Equipment Outfitters

Traveling down a snow-covered 60-degree slope at an excess of 125 mph (200 kph) on a skis is without question extreme. In fact, the 150 mph (240 kph) record for speed skiing was recently established. Is there any doubt that riding a mountain bike down that very same slope and seeking to achieve that very same speed is extreme too?

Over the past few years, downhill mountain bike racers have been pushing the limits of speed on specially outfitted mountain bikes, and have already broken the 125 mph threshold. The bikes are fitted with special aerodynamic fairings and tires modified with large spikes to grip the snow and ice-covered surface as they accelerate to maximum velocity before racing through a speed-trap zone (a timed distance that determines the official speed established by the rider). Read the rest of this entry »

Like some of the other extreme sports, snowshoeing got its start not as a sport but as a means of survival. Its roots go back some 6,000 years, when people who lived in predominantly snowbound regions needed to augment their footwear to get through untracked regions. In fact, snowshoes are directly linked to the spread of mankind into regions around the globe where heavy snowfall is a part of life.

As long as there have been snowshoes, snowshoeing has drawn users out for pleasure treks in addition to using them for survival. Therefore, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when snowshoeing made the transition from arrival skill to sport. Certainly, in the early twentieth century more and more people began getting outdoors for social trekking in e colder climate areas. Snowshoeing was dell, used in both WWI and WWII as troops sought to secure regions in the Alps and other areas covered by snowfall. Read the rest of this entry »

Once down at the bottom of the mountain, what do you do next? It wasn’t long before boarders realized that adding a windsurfing- style sailing rig to their board would allow them to sail back up the slopes, without needing a lift or hike. All they needed was wind direction from the side or directly up the slope of the terrain. Directly uphill is preferable, as it has the added advantage of making it easy to sail down again, but a side wind is good for speed.

Snowboarders who are boardsailors and boardsailors who are snowboarders, can easily find enough stuff to put together a wind snowboard. In fact, any long snowboard will do the trick. Snowboard sailing doesn‘t require sails as large as boardsailing, because small sails and short booms are the most controllable, particularly on hard- packed snow. Read the rest of this entry »

Snowboarding was reviled for years by skiers and the ski industry. Early on, most mountains would not allow snowboards on their lift systems or their slopes.

These confrontations were when snowboarders, who justly felt they had a right to be on the hill, responded strongly and aggressively in their own defense. More than a few verbal and physical brawls resulted, enhancing skiers‘ perception that all snowboarders were bad news.

These cultural boundaries are now breaking down as skiers begin to appreciate three things; snowboarding is here to stay, snowboarders ride to have fun, just like they do, and snowboarders have attained a level of skill performance that is equal to or higher than skiing in many ways. Read the rest of this entry »

All forms of sport need an element of revitalization or they risk becoming commonplace. Skiing has been a part of life for anyone living near snow-covered or mountainous regions of the globe. With the advent of cheap international air travel, skiing as a sport for the masses progressed until it reached saturation point—interest and participation waned.

And then the surfer-skateboarder axis saw snow glinting on distant hills… Read the rest of this entry »

Skiing in its own right is a pretty extreme sport, and has been for years. One skiing discipline that is as amazing as it is extreme is speed skiing. Imagine screaming down a mountain at 150 mph (240 kph) on skis. That is exactly what current world Record holder and 1992 Olympic Bronze medalist Jeff Hamilton of Truckee, California did in 1995 at Vars, France, becoming the first skier to break the 150 mph barrier, and the fastest non-motorized human on the planet.

Consider the forces at play when traveling at 150 mph. The skier is literally skiing faster a sky diver in freefall. The skis are no r even touching the ground at that. Instead they are riding on a cushion of Even the slightest error in judgment or at that speed can be deadly. Read the rest of this entry »

For years skiing has symbolized the carefree pursuit of sport in paradise‑like winter settings around the world. Since the first skier rode downhill somewhere in Scandinavia, skiing has drawn free-spirited athletes to the mountains. But enjoyment of the sport became for much only a lifestyle statement and the thrill of challenging terrain and conditions seemed to dwindle. Now a new generation of extreme athletes is redefining the meaning of downhill skiing.

Ski Resorts have tamed skiing. Snowcats, towed terrain-grooming equipment, gentle pistes, vista spots, posh resort restaurants— not long ago skiing was a very different pursuit of sport and challenge, and the relaxation came from winning a personal test of ability. Read the rest of this entry »

The ice luge is an Olympic sport with which most of the world is familiar, and which few would deny is extreme. Enter the pavement version of the sport, street luge. While street lugers don’t have specially-constructed tracks for their use, they do find steep and winding roads to roar down at speeds exceeding 70 mph (113 kph).

Like ice luge, which can trace its roots to traditional sledding pushed to the limit, street luge is an extension of another form of downhill pavement travel…skateboarding. In fact, skateboarders have traveled downhill on their boards at speed, both tying down on their backs like a street Luge, on their stomachs, and standing up. Read the rest of this entry »

The hydrofoil, a wing that creates lift in water, is not new, and hydrofoils are commonly used on powerboats today. They are even used on sailboats to minimize resistance and set speed records, which is itself an extreme endeavor. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that a hydrofoil attached to a chair became commercially available for athletes seeking a new tow-behind water challenge.

The air chair, as it has become known, was designed by a couple of friends on the Colorado River, one of whom was the co- creator of the kneeboard (a waterski that the rider kneels on) and a hot dog waterski pioneer, Mike Murphy. Murphy’s friend Bob Wooley became fascinated with the concept of riding a performance hydrofoil, and after several months of experimentation attached the foil to a “sit ski,” a seated version of a waterski. Read the rest of this entry »

Water nourishes, and brings death. We are not naturally built to survive in it, but we are drawn to its many possibilities for extreme sports.

Water ninety percent of our body made of it. Two-thirds of the planet covered by it. It is the most inhospitable the earth’s elements for survival, yet without it, life would c indeed all life began in the water, as modern theories of evolution suggest, perhaps this explains why we attracted to it, and why being in or near it fosters a sense of synergy welcomes us through some ethereal sense of belonging, and we respond seeking to find any way we can to have fun in and on it. For as tong a has been human life, there have been opportunities for sport in the water. Read the rest of this entry »

Swimming into the deepest reaches of the ocean is a feat that many divers have experienced to a degree. Some may go below 200 feet (60m), others deeper. All would be lost without the air they bring with them. There is a special breed of diver who can go deeper than most, without air tanks. These freedivers have pushed the limits of unassisted breathing dives to below 400 feet.

Tofreedive to depths of even 50 feet (15m) is an unsettling prospect for all but the strongest swimmers. To dive much deeper requires holding a breath for minutes. In fact, the world’s best freedivers hold their breath for periods that rival many marine mammals. Read the rest of this entry »

Maintaining control

Boards also vary in rocker (the amount the bottom curves from the tip to tail of the board). Rocker placement varies from board to board, and on each board. Boards with more rocker in the tail will be slower but more maneuverable, while boards with less tail rocker will plane quicker and go faster. Each board designer places rocker in different places determined by the performance desired, and each boardsailor prefers a different feel and shape.

Early “short” board designs looked more like surfboards than today’s top shapes. Board buoyancy is measured by volume, so less volume means less floatation. Designers shift the volume around in their boards, placing more or less in the tip or tail dramatically effects performance. Short boards started out with massive amounts of volume in the tail. One early design by top boardsailor Ken Winner actually had a hump though the middle of the rear deck of the board, and a pointy front. Designers gradually reduced the volume in the back of the boards, moving it forward under the mast base. Read the rest of this entry »

Since it was first introduced to readers in a 1965 edition of Popular Science magazine, boardsailing has developed into one of the most visible and incredible of extreme sports. There is hardly a person alive who hasn’t seen an athlete hurtling across the water or jumping into the sky on a wind-powered board.

The sailboard was invented by California surfer and businessman Hoyle Schweitzer and aeronautical engineer Jim Drake. Schweitzer reportedly conceived of the idea of putting a sail on a surfboard while Drake created the articulating sail rig that made the concept feasible. The two promptly applied for, and were granted, patents on their design and began the company that would be known worldwide as Windsurfer. For quite a while, the sport was known as “windsurfing,” but because of trademark litigation, the growing industry renamed their sport “boardsailing.” Either name is acceptable. Read the rest of this entry »

Sports are about competition, but also about contact. Sports which involve the thrill of speed invariably require specialized equipment to undertake them, but for the sportsman, the nearer to the elements you can get, the greater the sense of accomplishment. So for water skiiers, what could make more sense than dispensing with the skis?

Barefoot Water Skiing began in Winter Haven, Florida in 1947. Water skiing pioneer Chuck Sligh theorized that water skiing without skis might be possible if the ski boat went fast enough. A 17-year-old boy named AG Hancock proved him right, becoming the first water skier to drop a ski and continue barefoot successfully. Hancock left on a family vacation before he could show the trick to Cypress Garden’s Dick Pope Sr.. A few days later, Pope’s son Dick Jr. successfully dropped a ski and got all the glory— photographs, newspaper stories, newsreels, the works. Barefoot skiers soon adapted many of the freestyle moves of traditional waterskiers. Spins, backward maneuvers, body drags, and other tricks made barefooting an exciting new discipline. Due to the speeds required to barefoot, the tricks are especially difficult, and dangerous, since the water becomes very hard in a high-speed impact. Read the rest of this entry »

Swimming long distances for sport is a challenge that only the most fit and determined extreme athletes pursue. Its roots can be traced back to1875 when Captain Matthew Webb became the first swimmer to cross the English Channel. Since then, crossing the channel has been one of the more defining feats of long distance, or open water, swimming. Open water is the appropriate term, since races and crossings are never held in a pool that would be too easy and lacking danger.

Open Water Swimming races are held globally, and were included in many of the early Olympic Games. Course lengths are usually 5, 10, 15, or 25 kilometers (3-15.5 miles) and require several hours to complete. The courses are set between two points on any large body of water. Some races require athletes to do several laps to complete a given distance, while others may consist of one very long lap. Read the rest of this entry »

Safety first

In many ways personal watercraft have redefined water activities and their costs. These vehicles average around $8,550 (£5,700), bringing a new affordability to performance watercraft. This is especially inexpensive when you consider that many outboard motors of similar horsepower cost around the same price without the boat attached.

Because they were designed to be fallen from, each personal watercraft has at least one of two safety devices built in. First is an automatic steering mechanism to direct the watercraft in circles after a rider has fallen off. Second is a cord that is attached to the driver and the ignition system. If the rider falls off, the engine turns off and the watercraft awaits the swimming driver. Read the rest of this entry »

Motorcycles have always attracted people with a yearning for speed and an appetite for adrenaline. For years, the closest thing anyone could get to that sensation on the water was in a small boat with a big motor. These were fast, but could hardly be called maneuverable. Then in 1965 a Californian banker with a passion for motorcycles conceived of an aquatic version which would become known worldwide as the Jet Ski.

Clayton JACOBSON enjoyed building racing motorcycles in his spare time. He loved going fast on motorcycles— but crashing on hard pavement was not what he considered to be their appeal. The concept of the Jet Ski was born from Jacobson’s theory that a motorcycle for the water would be just as fun to ride as the ones he enjoyed building, but without the pain of a hard landing if you fell off. Mr. Jacobson would be correct. Read the rest of this entry »

Singlehanded racing is the aquatic version of marathon running, where the skipper has to draw from resources deep within himself for the endurance and stamina necessary to sail 30 days or more alone at sea. Unlike the marathon runner, whose most important equipment is his shoes, a singlehanded sailor’s equipment is a sailboat often as large as 60 feet (18m) and its accompanying systems—and it all has to be maintained continuously.

JOSHUA SLOCUM is considered the grandfather of singlehanded sailors. Between 1895 and 1898, Slocum singlehandedly circumnavigated the globe in a wooden boat, making several stops along the way. Another 69 years elapsed before Francis Chichester completed a one-stop, singlehanded circumnavigation. Then, in 1969, Robin Knox- Johnston completed the first non-stop, singlehanded circumnavigation to win the Golden Globe Challenge. Read the rest of this entry »

Offshore sailboat racing has two distinct disciplines. At one end of the spectrum is singlehanded sailing, where a solitary skipper puts his sailing knowledge, navigational expertise, will—even his life—on the line. At the other is crewed sailing, where crews between 12-20 sailors, specializing in particular tasks, rely upon one another as a team in the quest for victory.

Among the greatest races in the world in crewed racing is the Whitbread Round the World Race. Dubbed the “ultimate ocean race,” it was the first of its kind, with origins dating back to 1973. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting technical

A decompression chamber—a large tank that can compress the air inside to several atmospheres—is commonly found on vessels used as dive-support stations. Divers experiencing the bends are placed inside the decompression chamber and then quickly “returned” to the appropriate atmospheric pressure they were under in the water before the too-rapid ascent began. This allows the diver to complete the necessary decompression time and can halt the effects of the bends.

Diving using normal air mixtures— equivalent to the air we breathe every day— limits the depth and duration of dives. The deeper the dive, the less amount of time can be spent at the maximum depth. Knowing what the maximum lengths of time are for each depth is critical for diver safety. Read the rest of this entry »