IanThe Most Dangerous Sports In The World
October 25th 2010 02:55
itThing.com is a fantastic website containing an incredible assortment of interesting articles.
One such article is the 11 most dangerous sports in the world list (click to visit).
Below are a just a few of these perilous pastimes!
If it’s not a bird or a plane then it’s probably… a base jumper, one of those individuals who just don’t feel truly alive unless they’re hurling themselves with nothing but a parachute from buildings, antennas, bridges or cliffs. Chances are that if you don’t die by reaching the ground before planned, the wind could easily slam you into the object you’ve just left behind–or hoped to. Not only is this activity lethal–between 5 and 15 people die each year, according to The International PRO BASE Circuit–it’s also illegal in many parts of the world, including the U.S. Well, someone has to save those poor bastards from themselves!
Talk about living on the edge! Hypothermia, getting lost, getting separated from your diving buddy, low visibility, air loss and lighting failure are just some of the hazards in this umm, unusual sport. The National Speleological Society defines a successful dive as “one you return from.” Unlike open-sea diving, you can’t simply come up for air–you’d smash your head! According to the Texas-based San Marcos Area Recovery Team, more than 500 people have died since 1960 in cave diving accidents in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean alone. And experience alone does not guarantee survival, as many of the victims have been instructors and technical divers.
Big-wave surfing is misleading. These waves aren’t big, they’re HUGE! Drowning, by being pulled under by the current, by smashing your head against hidden rocks, or by being whacked by the board on which you were supposed to be elegantly surfing, can be deadly. As a spokesperson for the California’s Surfline, points out: “Anyone can try this sport, but the chances are you won’t be coming back.” Nice.
There’s a reason some things are so inaccessible—it’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t be stupid”. Still, people pay top dollar to be helicoptered (at $500 a pop) to untouched snowcaps, where they leap onto virgin slopes and ski far from crowds but very close to avalanches. Even the helicopter ride can be dangerous, and many have died en route to untouched powder (Frank Wells, former president of The Walt Disney Co. died in a helicopter crash during a heli-skiing trip in 1994).
Started in the 1970s by a group of California kids (who obviously had nothing better to do), street luging is an extreme sport where you literally lie down on your skateboard and “butt-board” next to motor vehicles. Short of a collision, the only thing to stop you are your feet. Today, legality of this sport on highways is a grey area, and there’s no guarantee that cars or trucks will see you, let alone avoid you. Protective leathers and a helmet are essential–that is, if you don’t want to smear yourself all over the road.
One such article is the 11 most dangerous sports in the world list (click to visit).
Below are a just a few of these perilous pastimes!
Base Jumping
Cave Diving
Big Wave Surfing
Heli-Skiing
Street Luging
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