Extreme sports - why?

walkingbootweather

You might have seen in the news mishaps befalling bungee jumper and base jumper.. Can anyone explain to me why anyone would want to put their life on the line in this way?

Who should pay for any rescue or medical bills?

rick_chasey

Why?

It's an existential thing. Some people need to risk their live to feel happy that they are living it.

I know I do from time to time. Not as extreme granted, but still.

jonginge

Is descending a mountain on a bike any different? That can go badly wrong too. Enjoyable, though

desweller

I should have thought it was blindingly obvious. The rush must be something else.

dhope

Have done a parachute jump and it was great fun. Would happily do again.
Wonder what the stats are on parachute jumps vs London commuting

daviesee

Adrenalin rush. Full stop.

Some like/need it. That need/desire deminishes with age.
I used to seek a lot of adrenaline rushes, now I bail on a fast descent :oops:

LeicesterLad

JonGinge wrote:

Is descending a mountain on a bike any different? That can go badly wrong too. Enjoyable, though

+1 and it would be exactly the same with the Medical bills. Noone forces us to ride at (sometimes) stupidly high speeds down mountains.

I wouldn't fancy doing something as extreme as a base jump, but i can see why people do it.

rick_chasey

daviesee wrote:

Adrenalin rush. Full stop.

Some like/need it. That need/desire deminishes with age.
I used to seek a lot of adrenaline rushes, now I bail on a fast descent :oops:

It's more than that though.

It's the feeling afterwards...

You feel so in control, so aware, so capable. I could take on the world after a good fast technical mountain descent.

suzyb

Neither of those are putting your life on the line imho. Bungee jumpers have the cord which should protect them from harm, base jumpers have a parachute. In both cases something went wrong which put them in harms way. Same thing could happen when cycling (spoke breaks sticks in the chain and throws you in front of a passing truck).

iPete

Can you explain to me how they are putting their lives on the line? Bungee jumping (done with the right company like AJ Hackett) is probably safer than crossing the road.

I'd say riding my bike at times, especially XC/DH is FAR more dangerous!

daviesee

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's more than that though.

It's the feeling afterwards...

You feel so in control, so aware, so capable. I could take on the world after a good fast technical mountain descent.

That's the thing. I used to feel all that. I don't anymore
Questions is - Am I now more realistic, or simply chicken?

Awaits the obvious reply.....

rick_chasey

daviesee wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

It's more than that though.

It's the feeling afterwards...

You feel so in control, so aware, so capable. I could take on the world after a good fast technical mountain descent.

That's the thing. I used to feel all that. I don't anymore
Questions is - Am I now more realistic, or simply chicken?

Awaits the obvious reply.....

Hmm...

Did you get a real adreneline rush?

I just get a kinda eery calm when I'm doing something exciting, or risky (physically). Afterwards I get the high.

Same with go-karting or skiing.

sufferingpete

Clive Cool Head realizes that being the author of his own death is more intense than an orgasm.

Name of a dangerous rock climb on the Roaches Stafford shire.

daviesee

Rick Chasey wrote:

Hmm...

Did you get a real adreneline rush?

I just get a kinda eery calm when I'm doing something exciting, or risky (physically). Afterwards I get the high.

Same with go-karting or skiing.

Oh yes! Maximum was a parachute jump but I did lots of "extreme" sports.
Wouldn't dream of it now.
Trust me. Age has some positives but lots of negatives. One being that you lose your "bottle".

walkingbootweather

I kinda get that you can get a rush from challenging yourself, and from succeeding, Hell I've done a bit of extreme mtb and skiing myself in my time. Surely it is all about risk - the likelihood of something going wrong, and what the likely consequences of those things going wrong are. Do people get an even bigger rush when trying something that has a good chance of going wrong and which might kill them if it does? At what point (if any) does the risk become too great?

I prefer fate to be more in my hands i.e. a bike that I have prepared myself, a route I have assessed, and outcome more largely based upon my own skills. If I come off the bike the most likely outcome is that I will get road rash and maybe break a bone (or worse – the bike). A bungee jumper for instance puts themselves more at the mercy of others, and risks death or permanent disability if equipment fails, or if operator gets it wrong.

Maybe I’m just getting old?

Paulie W

We're talking about two types of activity here. Things like bungee jumping, sky diving with an instructor, etc are not much removed from going on a rollercoaster. There is a recognition that if things go wrong you will probably die or be severely injured that adds to the frisson but it is essentially all about the rush, however brief, because you have little control over what happens beyond deciding to do it. Then there are things like descending a mountain at high speed on a bike, extreme skiing, base jumping where there is still a fear of death or injury factor, where there is still an adrenalin rush but there is the then the physical, technical and mental challenge that comes with these activities. I dont really have any interest in things like bungee jumping but love cmoing down a black run on a bike because for me the challenge is more important than the pure adrenalin rush

Clever Pun

It's an amazing experience, some like it some don't. was buzzing for quite a while after my first, but the dreams of falling were all too real during the night. did a smaller wet jump in NZ a few years after the SA Bloukrantz bridge jump and it was a walk in the park and great fun, the SA one was borderline terrifying. Glad I managed it though.





I'm at the bottom of the tiny little cord you can just make out.

mudcow007

there is a video on Vimeo about base jumpers literally a few inches off the top of tree tops, going through gorges an skimming the mountain tops

dangerous? - oh you betcha

exciting? what else would give you such a thrill?!

peat

Law of probabilities suggests that you are several times safer on a bungee cord than you are driving to work.

Only difference is, one is exciting, one is tedious.

welkman

I personally love riding motorbikes fast on the road, nothing makes me buzz like that. However I have not owned a bike for several years as I reckon the risk is too great for me now (married, house etc). It's not all about an instant buzz though, I have sailed across oceans and part of the joy of that is knowing that you could, potentially, come to serious harm or die; you manage the risks as best as you can and use your skill to keep yourself safe. I think the everyone needs a little danger in their lives.

SimonAH

welkman wrote:

I personally love riding motorbikes fast on the road, nothing makes me buzz like that. However I have not owned a bike for several years as I reckon the risk is too great for me now (married, house etc). It's not all about an instant buzz though, I have sailed across oceans and part of the joy of that is knowing that you could, potentially, come to serious harm or die; you manage the risks as best as you can and use your skill to keep yourself safe. I think the everyone needs a little danger in their lives.

Right with you there. I just don't drive fast anymore, still have my motorcycle (you'd have to prise her from my cold dead hands) but ride much more sensibly that I used to.

Apart from the self-awareness of knowing that I no longer have the reactions of a 20 year old I've also passed the 'I'm immortal' standpoint that I used to have - but most importantly I have a little girl and that (at least for me) was a complete game-changer.

The legacy of the 'immortal years' is a plastic kneecap, more scar tissue than Igor's dog and a great set of memories, but I'm definitely past that now.

Tricycleboy

I'm still a skydiving license holder (albeit a bit lapsed actually jumping for largely financial reasons)- even ran my uni skydiving club for a while getting loads of newbies doing their first jumps and jumpng with friends etc.

Why did i do it? there's a feeling when only one hand is holding you onto the ouside of a plane with 15,000ft of air below you thats not so much a rush but a focus so strong its almost meditation. Made me feel calm and in control for nearly a week after a good days jumping. You feel like a god once you learn control your movements around the sky.

Think i'm a bit prone to risk taking though, although i find negotiating parliment square is a bit of a buzz these days.

skydiving deaths work out to 1 every 100,000 jumps give or take (guess its probably safer than cycling)- personally i think you motorcyclists are crazy.

welkman

When talking about how dangerous cycling vs motorbiking is have a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1PtQ67urG4 it is by the 'professor of risk' at cambridge university and has some interesting points.

SimonAH

Very good, but I'd be interested in the motorcycling number, that was cars vs cycling.

rolf_f

Whitewater rafting the Arkansas river during snow melt - probably worse than the stated grade 4. A 1250 deep canyon with vertical sides and nothing to swim to you if you get thrown out. Twice I remember seeing a wall of water infront of me followed by me being smashed flat on my back and looking up at the sky, one leg dangling out of the raft whilst the bloke behind me held on to my life jacket. Biggest adrenalin rush I've ever had. Still makes me smile thinking about it now. Trouble is, anything else seems tame now.

As for danger - I think 6 people drowned on organised rafting trips that year and we were there at highest flow (it was closed the day after). Sounds bad but apparently half a million people took raft trips on the Arkansas river in or above the Royal Gorge.



If you start making rules about the dangers of sports and entitlement to health care for when it goes wrong, just remember that people sat infront of the television screen all day long rarely get broken necks and might not therefore like the NHS to repair self inflicted broken necks.........

welkman

SimonAH wrote:

Very good, but I'd be interested in the motorcycling number, that was cars vs cycling.

motorcycling is 8 miles a micromort and cycling is 200 I think.

EKE_38BPM

welkman wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

Very good, but I'd be interested in the motorcycling number, that was cars vs cycling.

motorcycling is 8 miles a micromort and cycling is 200 I think.

From memory, driving = 200, cycling = 20, motorcycling = 8

meanredspider

I love a good adrenalin rush - the buzz I get finishing a motor race or, just recently, careering over snow and ice on my commute - the endorphin hit is fantastic.

mtb-idle

Rick Chasey wrote:

daviesee wrote:

Adrenalin rush. Full stop.

Some like/need it. That need/desire deminishes with age.
I used to seek a lot of adrenaline rushes, now I bail on a fast descent :oops:

It's more than that though.

It's the feeling afterwards...

You feel so in control, so aware, so capable. I could take on the world after a good fast technical mountain descent.

that is the adrenaline rush that you are either still on or just coming down from. There's not 'more than that'.

rjsterry

meanredspider wrote:

I love a good adrenalin rush - the buzz I get finishing a motor race or, just recently, careering over snow and ice on my commute - the endorphin hit is fantastic.

Adrenaline and endorphins are two different things
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine#Adrenaline_junkie

It seems that no-one is quite sure which it is that actually gives you the rush sensation.

king_jeffers

walkingbootweather wrote:

Can anyone explain to me why anyone would want to put their life on the line in this way?

So you can belong to the Jimmy 3 sh*te club... You know those people! Whatever you have done they have always done something better also known as bragging rights.