Extreme sports

While the title "extreme sport" now covers a wide selection of different sports and activities, which sports are considered 'extreme' is still being debated. But after years of following sports which many consider to be on the fringe common characteristics have now evolved to describe most extreme sports. Extreme sports tend to have a younger than average participant. Which makes sense considering the physical demands of these sports and the need to be able to recover quickly from injury. Extreme sports are typically not sanctioned by any school. In fact they are often banned on school properly due mainly to liability exposure and we all know lawyers love to troll school grounds just about as much as they like to chase ambulances! Extreme sports are often individual rather than team oriented. Also, extreme athletes tend to get started and train without the aid or direction of coaching. That said the 'Big Bucks' now flowing into the sport has many extreme athletes hiring a trainer or coach after they've had a few wins.

Surfing

• Surfing is a sport that is often considered as much an attitude or way of life as it is a sport. Surfing is mostly enjoyed as a recreational activity, but is also a competitive sport.

Surfing involves riding ocean waves with a surfboard. To catch a wave the surfer swims a ways out into the ocean lying on their stomach on the surfboard. When a wave comes the surfer aims the board into land and begins to paddle to "catch" the wave. Once the wave begins to propel the surfer, the surfer pops up from the belly and stands on the surfboard. Now the surfer rides the wave as it speeds into shore. Tricks can be performed on the board and the wave can be ridden at an angle to keep the ride going longer.

The extreme side of surfing today is trying to catch the biggest wave possible. Sometimes surfers will use jetskis to pull them far out into the ocean to areas where there are giant and fast waves to catch. This sport is very dangerous as the waves can be powerful and close together. It is said that the largest wave ever surfed was 70 feet tall!

Competitive surfing is a judged sport. Competitors will ride sets of waves and judges will determine who has the best score based on a number of factors including length of ride and tricks performed.

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• Skateboarding is a freestyle sport where the limits are only imposed by the imagination and athletic ability of the athlete. Most skateboarding is done for recreation either on streets or at a skateboard park. There is competitive skateboarding where the winner is determined by a points system determined by judges. There are all levels of difficulty of skateboard tricks. At the very basic skateboarders should first learn how to stand on the board. Then ride down a short gradual slope learning how to stop. From there beginners should learn how to stand on the skateboard with one foot and push with the other and to turn the skateboard by leaning (called carving). Next is the more difficult More difficult skateboard tricks include: The Ollie: The first real trick that any skateboarder should learn. It will lead to more and more exciting and difficult tricks. The Ollie is where the skateboarder will push down on the back of the skateboard while controlling the upward movement of the front of the board with the front foot. This will cause the rider to lift into the air along with the skateboard. It takes lots of practice, but is key to performing more difficult skateboard tricks...

Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walles. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing competitions have objectives of completing the route in the quickest possible time or the farthest along an increasingly difficult route. Rock climbing is similar to scrambling (another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations), but climbing is generally differentiated by its sustained use of hands to support the climber's weight as well as to provide balance.Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. It can be a dangerous sport and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialised climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.

• Flowboarding is a late-20th century alternative boardsport incorporating elements of surfing, bodyboarding, skateboarding, skimboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding.Flowboarders ride on artificial waves that are technically called "sheet waves". Known technically as the WaveLoch FlowRider and the FlowBarrel, these sheet waves are the patented constructions of Wave Loch Inc, which is headquartered in La Jolla, California. Powerful pumps project a three-inch layer of water at speeds ranging from 20 MPH to 30 MPH.The water flows up and over surfaces engineered to replicate the shape of ocean waves. Sheet waves are stationary waves, in that the wave does not move forward, and the movement is derived from water flowing over a stationary surface. Flowboarders get their speed from the energy of the water flowing at them, and can perform basic to sophisticated turns and tricks within a relatively small area.Participants ride standard bodyboards in the prone or kneeling position. Stand up flowboards are constructed like wakeboards: A foam core wrapped with fiberglass, but with a soft EVA edge (ethylene vinyl acetate) to offer protection. Some flowboards come with footstraps, while some flowboarders prefer to ride unstrapped. Flowboards range in length from: 910 millimeters (36 inches) to 1070 millimeters (42 inches); and in width from 280 millimeters (11 inches) to 356 millimeters (14 inches). They weigh between 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) and 2.8 kilograms (6 pounds).

• The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as "The Paris–Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally") is an annual Dakar Series rally raid type of off-road race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar,Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America(Argentinaand Chile). It was the first time the race took place outside of Europe and Africa. It has stayed in South America from 2009 to the present (2013).[ The race is open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants.

• Despite its name it is an off-road endurance race, called a rally-raid rather than a conventional rally – the terrain the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified on-road vehicles used in rallies. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day.

• Zorbing (globe-riding, sphereing, orbing) is the recreation or sport of rolling downhill inside an orb, generally made of transparent plastic. Zorbing is generally performed on a gentle slope, but can also be done on a level surface, permitting more rider control. In the absence of hills some operators have constructed inflatable, wooden or metal ramps. 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, by David and Andrew Akers

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large (usually fabric) foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centreboard, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the vessel relative to its surrounding medium (typically water, but also land and ice) and change its direction and speed. Mastery of the skill requires experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge concerning sailboats themselves and an understanding of one's surroundings.While there are still some places in the world where sail-powered passenger, fishing and trading vessels are used, these craft have become rarer as internal combustion engines have become economically viable in even the poorest and most remote areas. In most countries sailing is enjoyed as a recreational activity or as a sport. Recreational sailing or yachting can be divided into racing and cruising. Cruising can include extended offshore and ocean-crossing trips, coastal sailing within sight of land, and daysailing