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Picture this: Your sweaty palms grip the handlebars of your mountain bike for dear life as you speed down the steep, wooded incline at breakneck pace, narrowly dodging trees and rocks with the wind in your hair and adrenaline in your veins. Heart pounding and eyes squinting, you approach the canyon's edge with the determination of a hawk. You reach the cliff, take flight, and soar over the rocky stream below, basking in the glory of yet another stretch of treacherous terrain conquered...

The closest I'll ever come to experiencing that scene is watching a Mountain Dew commercial. But for many college students, extreme sports in college are not only popular - they have become a part of campus life.

What's Extreme?
Here's a crash course on extreme sports, no pun intended. Extreme sports are exactly that - extreme. They push and challenge the boundaries of traditional athletics, like football, basketball, or soccer. Though all sports can be physically demanding, the element of increased danger is a defining component of extreme sports, as well as a loosened sense of rules and regulations. With the rapidly growing popularity of the XGames, some degree of structure has been applied, but most extreme sports are founded on the principal of "anything goes." Mountain biking, kayaking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, skateboarding, rock climbing, and hang gliding are just a few examples.

Campus Life Invasion
So what does this have to do with college? Believe it or not, more and more institutions of higher learning are getting turned on to the excitement and growing popularity of these sports by providing facilities, programs, and sometimes even credits for students who want to get in on the action.

"Our extreme sports program started out as an equipment rental program about 18 years ago," says Geoff Harrison, outdoor program coordinator at Boise State University (Boise, ID). "In the last five years, participation is up 60 percent and we now offer credit and non-credit opportunities for kayaking and [other outdoor sports]."

The X-Epidemic
Not only are schools like Boise State beginning to make extreme sport coursework available for credit, related extracurricular programs can be found at just about any university as well.

"People are realizing the fitness benefits that can be gained from being active, and these sports are much more enjoyable for many people," says Dugan Davies, associate director of wellness at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, Rochester, NY), which offers programs in hiking, kayaking, backpacking, and canoeing. "These activities have a cult following - students who participate are often nontraditional, independent, free-spirited people." If your school doesn't have the particular program you're looking for, you can always start your own. "I founded the wakeboarding club, which is sponsored by the student government," says Ben White, junior at Washington College (Chestertown, MD). "We're growing every year, and one of the college professors - our club advisor - is even more into it than we are!"

Why go to the extreme?
So what is it about hiking or rock climbing that satisfies many college students more than shooting hoops? "These sports allow you to apply your own ingenuity and creativity to the beautiful world around you. The experience is truly spiritual," says Erik Randall, a student at RIT.

"I enjoy the non-competitive nature of it," says Philip Light, another RIT student. "When you're climbing, it's just a battle with yourself and the rock. And the climbing community is hugely supportive of one another. In other sports, it feels like other athletes are there to try to beat you.""I think it's generational," Ben adds. "These sports are faster, more aggressive, and kids are picking them up and running with 'em."

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