xtremesport4u

Archive for June, 2009

We normally keep a close eye on the Nissan Extreme Games, but were obviously so busy writing on other things that Interlaken 2009 slipped by with no comment from us for which we apologise. However, it’s never too late to make up for past omissions and show you the high quality of both competitors and film producers… following this teaser from OutdoorGamesTV.

Nissan have been innovative in the extreme sports world and were the first to realise that an original event concept was needed in this growing sector of the market.

Because extreme sports have become more and more fashionable over the past few years, the event organisers came up with a concept like no other - 5 teams, 5 sports and a 5-minute film.

The task for the five teams is challenging: to produce a five-minute short film in seven days including five outdoor sports in the Interlaken region.

Rather than pushing the limits in outdoor sports, the Nissan Outdoor Games again reveals that certain subjects can be addressed within a sports film. The themes represented in the 2009 films go from the meaning of life and death, profound feelings as well as harmony with nature.

Extreme sports challenges have been taking place in Interlaken now for 5 years. The Games are an important event for adventure sports and film making. For a week, the best kayakers, mountain-bikers, climbers, paragliders and base jumpers combine with film makers and photographers to share their adventure in the mountains and to battle it out for prize money of Swiss Francs 70,000.

Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of Nissan’s Marketing Communications in Europe, says “The Nissan Outdoor Games allow athletes to express themselves in the most awe-inspiring way, whilst thrilling the public by capturing their exploits in a five minute film. Nissan is once again proud to be supporting the Outdoor Games and together we are working to increase participation in an active outdoor lifestyle and a sustainable engagement with the natural environment.“

Enjoy these incredible hang gliding sequences filmed by Austrian film team ‘Argon’ (orleyflo)

Marvel at Anthony Green’s 10-second death defying misting by the falls (acrotwinz).

Enjoy Swiss Team, NBFlyer’s, film for which they received the Jury’s Special Award as well as the Best Sports Sequence for its climbing scene with Cyril Albasini. (OutdoorGamesTV)

And we end with the winning film from Team Golgoht of Finland who received the Golden Peak Award.

The Finn, Petri Kovalainen from the Golgoht team, won the Best Photographer award as well as the Game of Light Award by Julbo.

“The definition of adventure is outcome unknown,“ says Steve Gurney.

And that is what Mad Way South is all about.

This wind powered odyssey began casually when Geoff Wilson challenged a Kiwi friend to a buggy race. The Mad Way South race was born and four mad and extreme wind driven men set to start racing from Northern Morocco on August 3rd 2009.

They will attempt the first ever journey across the Sahara desert on kite buggies this summer.

There’s a twofold reason for this race. One is an effort to help promote green travel and the second is to raise money for charity.

The race will cover 2,500 km of the worlds toughest terrain in just 30 days. They aim to claim the rights to be the first to have ever crossed this desert by wind power alone from Agadir in Morocco, through Western Sahara, Mauritania, and end in Dakar, Senegal.

This will be man and machine pitted against the harshest environment in the world at the end of the Saharan Summer.

30 days is the aim… but since this is unchartered terrain and has never been attempted before, the time-scale will be flexible.

The team consists of 2 Kiwis and 2 Aussies.

The purpose for the Mad Way South Sahara Challenge is to raise awareness of the plight of women and children who have been forced into commercial sexual exploitation in Cambodia. They are hoping to raise $100,000 for the “SHE Rescue Home – Cambodia”.

This looks just amazing. Fabulous video and for once too short! Thank you imexkorea for sharing it with us:

This extraordinary video from CristianS75 was brought to our attention by a friend – now we understand this is not excactly an extreme sport but the technology, robotics and concept for the VW car manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany certainly is extreme and we think it will have you catching flies as your jaw drops open with amazement.

It was this picture that set me off…

Isn’t it fantastically extreme? WOW – what more can you say…

Extreme kayaking seems to be all about making the biggest drop and beating your compatriots to finding the next big drop.

Ben Stookesberry, a 30-year old professional kayaker, seeks out big drops all over the world. He has made 51 first descents in 11 countries so far.

Pedro Oliva and Tyler Bradt have both set world record drops this year. Oliva first made headlines when he went over a 127 foot water fall in Brazil, and just weeks later Bradt shattered that record by dropping 186 feet over Palouse Falls in Washington State.

It is these sort of antics that has brought extreme kayaking to our attention.

Technology continues to evolve, offering better, more stable, boats, paddles, and other gear, which is allowing the top kayakers to challenge some impressive runs, such as the Rio Santo Domingo in Chiapas in Mexico, which drops 480 feet in just an eighth of a mile and has two waterfalls of 90 feet or more. It is just one of several extreme runs that Stookesberry is hoping to conquer in the months ahead.

Interesting little video this one from solesupfront :

And here’s Tyler Bradt’s record breaking drop (Fauxlaf ).

Bradt, Stookesberry and Oliva are one of about half a dozen professional kayakers who tackle waterfalls above 100 feet.

A little over a decade ago, a 50- or 60-foot waterfall was thought to be the biggest drop a kayaker could survive. But sturdier boats and new techniques have allowed daredevils to push the outer limits of the sport.

It’s not all about being the one to do the biggest drop, it also allows the extreme kayakers to venture into unexplored river gorges and uncharted rapids that were previously deemed out of reach, sealed off by fortress-like waterfalls where portaging is impossible.

They are becoming the equivalent of 19th century explorers risking their lives to claim a “first descent” of a waterfall or a long, treacherous stretch of river!

The most extreme kayakers have also developed new techniques to control their descents over massive falls. Boaters tuck forward like high divers, laying flat across the bow and angling their boats nose first, which reduces the surface area hitting the water and softens the impact. Some even attach fins to the back of the boats so that they drop straight down, like a dart. The most common injury, kayakers say, is a broken nose.

“Approaching the lip, there’s this feeling of being completely out of control, completely in the hands of the river,” Ben Stookesberry says. “You lose all that fear and all that anticipation, because there’s no turning back.”

Rather them than me, tho’ I have to admire their courage.

From Adventure Racing to Ultra-Marathons…

As you will have surmised, the Gobi March has drawn to a successful close with a fantastic race enjoyed by all.

The final stage of the competition was a 10 kilometer course passing through the Old City of Kashgar (the one that is about to be razed to the ground to make way for a modern replacement) and the finish took place in front of the Id Kah Mosque.

This stage was won by Weichao Wei (China). He blitzed through the finish line at 12.09.25 holding up the Chinese flag . In 2nd place was Riel Carol (France) at 12.13.30. Patrick Diaz (United States) followed soon after at 12.13.51. Shane O’Rourke (Ireland) came in looking strong at 12.15.50 with John Lewis (United Kingdom) in close pursuit, and then Shawn Harmon (United States). Eric LaHaie (United States) was the most recent arrival at 12.17.31.

Having led most of the way, Eric LaHaie was the overall winner, with Diana Hogan-Murphy (Ireland) being the overall winner in the women’s division. Group Cohesion was the first placed team.

I promised to bring you the remaining stages and thank racingtheplanet once again for putting them on youTube.

And the final day with the first competitors crossing the line:

Our sincerest congratulations go out to all and every one of you.

Adventure Racing is one of the extreme sports that we blog about regularly, and it is best to remember that it is an extreme sport – witness the tragic death of 3 participants in the Raid du Mercantour last weekend, 21st June.

Adventure Racing is an example of how the mixture of terrain and weather conditions can catch out even the most experienced of runners and trekkers.

When I first started writing about Adventure Racing, the first thing that crossed my mind was that, whilst physically and mentally challenging, a long hike through difficult and varying terrain was a bit ‘tame’.

I apologise profusely to all Adventure Racers – and hasten to add that that thought lasted less than 10 minutes as my research broadened.

Since then I have been impressed and amazed at the antics that the sportsmen (and women) get up to, and think that, as an extreme sport, it is probably one of the best.

Don’t shoot me down in flames if you don’t agree… but Adventure Racing is quite something.

For those of you who are not too sure what Adventure Racing is all about, it’s a combination of two or more disciplines, including orienteering (if an orienting map is used) and/or navigation (when non-orienteering maps are used), cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours. There is typically no dark period during races, irrespective of length; competitors must choose if or when to rest.

You need to be superfit. You need to have a team you know well and trust. You need to have mental and physical stamina. And you need to know how to do all the above disciplines … and more.

It’s many sports all rolled into one…

The first official Adventure Race was “The Raid Gauloises”, held in New Zealand in 1989, and consisted of 400 miles of mountaineering, horseback riding, kayaking, canoeing and rafting over a two week period. The first U.S. race was the Eco Challenge, held in Utah in 1995.

Adventure Racing has become so popular that it has even had a TV series made in its honour – the Odyssey series (trainingsept ):

So why do it? Well, it has been said that Adventure Racing is one’s own personal road to self-discovery as it allows an individual to find his or her limits and push through them because the ‘Race’ often takes participants out of their comfort zone by challenging them with unfamiliar surroundings, often while sleep deprived and physically exhausted.

Anyone can become an Adventure Racer. It’s an easy crossover for cyclist, runners and water sport enthusiasts. Many former tri-athletes, marathon and ultra-marathon competitors looking to add more spice to their chosen fields have taken it up. Some sportsmen found themselves suffering recurring injuries in their sport and so turned to Adventure Racing as an alternative. Aging athletes, on the other hand, discovered that while they can no longer keep up with 20-somethings in a foot race, in a 24+ hour races, they have some competitive advantages!

As with ALL sports, accidents and tragedies DO happen.

This is the RAID season in France and there are many keen participants.

“I’m used to hiking in mountains since I’m a kid, doing a lot of alpinism, skiing, climbing…I’ve discovered adventure racing about 10 years ago and I love it!” says Carine Porret.

“I like adventure racing because I’m a racer, I like the spirit and the race parties!….” says Franck Salgues

“I’m Brasilian living in Miramas,France,in a beautiful winery,I travelled the world for the past 7 years to compete in diferents AR,” says Karina Bacha.

I could give you hundreds of quotes.

“I was born with a compass in the hand! I participate in a lots of orienteering competitions with all my family…my three daughters and my wife are like me: addicted to!….” says Michel Denaix.

But I won’t!

As I said above, this is the Grand Raid season in France, but on Sunday in the Grand Raid du Mercantour in the South of France about 80kms north of Nice, the region suffered adverse weather conditions and three runners died under tragic circumstances. It was the ‘running stage’ of the race and had already been reduced from 100kms to 80 because of the abundance of snow still around. The alarm was raised as a number of competitors had not returned by the 6pm cut-off time, and emergency services were scrambled in an attempt to locate the missing people. All 3 were in their 50’s and it is suspected that they died of hypothermia and hypoglycaemia. Our sympathies go out to their families.

This is not an extreme sport for nothing…

This is taking extreme sports to the limits – surfing a tsunami wave! What a wave, thanks to pads316 for posting it:

and since it’s Saturday and I don’t have much time… I couldn’t resist posting this video from mobscene1003 of other strange occurrences following a tsunami. Bare with the German write-up (unless of course you understand German in which case I apologise!), the fish are worth having a look at.

The Gobi March continues. Only one more day to go though, and so many of the competitors still going strong – even when the going gets really tough.. Extreme sport, extreme courage, extreme challenge, extreme perseverence… well done to all of them.

I am going to show you a series of videos from racingtheplanet over the past few days, starting with Stage 2 as I have previously aired Stage 1. Plus I’m going to give you a few more facts and figures about this extreme endurance race…

The Gobi March is an ultramarathon, adventure race, expedition race and extreme race all rolled into one…

It’s a 250km race over a period of 6 days…

The Gobi March is now the largest international sporting event in Western China. The majority of the area where the Gobi March is being held is closed to tourists, requiring special permits…

175+ athletes compete…

38 is the average age…

35 countries are represented…

30 athletes will not finish…

25% will be aged 40 – 49…

19 is the age of the youngest competitor…

It will be 110* Fahrenheit (43.3* C) after noon…

The event is set up to allow for generous cutoff times. The leaders run the whole course, and many walk the whole course…

Each competitor will carry a 20 lb (+/-) food and gear pack…

10,000 calories will be burnt daily…

20 + pounds will be lost in bodyweight over the 6 days…

(sounds like the perfect diet to me!!!)

2 competitors, French Valerie Autissier and Cyril Goss, are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary on the March…

At the end of Stage 5, German sisters Larissa Hippchen and Caroline Kracht, said, “The stage was long and the river bed never ending,” but they were thrilled to cross the finish line…

Simone Bishop (South Africa), Kimberley Dods (South Africa) and Hannah Sandling (United Kingdom) have been nicknamed ‘The Glamour Girls’.

Current status at the end of Stage 5 finds Eric LaHaie still at the top.

Eric LaHaie (United States) and Riel Carol (France) crossed the finish line together at the end of Stage 5 at 17.50.29 . The pair had run for the past 40km in a duo. “There was no way I could have kept that pace if I had been alone,” said Riel. LaHaie and Riel were running at a pace of just under a 9 minute mile, picking up the pace as they neared the finish line. For the first 50km, Riel had LaHaie in his target, but as the pair began to tire through the grueling stage, they admitted to relinquishing competitive ambition to see it more as a shared experience. LaHaie said, “I was in bad shape for the first part of the stage, and my knees were giving out, but when Riel caught up with us I said to him, ‘you set the pace, I’m going with you.’”

Sean Abbott (United States) who had remained in the top three throughout the race came into camp at 17.59.17. Abbott was greeted by the top two who shared first place for the stage, placing him in second place today.

And why take part in something as extreme as this? As RacingThePlanet says, it’s “life enhancing for all, life changing for many.”

And whilst the competitors are out there slogging their hearts out, the race organisers and helpers have some fun…

That’s it for today, the Day 5 video is not yet available…

You might have noticed something new on our sidebar. SocialVibe has created a way of helping good causes and charities, and we have chosen to support a project that is close to our hearts – the protection of our oceans.

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit, grassroots, environmental organisation dedicated to protection and enjoyment of our oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of surfers in Malibu, California, the organisation has grown exponentially.

So you see, surfers are not just beachbums!

Apart from being avid followers of the surfing life, why choose this particular project?

Well, this is something we’ve ranted about before – but did you know that there is a plastic soup in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – known as the dead zone? Here’s a depressing, but important short video from StrangeDaysAction spelling out a few facts for us:

Marine scientist Captain Charles Moore of the Agalita Marine Research Foundation describes a dead zone, an oceanic desert, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean which he calls: Plastic Soup. This trashbin is a huge – I mean seriously HUGE – deep churning cesspool of plastic bits definitely bigger than the state of Texas, and, some say, even bigger, possibly, than AFRICA ! These plastic bits are ingested daily by marine life. And guess what? Who eats marine life? We do.

Scary stuff hmmm?

Captain Moore has measured 6 pounds of plastic for every 1 pound of plankton. He predicts that, unless we do something, in 30 years there will be 60 pounds of plastic particles for every pound of plankton.

And what eats plankton? Plankton is literally the food of life. It is vitally important in the food chain of all marine life.

And lest you are a bit casual about this topic and shrug your shoulders and say, “well, it’s only the Pacific. It’s not our problem, someone will be able to sort it out in due course…” Don’t be misled – there is a similar cesspool in the Atlantic.

Here’s a photograph from National Geographic of an open-air garbage dump which tarnishes the sapphire coast of Barrow, Alaska. Disgusting, isn’t it.

And why should we get personally involved? Well, if you windsurf, kitesurf, scuba dive, snorkel, surf, sail, kayak, freedive, deep water solo to name but a few – you should be concerned. It concerns you directly.

This problem is very nearly out of control. We seriously need to do something about it. And we need to do something NOW.

So click on the sidebar please!

Thank you.

And I’ll leave you on an equally miserable note. Here’s a video from seareport01 on the problem in the Pacific…

So come on guys, let’s do our bit to save our oceans…