Extreme Sports - An adrenaline rush
Extreme sports has gained a lot of popularity over the last several years, thanks in part to the X Games. The X Games are an annual event which showcases extreme sports in many different categories and styles. The Winter X Games are held in January or February in Aspen, Colorado; the Summer X Games are held in August in Los Angeles, California. The Winter X Games showcase extreme sports such as different skiing events, snowboarding, and snowcross. The Summer X Games showcase skateboarding, BMX Freestyle, MotoX, surfing, and wakeboarding.
In addition to the competitions, the X Games also showcase X Fest, the ultimate action sports and music festival with live music, athlete autograph sessions, interactive elements, a mini skate park and BMX park, demos and much more. The X games are broadcast live on ESPN and ABC.
Snowboarding is a sport that uses a board on snow that is similar to skiing, but was also inspired by surfing and skateboarding. Snowboarding is an increasingly common winter sport throughout the world and became a Winter Olympic sport in 1998. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, the half-pipe event gained a lot of attention, due in part by the American Gold Medalist, Shaun White. Otherwise known as the “Flying Tomato” Shaun White is an accomplished snowboarder and has participated in extreme sports since he was a child. In fact, he was the first person to compete in two extreme sports in both the Winter and Summer X Games (snowboarding and skateboarding). The half-pipe event is fun to watch, combining high moves and cool aerial tricks. The half-pipe structure is, in fact, used in several extreme sports including skateboarding, freestyle BMX, inline skating, motorcycling, and mountain biking.
Skateboarding was first known as sidewalk surfing and evolved into much more than that. Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk helped introduce a whole knew way to skateboard by skating in empty pools. In the eighties and nineties the focus of this extreme sport was on half-pipe and vert ramp skateboarding.
Skateboarding went from being performed only on the street to the vertical tops of the half pipes (and other places like huge stairs and handrails). The invention of the no-hands aerial, also know as the ollie made it possible for skaters to perform huge airs off vertical ramps. “Ollieing” onto a rail or pole, and sliding along it on the trucks of the board, is known as “grinding” and has become a mainstay of modern skateboarding.
While we may think of extreme sports in terms of the X Games, there are other extreme sports that aren’t part of the X Games. Bungee jumping, whitewater kayaking and rafting, paragliding, roller derby, sky diving, wind surfing, rock climbing, water skiing, and cave diving are just a few more examples of extreme sports.
If you are someone who likes an adrenaline rush and is looking to try something new, extreme sports may be for you. Research the sport you are interested in online and get as much information as you can before you start.