying acrobats. She did backflips and handsprings along a narrow trampoline in front of cheering crowds at Fuji Park.

"It felt good," she said later while fans waited to meet her. "Adrenaline."

Her team mates did triple somersaults off a 100-foot tower into a 5-foot thick airbag while motorcyclists jumped over three cars and skateboarders did back flips off a wooden ramp.

"This show was the epitome of my dream," said producer Shawn Goodner. "To see everybody stepping it up - that's what it's all about."

He said he's been dreaming of just such an event for about 8 years.

"There's never been this many action sports together, so Carson City is getting a real treat."

The show included BMX bike riders doing tricks on curved ramps, the Xtreme Air acrobats doing flips off trampolines with snowboards on their feet and comic antics from a resilient janitor named Rufus.

"Gee, this is what 14-year-olds do for fun," said retiree Brownye Biallas in the stands. She and her husband, Mark, were staying in an RV park across the street and came to see the show. They watched a teen drop from 75 feet high on a tower.

"I'm on the shady side of 75 and on the sunny side of 80," said Mark Biallas. "I'm not about to go up there."

Local athlete Trevor Snowden, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1997 snowboarding accident, jumped his off-road wheelchair over a 6-foot wooden ramp. After landing a few without problem, he upped the ante and tried something he'd never done before. He came roaring into the area at about 35 mph and hit a bigger ramp, launching over a 15-foot gap. Time stood still as he hung in the air, then landed safely.

"That was tight as hell," said Zach Johnson, of Reno, in the crowd.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," said his buddy, Duke Clayton.

"My boy's getting sick on ya'll," Goodner hollered into the microphone.

Two motocross dirt bikers launched 85 feet over three brand new cars: two Scions and a $50,000 Harley Davidson edition F250 Super Duty truck. They performed tricks such as the fully inverted superman and the no-hander lander.

Ten-year-old Matthew Buscay was especially excited about the motocross because he rides a 65 cc Kawasaki.

"It was tight," he said. "There was a bunch of killer stunts out there."

He attended with his father, Brent.

Riding mountain skateboards with inflated wheels and bindings, Jason E. Small and Saer White towed in and hit a ramp to jump a 20-foot gap. They performed back flips and 360-degree spins - sometimes sliding out in the dirt.

"Mountain boarding's not really a sport for the meek," said Small. "You've got to be willing to take some diggers."

Nina Buitrago was the only female performing with a group of BMX riders from New York.

"I'm really stoked to be out here with all the guys," she said. "Girls are just getting started in this sport."

Goodner organized the traveling stunt show, getting sponsors such as Carson City Toyota, Michael Cycle Works, Red Bull and Fast Signs.

Three more shows are offered today at Fuji Park, one at 11 a.m., one at 3 p.m. and the late show at 7 p.m. During the last show a 41 cc Salorr crotchrocket pocket bike worth $400 will be auctioned off along with a Go-Ped motorized scooter.

Tickets are $8 for kids, $12 for adults. For details call (800) 225-2277 or go to www.xtremeair.com.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.