CANVAS, WV (WOAY) – The Good Evening Ranch in Nicholas County hosted a rock crawling competition.
This weekend, The Good Evening Ranch located just outside Summersville welcomed XRock Extreme Rock Crawling to West Virginia. According to the owner and president of XRock Hans Scherer, rock crawling is a vehicular sport that has dipped in popularity in recent years but is making a comeback.
“We put these on all up and down the East Coast here in the general vicinity between New England and down south doing competitive rock crawling. It’s a sport that’s been around for 25 years probably on the East Coast,” Scherer said.
To help revitalize the sport, XRock scoped out some places around the East Coast to hold competitions. It requires a specific type of terrain, one that the Good Evening Ranch was able to provide.
“It was really popular for a while and it started dying down. And I said y’know we need to bring this back. So we came down here to Good Evening Ranch to work with these guys and put on this event. Killer terrain, killer facility, excellent people to work with.”
Rock crawling is more than just driving a buggy. According to David Book, a driver with Xrock, it’s a team sport where a driver and spotter are codependent to reach the goal with as few violations as possible.
“We’re a team, driver and spotter, which is a partner. They assist you through a course and help guide you through the things you can’t see to get through obstacles,” Book said.
XRock says they are thrilled with the community reception. They say they expect it to soon be as popular as it once was years ago.
“Everybody seems to be having a great time, enjoying themselves, and that’s what we like to see. We’re trying to build the sport back on the East Coast and push it back to what it was years ago and I think this is a step in the right direction.”
17 drivers came out to participate in the XRock competition at Good Evening Ranch. They use three different types of cars to scale the terrain, each with their own advantages and skill levels. It was estimated that more than 100 people came to spectate.
XRock plans to host more events around the East Coast and in West Virginia in the near future.
