Extreme Sports
Extreme Sports
Introduction
Everyone of us has his own way how to survive in this first
world’s stress and rush. There are as many possibilities as the amount of the people walking on the Earth. Many don’t even seem to be happy and
satisfied with day-to-day style of living, what is really surprising for me, because every single person is creator of his own happiness. I am glad
to say that I’m not one of them. Not one of that infinite queue of miserable, sad living beings. I found the meaning of my life as an youngster.
That magical key to happiness is love.
Are you asking what I do love the most? Movement. That untouchable moments which make your
heart racing as the fastest sports car, moments that make you feel unique and utterly satisfied. I‘ve set my heart on extreme sports. There‘s
nothing better than adrenaline, as the strongest drug, streaming in your veins. Apart from this, I can’t forget to mention the fellowship I’ve
gained while doing sports. It is love again, that connects us to one company of, as outsiders say, “crazy hazarders with their life” with one
mutual goal - do what you love and love what you do.
1 Quadcross
1.1
Invention of ATV – All Terrain Vehicle
First ATVs were created as an aid for farmers, somewhere in the middle of
twentieth cenutry. They used three-wheeled vehicles to pass over rough, hilly and muddy terrain and bring goods from their fields into town. Few
years later, an american company Honda wanted to increase winter sales in the U.S. when the sales of motorcycles lagged. Their attention has dawned
on a vehicle similar to the one Japanese farmers had been using. In 1970, Honda introduced its first all-terrain vehicle to the United States.“
The perfect product was called US90 and still remained a three-wheeled vehicle with a 7-horsepower, 4-speed engine. The US90 was sold in the United
States for $595. The first four-wheeled ATV was produced in 1983 by Japanese brand Suzuki.Suzuki called this new vehicle the QuadRunner LT125. In
1988, Honda began production of the FourTrax 300 and the FourTrax300 4x4. This became one of history's biggest selling ATVs with nearly 600,000
units sold.
1.2 Competition
This sport is an alternative to the better
known motocross, what is basically 15-30 minute race on one track, that is artificially modified by excavator machines. One round usually lasts
about 3 minutes.
Competitors have to handle with different sorts of jumps, toboggans and humps, while starting every following lap. It is not
only the matter of physical condition and strong will. It is also the matter of luck.
Racers are divided into groups by cubic capacity of
engines of their quads. Other aspect is also the age – we’ve got junior, youngster and senior classes. There are usually about ten to thirty
competitors in one group. This year, the ladies class was opened as a novelty in Slovak quadcross championship.
1.3 Dustin
Wimmer
I’d like to introduce one of the best riders in the world, Dustin Wimmer. This young talent was born in February 21, 1987.
His hometown is Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and now resided in Center Valley.
Dustin started his racing career at the age of 9 and immediately
earned success. Later time, graduating through the race classes, Dustin reached amazing results with an unmatched racing style and still keeps
himself on the top up to now.
2 Freeskiing
This sport has developed itself from classical
skiing as a result of boredom and desire to try out new things. Freeskiing could be divided in two general groups : freestyle and freeride. Freestyle
skiing usually takes place in spotlessly shaped snowparks, where you can see various kinds of barriers, such as kickers, rails, u-ramps or boxes.
This is particularly famous between young-aged skiers with the lack of fear and tremendous lust to show off. Curious audience and a numerous party
of friends is a matter of course.
Completely different thing is freeride skiing. The main idea is – it’s only you and the mountain.
Thousands of eager skiers and mountain lovers all around the world have fallen in love with this sport since early seventies. The best you can get is
a day full of riding some steep slopes covered with powder–kind of snow.
2.1 The first
Pro
Scot Schmidt, born in July 21, 1961, in Helena, Montana is the first one considered as a professional extreme skier. His
extraordinary talent has helped to shape ski industry, as it’s known today and has inspired many skiers. Scot started skiing professionally in
1983 in Squaw Valley. A Warren Miller cameraman who had heard of Scot’s unique and relaxed style asked him to appear in their film Ski Time.
Scot has appeared in 39 other ski movies, becoming a pioneer of extreme skiing.. Schmidt now lives in Santa Cruz, California.
3
Surfing
Surfing in its oirigns was for centuries the central part of ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing might has
been first observed by Europeans at Tahiti in 1767, what was also the first time Europeans visited Tahiti. It is a surface
water sport in which the surfer rides on the forward face of a wave, which is most often carrying the surfer towards shore. The most suitable
conditions for surfing are often found in the ocean. However, modern day Surfing can also be done in man-made sources such as wave pools and
boat wakes.
When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in 1866 he wrote, "In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both
sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf-bathing."
This quote refers to the bohemian and free art of
living spreaded all over the islands, to which is surfing deeply connected. Surfers represent a miscellaneous culture based on riding the waves.
Famous surf resorts are Bells Beach, Australia, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, Maverics, U.S.A or Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
3.1
Kelly Slater
Robert Kelly Slater, born in February 11, 1972, Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA, is an American professional surfer who
has rewritten the history several times. This illustrious man is best known for his competitive and clean style of riding the biggest waves all over
the world. He has been crowned ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Champion a record 11 times, beating surfing legend Mark Richards to
become the most succesful champion in the history of this sport. He is both the youngest and the oldest to win the title – first time he won at age
20 and the last time at age 39.
4 B.A.S.E Jumping
BASE jumping is an activity that
involves using parachutes to descend from fixed objects. Although there’s no exact date of the first jump in order to do BASE jumping as a sport,
there are recorded examples of fixed object jumping from the early 1900s. Frederick Law jumped from the Statue of Liberty in 1912 and in 1976, Rick
Sylvester jumped Canada’s Mt Asgard for the opening sequence of the James Bond Movie, what is considered to be the first step of giving the wider
world its first look at BASE jumping. First skydivers have developed from professional aircraft and have made several leaps in Italian Dolomites, El
Capitan in Yosemite National Park or jumping old bridges and oil well derricks. Unfortunately, many of these have been poorly recorded, so only
little is known of them.
4.1 Expansion
The years 1979 and 1980 were the most remarkable in
fixed-object jumping history. It was a period of great excitement when numerous groups of skydivers began to expand their skills and abilities
beyond the use of aircraft. It is also the time when a complete foundation for the future development of BASE jumping was laid. Movies played an
invaluable role there.
4.2 Roman Dubský
I am very proud to mention a sportsman of Slovak
nationality, who is enough skillful to be observed by a wider public. Roman Dubský, born on February 5, 1984, is an instructor of parachuting, AFF
(Accelerated free fall) instructor, tandem pilot and a member of Slovak representation. He has taken part in various competitions in Poland, Czech
Republic and also world cup series. With more than four thousand leaps made, Roman Dubský have become professional with a list of documentary films
about BASE jumping on his account. He has also participated on the birth of first Slovak documentary film Force of Gravity.
5
Freeride Mountainbiking
Mountainbiking could be defined as an off-road biking, mostly through rough and hilly
terrain, using specially designed mountainbikes. It could be broken down to several categories: cross country, trail riding, all mountain, freeride
and downhill. This sport has its roots in California, Marin County’ s Mount Tamplais, where in the late 1970’s the first mountainbike trails
were built.
Between late 1970s and early 1980s first mountain bicycles started to be manufactured. Road bicycle companies used high-tech
lightweight materials to create the first experiments in the fields of off-road biking. Joe Breeze is normally credited with introducing the first
purpose-built mountain bike in 1978. Tom Ritchey then went on to make frames for a company called MountainBikes, a partnership between Gary
Fisher, Charlie Kelly and Tom Ritchey. This individual sport requires very strong physical condition and endurance, core strength, balance and
courage. It could be performed almost everywhere from backyards to forest singletracks or man-made downhill tracks.
5.1
Canadian dream
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is considered to be the Mekka of mountainbiking. Thousands
kilometeres of various singletracks for all mountain riders to professionals can be found in the woods of famous North Shore. World-wide most
famous bikepark Whistler also takes place in Vancouver’s surroundings. Every year, Kokanee Crankworx festival is held to celebrate this absorbing
sport accompanied by prestigious competition of mountainbike scene pro’s.
5.2 Biking in our
motherland
In just a few years mountainbiking has found a big number of fans in our country too. I am one of these maniacs that are
able to spend whole days in the woods. We’ve already got about twenty specialized bikeparks and hundreds of trails built with our bare hands. Every
year Slovak Championship of Downhill Mountainbiking takes place in 5 to 8 bike resorts where separate competitions are held. Once you taste the
athmosphere of racing, there’s no way to escape.
Conclusion
The main goal of my project was to bring You deeper
look into extreme sports as a today’s passion of many humans. Maybe it hasn’t changed Your mind about how dangerous, crazy and abnormal these
activities are. We all know that the risk we undergo is sometimes higher than accurate, and the edge between death and living remains a narrow path
for many. I never regretted a single moment while doing sports I love. These sports are not for everyone, but the chosen ones could find a paradise
on earth just by doing something more courageous than others.
Zones.sk – Zóny pre každého študenta