2. Extreme sport
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The origin of the divergence of the term "extreme sports" from "sports" may date to the 1950s in the
appearance of a phrase usually, but wrongly, attributed to Ernest Hemingway.[9]The phrase is
"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely
games."The implication of the phrase was that the word "sport" defined an activity in which one might
be killed. The other activities being termed "games". The phrase may have been invented by either
writer Barnaby Conrad or automotive author Ken Purdy.[9]
The Dangerous Sports Club of Oxford University, England was founded by David Kirke, Chris Baker,
Ed Hulton and Alan Weston. They first came to wide public attention by inventing modern day bungee
jumping, by making the first modern jumps on 1 April 1979, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol,
England. They followed the Clifton Bridge effort with a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco, California (including the first female bungee jump by Jane Wilmot), and with a televised
leap from the Royal GorgeSuspension Bridge in Colorado, sponsored by and televised on the
popular American television program That's Incredible! Bungee jumping was treated as a novelty for a
few years, then became a craze for young people, and is now an established industry for thrill seekers.
The Club also pioneered a surrealist form of skiing, holding three events at St. Moritz,Switzerland, in
which competitors were required to devise a sculpture mounted on skis and ride it down a mountain.
The event reached its limits when the Club arrived in St. Moritz with a London double-decker bus,
wanting to send it down the ski slopes, and the Swiss resort managers refused.
Other Club activities included expedition hang gliding from active volcanoes; the launching of giant
(60 ft) plastic spheres with pilots suspended in the centre (zorbing); microlightflying; and BASE
jumping (in the early days of this sport).
In recent decades the term extreme sport was further promoted after the Extreme Sports Channel,
Extreme.com launched and then the X Games, a multi-sport event was created and developed
by ESPN.[10][11] The first X Games (known as 1995 Extreme Games) were held
in Newport, Providence, Mount Snow, and Vermont in the United States.[12][13]
4. Extreme sports
Motivation
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Motivation
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Snowboarder drops off a cornice.
A feature of such activities in the view of some is their alleged capacity to induce an adrenaline rush in
participants.However, the medical view is that the rush or high associated with the activity is not due
to adrenaline being released as a response to fear, but due to increased levels
of dopamine, endorphins and serotonin because of the high level of physical exertion. Furthermore, a
recent study suggests that the link to adrenaline and 'true' extreme sports is tentative.The study defined
'true' extreme sports as a leisure or recreation activity where the most likely outcome of a mismanaged
accident or mistake was death. This definition was designed to separate the marketing hype from the
activity.
Eric Brymer also found that the potential of various extraordinary human experiences, many of which
parallel those found in activities such as meditation, was an important part of the extreme sport
experience. Those experience put the participants outside their comfort zone and are often done in
conjunction with adventure travel.
Some of the sports have existed for decades and their proponents span generations, some going on to
become well known personalities. Rock climbing and ice climbing have spawned publicly recognizable
names such as Edmund Hillary, Chris Bonington, Wolfgang Güllichand more recently Joe Simpson.
Another example is surfing, invented centuries ago by the inhabitants of Hawaii.
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5. Marketing
• Some contend that the distinction between an extreme sport and a
conventional one has as much to do with marketing as with the
level of danger involved or the adrenaline generated. For example,
rugby union is both dangerous and adrenaline-inducing but is not
considered an extreme sport due to its traditional image, and
because it does not involve high speed or an intention to
perform stunts(the aesthetic criteria mentioned above) and also it
does not have changing environmental variables for the
athletes. Demolition derbyracing, predominantly an adult sport, is
not thought of as 'extreme' while BMX racing, a youth sport, is.
• One common aspect of an extreme sport is a counter-cultural aura
— a rejection of authority and of the status quo by disaffected
youth. Some youth of Generation Y have seized upon activities
which they can claim as their own, and have begun rejecting more
traditional sports in increasing numbers.
7. Rafting
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Rafting or white water rafting is the challenging
recreational outdoor activity of using an inflatable raft to
navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is often done
on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to
thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this
activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid1970s, evolving from individuals paddling 10 feet (3.0 m) rafts
with double-bladed paddles to multi-person rafts propelled by
single-bladed paddles and steered by a tour guide at the stern.
It is considered an extreme sport, and can be fatal. The modern
raft is an inflatable boat, consisting of very durable, multilayered rubberized (hypalon) or vinyl fabrics (PVC) with several
independent air chambers. Typical lengths vary from 6 m (20 ft)
(with a width of 2.5 m (8 ft)) down to very portable singlepersonpackrafts which may be as small as 1.5 metres (4.9 ft)
long and weigh as little as 4 pounds (1.8 kg).
Rafts come in a few different forms. In Europe and Australasia,
the most common is the symmetrical raft steered with a doublebladed paddle at the stern. Other types are the asymmetrical
rudder-controlled raft, the symmetrical raft with central helm
(oars), and Stern Mounts with the oar frame located at the rear
of the raft. Rafts are usually propelled with ordinary paddles and
or oars and typically hold 4 to 12 persons. In Russia, rafts are
often hand made and are often a catamaran style with two
inflatable tubes attached to a frame. Pairs of paddlers navigate
on these rafts. Catamaran style rafts have become popular in the
western United States as well, but are typically rowed instead of
paddled.
8. • Aerobatics is the practice
of flying maneuvers involving aircraft
attitudes that are not used in normal
flight. Aerobatics are performed
in airplanes and gliders for training, recreatio
n, entertainment, and sport. Additionally,
some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are
capable of limited aerobatic maneuvers.[3] The
term is sometimes referred to as acrobatics,
especially when translated.[citation needed]
• Most aerobatic maneuvers involve rotation of
the aircraft about its longitudinal (roll) axis or
lateral (pitch) axis. Other maneuvers, such as
a spin, displace the aircraft about its vertical
(yaw) axis. Maneuvers are often combined to
form a complete aerobatic sequence for
entertainment or competition.
• Aerobatic flying requires a broader set of
piloting skills and exposes the aircraft to
greater structural stress than for normal flight.
In some countries, the pilot must wear a
parachute when performing aerobatics.
Aerobatics
9. Ice climbing
• Ice climbing is the activity of ascending inclined ice
formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and
protected climbing of features such as icefalls,
frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice
refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of climbing,
ice can be broadly divided into two spheres, alpine ice and
water ice.
• Alpine ice is found in a mountain environment, usually
requires an approach to reach, and is often climbed in an
attempt to summit a mountain. Water ice is usually found
on a cliff or other outcropping beneath water flows.
• Alpine ice is frozen precipitation whereas water ice is a
frozen liquid flow of water. Most alpine ice is generally one
component of a longer route and often less technical,
having more in common with standard glacier travel,
while water ice is selected largely for its technical
challenge.
• Technical grade is, however, independent of ice type and
both types of ice vary greatly in consistency according to
weather conditions. Ice can be soft, hard, brittle or
tough. Mixed climbing is when ascending involves both ice
climbing and rock climbing.