The Sports Archives

There are some things in life that you just have to try. You don’t have to like them. You don’t have to do them again. But you do have to give them a go, if only so you can bring them up at a dinner party and make everyone believe that you’re an action hero.

Skydiving

Jumping out of a plane from thousands of feet in the air? What’s so scary about that? Well, lots of things would be if the sport of skydiving didn’t have a few safety precautions. Skydiving – also known as parachuting – is a pretty safe practice thanks to measures such as double parachutes and buddy jumps (where an instructor is tied onto the jumper; a must for beginners.) Boring stuff aside, the best thing about skydiving is the little camera inside your helmet. The film that it records will be a memory to last a lifetime.

Skiing

Skiing began in Scandinavia in the year 5000 BC. They only used one pole which, if you’ve ever skied yourself, you would know is a little tricky, Luckily, today two poles, and two skis is the way of the sport, which makes balancing a lot easier. Skiing is good exercise, and also an excuse to ride a chairlift while wearing a fluorescent parka. Most ski resorts run beginners classes, so there’s no excuse to not try this great activity.

Surfing

It’s time to hit the waves, dude. Surfing is a solid workout for your core (all that balancing on the waves has to work somewhere) but also a great way to enjoy the beach. But it’s not easy. You’ll feel a little silly at first, clinging to your board after another dump as you watch the pros glide over massive waves with no trouble, but persistence is key.

Bungy Jumping

The jury’s still out as to whether this is a sport or just a dumb decision, but, regardless, bungy jumping is something that you have to try before you kick the bucket. Destination is key, for this sport. All good bungies occur in a picturesque location; think mountainous Queenstown in New Zealand, or tropical Cairns in Australia.

Wakeboarding

Take water skiing, snowboarding and surfing. Mix them all together and put them in the ocean. What do you get? Wakeboarding. In this sport, you ride a wakeboard (a little bigger than a boogie board) across the waves, while being towed by a motorboat. As you’d expect, water skiing experience helps, although the technique used in more similar to snowboarding. It’s tricky to get the hang of, but once you do, you’ll be traveling at speeds of 50km/h.

White Water Rafting

If you love a quiet canoe trip along the river, this is not the sport for you. The high action sport of white water rafting is dangerous, but loads of fun if you can master the act of balancing your little vessel over those rapids. There are six skill levels for courses, though, so beginners needn’t fear that they’d be out of their depth.

Frances Ward is a media student who loves learning about (but not necessarily engaging in) crazy extreme sports. Surfing is next on her list, and she’s looking at http://surffcs.com to get herself started.

Photo Credits: Wikipedia