Extreme sports

Extreme sports have become popular in the last two decades. For may people practising them is the only way of living. For them the adrenaline is the most important thing and that’s why they must try even more and more dangerous things. But, of course, that’s not the only reason. Extreme spots are trendy and many people practise them just because of that fact.

Zorbing is the latest adventure experience coming from New Zealand. The Zorb is a big, round and bouncy sphere, you just jump inside it, it rolls, you roll too... There are something like 70cm of air between you and the ground, and this air cushion keeps you save as you roll down a hill at speeds of up to 50km/h. Someone could ask, how to breathe inside the Zorb. Well, the Zorb has two ‘skins’. The outer area is inflated, but the inner one is always opened to the outside through a hole, so you have fresh air coming in all the time. Till now it’s reported, that there’re over 10000 Zorbonauts all over the world! If you want to try it, firstly you have to contact a Zorb franchise holder – that’s a person who is licensed to organise the experience for you. You can also find information about Zorbing on the Internet. Just like bungee jumping, what is another ‘Kiwi’ invention, Zorbing is fun and safe if it’s organized properly, but potentially dangerous if it’s not.

Skysurfing is one of the newest skydiving disciplines. The first board jumps were made in 1987 and competitive skysurfing began in 1993. A skysurf team comprises two performers : a skysurfer and a camera flyer. The skysurfer rides a specially designed skyboard, literally surfing out of the airplane at 14000 feet. During 50 seconds of freefall, he moves across the sky, performing rodeos, flips, spins, somersaults, twists and tracks, travelling at speeds of up to 250 km/h. The camera flyer stays close to the skysurfer in frefall, recordng his performance with a helmet-mounted digital camera before they open their parachutes by 2500 feet. They perform moves synchronously, such as layouts, ‘carving’ and ‘eagles’. Flying camera with a skysurfer is one of the most challenging and difficult skydiving disciplines. As well as great video and camera skills, it requires excellent freeflying skills : the ability to fly your body in all attitudes – on your head, belly, back or whatever it takes to keep the performer in frame, as the skysurfer moves around the sky. Judges on the ground score the team’s performance using video footage captured by the camera flyer, awarding points for difficulty, technical execution and aestethic appeal. Both performers contribute to the team’s score in competition.

Bungee jumping is one of the most popular and thrilling extreme sports. It appeals to everyone from daredevil youngsters to fundraising grandmothers. Bungee Extreme is the United Kingdom’s only full time professional bungee jumping company. Established in 1993 they bungee jump from February to December holding 10 events per week throughout the contry for public houses, shows, universities and corporate clients. During the past nine years over 100000 people have enjoyed the expirience of bungee jumping at over 2000 events nation-wide. A bungee jump is a community based event. Anyone between the weight of 6 and 26 stone can jump provided that they are physically fit. Anyone under the age of 17 will need a parent or guardian with them on the day of their jump.