Mad 4 it
Why do some people want to jump off mountains or surf huge waves while the rest of us find a trip to the gym too much of a challenge?
This week VEE-TV investigates the growing trend for extreme sports and asks why people want to take huge risks for their entertainment.
Extreme sports or freesports have mushroomed recently and cover a huge host of sports such as kite-surfing, mountain-biking, parkour or kayaking.
What do they have in common? They're usually pretty easy to get involved in with a minimum of equipment or training, you can often start off in your usual environment in the country, park, city or by the sea, and they're usually so new that there are not lots of rules and regulations to enjoy the sport. And most of all – they're extremely exciting.
Some participants take ever increasing risks to test themselves and enjoy the ultimate adrenalin rush. These guys end up trying challenges like extreme ironing (ironing while parachuting or up a mountain), terrifying freeclimbing without ropes or endurance rowing across the Atlantic like Ben Fogle and James Cracknell.
Why do some people want to jump off mountains or surf huge waves while the rest of us find a trip to the gym too much of a challenge?
This week VEE-TV investigates the growing trend for extreme sports and asks why people want to take huge risks for their entertainment.
Extreme sports or freesports have mushroomed recently and cover a huge host of sports such as kite-surfing, mountain-biking, parkour or kayaking.
What do they have in common? They're usually pretty easy to get involved in with a minimum of equipment or training, you can often start off in your usual environment in the country, park, city or by the sea, and they're usually so new that there are not lots of rules and regulations to enjoy the sport. And most of all – they're extremely exciting.
Some participants take ever increasing risks to test themselves and enjoy the ultimate adrenalin rush. These guys end up trying challenges like extreme ironing (ironing while parachuting or up a mountain), terrifying freeclimbing without ropes or endurance rowing across the Atlantic like Ben Fogle and James Cracknell.
VEE-TV at Xtreme Verbier
The VEE-TV team went to the Xtreme Verbier competition in Switzerland to watch some of these dare-devil skiers and snowboarders. Each year dozens of competitors leap off the mountains and travel down sheer slopes any way they can.
At first, it looks like the competitors just throw themselves off the slope and have no skill as they tumble, ski or snowboard their way down. But the sport has grown over recent years and the aim is to make it down the hill as gracefully as possible while travelling quickly and fluidly. While they may look crazy, each competitor is highly skilled at their sport – and extremely brave. Accidents do happen and every competitor knows they are dicing with death.
Xtreme sport competitor Steve Klassen explains what he loves about skiing off the mountains in Verbier.
Professor Steve Olivier says people get into dangerous sports for a variety of reasons.
"There are psychological reasons, social reasons such as group adherence or belonging to subcultures. There are some biological explanations as well and even some evolutionary ones."
Carve your own path
Deaf skier Josef Baines explains why he loves his sport.
Lydia Docker had a go at ice-climbing at Vertical Chill in London and Isabel Meacher tried snowboarding at Laax in Switzerland. Ahmed and Rebecca tried out the new sport of air boarding, like body boarding on the sea but on the snow.
If you want to try out some adrenalin-packed sport, it's a good idea to follow Isabel's advice. She suggests you learn the basics of the sport first before trying out the extreme stuff.
Here are some links to get you going on Extreme sports.
www.channel4.com/sport/microsites/F/freesports/
Channel 4's very own website dedicated to freesports.
www.freesportsawards.com
Lots of information about some of the newest freesports to try.
www.erds.org.uk
Eastern Region Deaf Snowsports website. Organise courses for deaf people to learn snowboarding and skiing.
www.doctordanger.com
Beginners and more experienced danger seekers will find lots of useful information on this portal site.
www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CAD26.htm
An article about the rise of extreme sports and the industry surrounding them.
www.thisisthelife.com
Extreme sports and other exciting events around the world.
The VEE-TV team went to the Xtreme Verbier competition in Switzerland to watch some of these dare-devil skiers and snowboarders. Each year dozens of competitors leap off the mountains and travel down sheer slopes any way they can.
At first, it looks like the competitors just throw themselves off the slope and have no skill as they tumble, ski or snowboard their way down. But the sport has grown over recent years and the aim is to make it down the hill as gracefully as possible while travelling quickly and fluidly. While they may look crazy, each competitor is highly skilled at their sport – and extremely brave. Accidents do happen and every competitor knows they are dicing with death.
Xtreme sport competitor Steve Klassen explains what he loves about skiing off the mountains in Verbier.
"It's a pretty wild feeling," he explains." There's a feeling of anticipation, then you land in the air and you feel excited and good. You want to try and feel as fluid as you can, so it's not all jagged. And you want to make your turns feel real fluid."
Professor Steve Olivier says people get into dangerous sports for a variety of reasons.
"There are psychological reasons, social reasons such as group adherence or belonging to subcultures. There are some biological explanations as well and even some evolutionary ones."
Carve your own path
Deaf skier Josef Baines explains why he loves his sport.
"Extreme sport is popular because it's something different.To experience a taste of extreme sports our intrepid VEE-TV teams tried out a variety of dangerous hobbies.
It's unique as you're not really competing against other people. You're competing against yourself. You want to keep pushing yourself to new limits and you want to carve out your own path."
Lydia Docker had a go at ice-climbing at Vertical Chill in London and Isabel Meacher tried snowboarding at Laax in Switzerland. Ahmed and Rebecca tried out the new sport of air boarding, like body boarding on the sea but on the snow.
If you want to try out some adrenalin-packed sport, it's a good idea to follow Isabel's advice. She suggests you learn the basics of the sport first before trying out the extreme stuff.
Here are some links to get you going on Extreme sports.
www.channel4.com/sport/microsites/F/freesports/
Channel 4's very own website dedicated to freesports.
www.freesportsawards.com
Lots of information about some of the newest freesports to try.
www.erds.org.uk
Eastern Region Deaf Snowsports website. Organise courses for deaf people to learn snowboarding and skiing.
www.doctordanger.com
Beginners and more experienced danger seekers will find lots of useful information on this portal site.
www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CAD26.htm
An article about the rise of extreme sports and the industry surrounding them.
www.thisisthelife.com
Extreme sports and other exciting events around the world.