You may have read my previous list of top five extreme sports. However, these were the sports that most people should be able to do – if they have the guts to do it – in the knowledge that they will be quite safe. Let’s take a look at the top five extreme sports that actually are extreme. These are the sports that aren’t for the faint of hearted. These are the sports that will send your adrenaline rushing. One of three things will happen: you will hate it, you will die, or you will become a full addict. Dare you to try some of these!
#5 – Climbing
Forget those silly little walls with the colour coordinated footholds and stuff. They’re good for practicing, but that’s not real climbing. Real rock climbing is about finding a sheer cliff and making your way to the top by all means necessary. Nobody is suggesting you should be stupid and do this without ropes, but even with these ropes you may struggle. It requires strength, endurance and ability and a whole lot of guts. Best of all, you can do it in all sorts of settings, including bouldering (smaller rocks, great to start off with), ice climbing and buildering (climbing up buildings, very Spiderman).
#4 – Big Wave Surfing
Big wave surfing is one heck of an extreme sport, particularly when you consider that most people think regular surfing is already pretty extreme. Here however, you need to find a wave that is at least 20 foot high. Make a mistake and a wall of water of that height will come crashing down on you. Don’t expect to come back out the other hand, basically. The most extreme of big wave surfers is Pete Cabrinha, who rode a 70 foot monster wave in January 2006 in Maui.
#3 – BASE Jumping
BASE jumping takes extreme sports to a whole new level. You jump off one of four types of fixed objects, being Buildings, Antennas, Spans or Earth. You do need a specially designed BASE jumping parachute for this one. Reports of BASE jumpers dying come in quite regularly and it’s no surprise. This is a seriously risky sport, particularly when you consider that you have to free-fall for quite a distance. Consider that it takes just under six seconds to fall 150 metres and you will get an idea of how quick your reflexes need to be for this one.
#2 – Hang Gliding
Hang gliding has been around for years, with people running down hills in a kite of very low performance. This has changed, however, and you are now able to stay in the air for hours, reach several thousand feet in height and you can go over 100 kilometres per hour. This means you have to find air masses, like thermals. However, get them wrong and you could crash into the ground (if you’re lucky), into trees or into rock faces. Accidents here are common because it is easy to lose control and many of these accidents turn out to be deadly.
#1 – Extreme Skiing
Extreme Skiing has to win as the most extreme sport. Here, you ski down a slope that is at least at a 45 degree angle. It is the hardest of all the extreme sports and the most likely to go wrong. You have to be able to land safely when hurtling yourself to the ground and there are lots of natural obstacles in your way. Best of all, extreme skiing is generally only possible on pieces of snow that are prone to avalanches, so good luck with that one!
