There are some sports which are fun, adventurous but also dangerous and are only to be indulged in as young adults or adults. Even then, it is best to team up with experienced people at least at first. Though these are most certainly not for your age groups we thought you would like to know about these adventurous sports and today, Lakal Vensara introduces you to them.
Have you ever got a great thrill while doing something adventurous on a routine day like riding a cycle downhill as fast as you can? Have you noticed how your body adapts to the situation very quickly by increased focus and motor skills?
The human mind is capable of reaching a great level of capability if you believe in yourself. Extreme sports go by many names such as action sports, adventure sports or X games. These sports are activities that involve a high degree of risk as well as factors like high speed and heights. For the safety of the participants every adventure sport has its own specialised gear.
Let’s now see what these extreme or adventurous sports are like:
Whitewater rafting is a very popular sport in Sri Lanka on the rivers in Kithulgala. This is an activity of being moved very quickly in a raft (small boat filled with air) along rivers where the current is very strong. Dealing with the risk is often a part of the experience but it can be fatal if the utmost care is not taken.
Tide surfing is a sport where the participant uses a board to ride on a moving wave of water. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in oceans. This sport depends mainly on how you are able to balance while standing on the board when surfing through the waves. This needs a considerable level of training and core strength to get a successful outcome. This is also a very popular sport in Sri Lanka around the coastal areas and is a major tourist attraction.
Cliff diving is one of the most dangerous adventure sports on the list due to the high risk of injuries. This sport involves jumping from heights that range from 18-27 meteres to a body of water. The height difference between the water body and the cliff is the most crucial factor of this sport. A diver from 10 metres will hit the water at a speed of approximately 50 kilometres per hour. These cliff diving jumps are executed by highly trained professionals and it is breathtaking to watch.
Caving is an extreme sport of exploring non man made underground caves. This sport includes many risks like hypothermia (low body temperature), rockfall, drowning, exhaustion and bad air. Caving is usually done in groups with proper guidance and specialised gear. There are caves which go deeper than 1700 metres.
Abseiling also known as rappelling is a sport where participants descend off a vertical drop like from a rock face or a waterfall with a fixed rope. This activity requires special gear like ropes, leather gloves for a tight grip, helmet, rappel anchors and knife in case something goes awry and you have to cut yourself out of the system. The higher the descent it gets more adventurous as well as riskier. The techniques should be learnt in order to execute a safe and successful rappel.
Bungee jumping is an activity of a free fall from a great height while connected to a large elastic chord. This is more like a human version of a yo-yo. When the person jumps the chord stretches and the jumper flies upward again as the cord recoils. These jumps are usually around 500 feet height and you could get a thrilling experience.
The best part of bungee jumping is that you don’t need any kind of training and the execution of this is solely based on your confidence. This is a good way to push your limits. Jumpers experience four to five seconds of free fall at up to 193 kmh of speed.
Wing suit flying also called wingsuiting and is a variation of skydiving. In this sport a person will fly in the air using a special jumpsuit called a wingsuit. This suit has two arms, wings and a single leg wing which is of inflatable pressurised nylon fabric. A wingsuit flight ends by deploying a parachute. A wingsuit flight can reach up to a speed of 160 kilometres per hour.
Ski jumping is an Olympic level adventure sport which should be done with proper training and specialised gear. It comes under the winter Olympic sports. Ski jumping is divided in to four parts: in run, take off (jump), flight and landing. The riskiest part of this is executing landing and if the jumper uses wrong techniques he could end up getting serious injuries or meeting possible death.
The goal of this sport is to achieve the longest jump after descending from a specially designed ramp and just before the takeoff a ski jumper reaches an average of 95kmh of speed. We hope that you have understood these sports and realised also the dangers and risks that come with them. They are not for young ones but for grown ups. So, till you reach the correct age have patience, after all, they say patience is a virtue.
 |
| Abseiling also known as rappelling |
 |
 |
 |
| Tide surfing |
 |
| Bungee jumping |
 |
| Ski jumping |
 |
 |