Even though the winter brings temperatures cold enough to freeze even the toughest athlete, the extreme sports that it offers are nothing but hot. Winter extreme sports are a totally different kind of thrill than those that take place under the blazing summer sun; skiing, snowboarding, and a long list of other sports bring people from all over the world together. For extreme sports enthusiasts, winter means steep snow-covered slopes, a few extra layers, and of course a major adrenaline rush. Rather than looking at the sports you’re already familiar with, let’s take a look at some of the hottest extreme sports that are sure to be a hit this winter.
Airboarding
This particular sport can be looked at a couple of ways; traditional sledding with a new twist or body boarding on the snow. Whichever way you look at it, it’s clear that airboarding is a category of extreme all its own.
An airboard is an inflatable board with added grooves on the bottom to allow the rider to make quick stops and sharp turns while traveling at incredible speeds. What kind of speeds, you ask? Many riders reach speeds as high as 80 miles per hour! One great thing about airboarding is that it is incredibly convenient; all you have to worry about is a 6 pound board; no crazy equipment to haul around.
It’s important to keep in mind that while airboarding and reaching faster and faster speeds, you are heading down a snow-covered slope head first. Any miscalculation or wrong move will leave you with a face full of snow.
Paraskiing
Take the thrill of skiing down a major slope, add incredible altitudes and a parachute and you’ve got one of the hottest extreme sports that this winter has to offer. Paraskiing is generally done by either being dropped out of an aircraft or jumping from a mountaintop onto the slope. The parachute is quickly deployed and is mostly used to help steer the skier. When it comes to slalom and especially accuracy, Paraskiing ranks incredibly high and has become an increasingly popular competitive extreme sport.
Many people mistakenly believe that Paraskiing is the same thing as kite skiing, but this is not the case. Paraskiers depend on nothing but gravity to propel them while kite skiers have the luxury of being able to calculate based on wind speeds and motors.
Splitboarding
This particular extreme sport has made it possible for winter extreme sports fanatics to enjoy both snowboarding and skiing at the same time. A splitboard is essentially a snowboard that splits in half like skis. An added benefit is that the bottom of the board is fitted with climbing skis to allow the rider to climb up the slopes as well.
For most snowboarders, the most immaculate powder is needed to ensure the best boarding experience, but the enhanced design of splitboards allow you to snowboard backcountry worry free. The major issue with snowboards is that a lift is always required; nobody wants to walk up the slope carrying a board. With the split style and the skins, you can be far away from lifts and still board the day away. While Splitboarding was originally introduced in the 90’s, it has just recently started becoming more popular and more people are beginning to turn to it.
