Extreme sports are certain activities perceived as having a high level of danger, often involving speed, height and intense physical exertion. When you hear the term “extreme sport,” you may imagine bungee jumping or sky diving. Your typical idea of an extreme sport is about to change, and maybe even inspire you to bring the thrills to your area.
IceCross Downhill/Red Bull Crashed Ice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJxR82QAePM
Cities across the world have built ice-tracks, hosted hundreds of thousands of spectators, and set the platform for skaters to glide, fall and jump downhill and across a finish line. Sound extreme? It should.
Ice cross downhill (or downhill ice cross) is a winter extreme sporting event that involves direct competitive downhill skating on a walled ice track featuring sharp turns, ramps and high vertical drops. There are usually four racers who are typically ice hockey players.
Red Bull sponsors the Crashed Ice world tour event, which involves skating 600 meters downhill in an urban environment on a track that includes curves, jumps and drops.
Competitors, having advanced from tryouts in previous months, race in heats of four skaters, with the top two advancing from each heat. The points system was introduced in 2010; the skater with the most points becomes world champion. Points are awarded for the top 100 racers and start with 1,000 points for the winner, followed by 800, 600, 500 and decreasing to 0.5 points for place 100.
Red Bull Crashed Ice Quebec City 2007. Credit.
The 2014 World Championship took place on Feb. 1 in Helinski; Feb. 22 in St. Paul, Minn., March 8 in Moscow and March 22 in Quebec City. Marco Dallago from Austria won the 2014 World Championship. The women’s competition also took place in Quebec City, with Finland’s Salla Kyhälä taking the championship. Red Bull Crashed Ice isn’t limited to individual winners, however. Couch Garden Crew won the Team Challenge World Championship in Quebec City on March 22, 2014.
Red Bull Crashed Ice 2015 World Championship will take place in Edmonton, Canada. The date for the event will be announced when the 2015 race schedule is released later this fall.
Kiteboarding
Kiteboarding (also known as kitesurfing) usually refers to the surface water sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. But, the great thing about kiteboarding is that it can also be done on land or snow. No matter where you are, you can offer kiteboarding as an extreme sport to your adrenaline-junkie visitors. Not to mention, all you really need is a kite, a board and a windy day.
Kiteboarders use the wind combined with a large controllable power kite to propel themselves across the water or land, with or without foot-straps or bindings.
Kiteboarding Boracay kitesurfing. Credit.
There are different styles of kiteboarding, including freestyle, freeride, downwinders, speed, course racing, wakestyle, jumping and wave-riding. The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) is an International Class Association of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Its main responsibility is to manage the global administration of the sport and combine world events into one united ranking.
In 2012, the ISAF and IKA estimated about 1.5 million people worldwide participate in kiteboarding (pending review). The global market is worth U.S. $250 million.
Zorbing
Zorbing allows you to essentially see the world through the eyes of a hamster, making this sport both extreme and unusual. Also known as sphering, globe-riding or orbing, zorbing puts you in a large inflatable orb. Once in the orb, you can either roll down hills or push yourself around on flat land. Zorbing is a sport where you decide the extremity. It’s a great activity to offer tourists if you have rolling hills or large areas of flat land. It can even be done on water surfaces.
Zorbing. Credit.
There are two types of orbs, harnessed and non-harnessed. Non-harness orbs carry up to three riders, while the harness orbs are constructed for one to two riders. Double-harness spheres have different slope requirements, and must only be operated in specific locations. The longer runs are approximately half a mile. The first zorbing site was established in Rotorua, New Zealand.
People are always looking for a thrill, whether they are participating or simply watching. Why not consider bringing one of these extreme sports to your town?
