Adventure sports, also known as extreme sports, are sports that involve a high degree of inherent danger, normally require a high degree of skill and utilize motion to provide an exciting "rush" to the participant. While there is no universal consensus on exactly which sports are "extreme," certain sports undoubtedly fall into this category.
Types
Adventure sports can be subdivided into air sports, land sports and water sports. Air sports include skydiving, bungee jumping, hang gliding and ski jumping. Land sports include rock climbing, mountain climbing, cave exploration, mountain biking and skateboarding. Water sports include cliff diving, SCUBA diving, surfing, barefoot water skiing and whitewater kayaking.
History
It is difficult to date the beginning of adventure sports because people have likely been challenging themselves for enjoyment since the Stone Age. The modern history of adventure sports probably began with the use of the term "Outlaw Sports," referring to snowboarding and skateboarding because of legislation banning them in several jurisdictions. Subcultures formed around these activities, aided greatly by the development of the Internet. Adventure sports finally hit the mainstream in 1995 when ESPN began broadcasting the Extreme Games, now known as the X Games.
Motivations
Some have speculated that people involved in adventure sports have a conscious or unconscious death wish, although participants deny this. Participants consistently report intensely pleasurable experiences. Another possible motivation is the challenge of succeeding at something most people are afraid to try, such as jumping out of an airplane with a parachute.
Extreme Tourism
The increase in international travel since World War II has led to an increase in tourism in general, and the new-found popularity of adventure sports is now leading to a phenomenon known as "extreme tourism," in which people comb the far corners of the earth looking for new thrills. According to Guardian reporter Patrick Barkham, 29,500 people set foot in Antarctica during the 2006/07 summer season, a 300 percent increase in only 10 years. The aerospace company EADS Astrium is even creating a special spacecraft for space tourism that will take tourists into the weightless zone 60 miles above the surface of the Earth.
Addiction
Professor Marvin Zuckerman, author of "Sensation Seeking And Risky Behavior," classes adventure sports enthusiasts among the ranks of the "sensation seeker" personality type. Dr. John Maule, a researcher at Leeds University, asserts that sensation seekers have higher natural levels of the brain chemical dopamine than other people. Dr. Daniel Weinberger, chief of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, asserts that participation in extreme sports resembles gambling and other addictions because it releases large amounts of dopamine, associated with the stimulation of the pleasure centers in the brain, resulting in powerful psychological addiction.
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