Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective, does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.
Everyone who plays sports can give their reasons for this. There are people for whom this is nothing more than simple physical education, a way to stretch your body and keep it in shape. Someone is attracted by the competitive component, the opportunity to show themselves better than others in various competitions. And some like to take risks, feel the adrenaline rush, put themselves in conditions where survival depends only on their athletic skills. For such sports, the sports described below are suitable – the most extreme of the existing ones.
Rating of the most extreme sports
| Nomination | a place | Name of product | rating |
| Rating of the most extreme sports | 1 | Bull rodeo | 5.0 |
| 2 | Heliski | 4.9 | |
| 3 | Base jumping | 4.8 | |
| 4 | Horseboarding | 4.7 | |
| 5 | Slackline | 4.6 | |
| 6 | Mountaineering | 4.5 | |
| 7 | Cave diving | 4.4 | |
| 8 | Paragliding | 4.3 | |
| 9 | Streetlagging | 4.2 | |
| 10 | Rafting | 4.1 |
1st place: Rodeo on the bull
Rating: 5.0
Rodeo, a traditional sport among American cowboys, takes the first place in extreme and dangerous. The participant is required to saddle the bull and hold on to it for 8 seconds – while the animal should not stand calmly with the rider on its back, but make every effort to throw it off. To make the bull angry and the spectacle turned out to be quite spectacular, the rider uses spurs. In addition to the main competition, additional ones are often held – to catch the animal on a lasso or to catch up with it and knock it to the ground.
Even skilled bull tamers are not immune to injury. Falls often cause spinal injuries, fractures and dislocations of the arms and legs. But it is much worse if the animal directs all its rage at the rider. Many competitors die when an angry bull pierces them with horns, tramples them with hooves, or violently throws a person so that he breaks his neck. To prevent this from happening, there is a bullfighter in the arena – a clown whose task is to distract the bull from the fallen cowboy. Of course, the bullfighter does not always succeed in this, and in some cases he himself is the victim.
2nd place: Heliski
Rating: 4.9
Heliski is the most extreme skiing sport. Participants climb the untouched mountain slope by helicopter, put on their skis and rush down. During the flight, you can inspect the slope, but this does not take away the element of unpredictability – no one knows what awaits him on an unprepared track. Popular places for heliskiing are the Alps, Iceland and Greenland, Alaska and Canada, New Zealand and other areas with mountain ranges. In Russia, this sport is practiced in Kamchatka, as well as in the Caucasus in the Elbrus region.
The size of the group of skiers taking part in the race at the same time may depend on the helicopter's carrying capacity. Usually there is a guide among the people who is familiar with the chosen slope. Each participant must have an avalanche sensor, an avalanche probe, digging tools and other devices to search for those buried under the snow.
But sometimes all the precautions do not help, and the team of skiers is buried under an avalanche. People also die from falling into mountain gorges, receive serious injuries when hitting stones and unsuccessful braking. The participants are constantly monitored by a helicopter; if the weather conditions change, the guide may refuse to conduct the race. The difficulty of the route is calculated depending on the skills of the weakest participant.
3rd place: Base jumping
Rating: 4.8
Base jumping is an extreme skydiving from high ground objects. The first part of the name comes from the acronym B.A.S.E., in which the main types of structures from which jumpers start are encrypted: building – a building, antenna – antenna, span – span of a bridge, earth – surface of the earth. Basers climb houses, communication towers, cliffs with a steep slope, fall from them and open the parachute.
Base jumping differs from ordinary parachuting, which involves jumping from an airplane or helicopter, in that landing occurs from a much lower altitude. Therefore, the basers take only one parachute – the spare will still not have time to use it – and open it in the first seconds of the fall.
Base jumping requires quick reaction – a hesitant jumper risks not having time to open his parachute and die when hitting the ground. The lower the height from which the jump takes place, the more highly the skill of the athlete is evaluated. In addition, it is necessary to be able to control a parachute, because often it is possible to land only on a limited piece of land, and the wind can carry the flyer far away from it.
4th place: Horseboarding
Rating: 4.7
This is a fairly new kind of extreme sport – the idea came up and was implemented only in 2005, when Englishman Daniel Fowler figured out how to increase the speed of his board. To do this, he tied a horse controlled by a rider to a skateboard. This is how horseboarding appeared, which quickly gained popularity and received official recognition.
The main danger in horseboarding is falling, the injuries from which can be compared with those of jumping from a car at high speed. For protection from bruises, a special horseborder suit has been developed. The athlete is required to be able not only to stay on the board, but also to operate the towing cable attached to the animal. Skill is required from the rider, and not every horse is suitable here.
Horseborders are not only competing in speed. They also perform exciting stunts – sharp turns, overcoming natural and man-made obstacles. Here, the well-coordinated work of the rider, the horse and the person on the board is necessary – otherwise, for the latter, the trick may end very badly. This kind of coherence usually requires a lot of joint training.
5th place: Slackline
Rating: 4.6
Slackline is walking on a line stretched between two points (they are called stations) at a certain height. It is very similar to walking on a tightrope, the only difference is that special balancers are not used, which gives more freedom of hands and allows you to perform various tricks.
Novice athletes usually train on short lines stretched not high above the ground. In this case, the length of the line does not exceed 40 meters, the width can be 1.5-2.5 cm or more. Sometimes slackliners also walk above the water surface – the depth should be sufficient so that the walker does not hit the bottom in a possible fall.
The extreme begins when seasoned athletes rise to great heights and walk along a long, well over 40 meters, slab. At the same time, the walker demonstrates his dexterity, making jumps, somersaults, turns. Usually at high altitudes a belay is used attached to the line, but in some cases it is removed so as not to hinder movement. Then the slackliner really risks his life by walking the trail.
6th place: Mountaineering
Rating: 4.5
Climbers are those who like to climb mountains and rocks, overcome obstacles on the way to the peaks. The subject of competition can be the height of the climb, the length of the route and the difficulty of overcoming it. Earlier, when not all mountain peaks were conquered, climbers were looking for a way to climb where no one had been before. Then the easiest way to the top was chosen. Now, when a simple ascent up the mountain will surprise no one, athletes are looking for new, more difficult and still untouched paths.
Alpine countries – Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland are considered the homeland of sports. Since the conquest of the mountains began with the Alps, the conquerors of the heights began to be called climbers. When all sorts of alpine routes had already been passed, the athletes drew attention to other mountain systems – the Caucasus, Tibet, the Himalayas, the ridges of North and South America, Africa, New Zealand. In 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Norgay Tenzing finally climbed the highest mountain in the world – Everest.
On the way to the high goal, climbers face many dangers. An avalanche may come down, covering people with a layer of snow, from under which they cannot get out. There are frequent equipment problems that cause athletes to fall. Cold is dangerous at high altitudes – the temperature is so low that it reaches the limits of human endurance, and there is a lack of oxygen. Therefore, Everest and other high mountains have a “death belt” at the top – there are many frozen corpses that there is no one to remove and bury. Some of the frozen bodies, being in their place for many years, even serve as a kind of “landmarks” on the way for climbers.
7th place: cave diving
Rating: 4.4
Cave diving is a type of scuba diving where the swimmer dives into the waters that fill the caves. Usually these are specialists – hydrospeleologists who explore the underworld, but there are also extreme sportsmen who love the process itself. A special case is lifeguards who swim in search of other unlucky divers.
Compared to ordinary diving, the cave diving is rather unpopular. The reason is in the specific difficulties that cave divers face – darkness, the impossibility of an immediate ascent, an unpredictable route and the danger of landslides blocking the way back. Only a few dare to dive into cave waters without special equipment – oxygen and a lamp.
In order not to get lost in the flooded labyrinths of the cave and not be without oxygen at the wrong time, you need to carefully consider the plan of an underwater trip. Usually divers work in a team, where there should be people with extensive diving experience. Swimming in caves one by one is the lot of a few daredevils, not all of whom come back.
8th place: Paragliding
Rating: 4.3
Pragliding, or paragliding, is a flight with a parachute of a special shape due to the use of ascending air currents. The flier usually starts from an elevation and then tries to catch the heated air going into the upper atmosphere. Although the paraglider does not have an engine, flight with skillful control can last for many hours, during which thousands of kilometers are covered.
An alternative to paragliding is a hang glider. It is better able to catch the wind and flies faster, but is heavier and more difficult to transport. The advantage of a paraglider is that you can easily bring it in a backpack, climb to a suitable elevation and start from there.
Despite the fact that a properly executed paraglider can sometimes provide a safe landing, even if the flyer barely controls it, beginners are quite often injured. For safety reasons, it is better to wear a helmet and a special suit. It is not recommended to fly alone if you have no experience at all.
9th place: Streetlagging
Rating: 4.2
This extreme sport arose from the idea that skateboarding much faster, not while standing, but lying down. Streetlagging is boarding a road down the side of a mountain or hill. At the same time, the athlete is in a supine position, head back, and controls the board with the body and legs, following the turns of the track.
Streetlagging emerged in the United States in the 70s. The very first competition ended with a large number of injuries among the participants, as a result of which the sport was banned. However, he continued to develop illegally until he was allowed again, with the requirement to wear equipment to protect the body from damage.
Streetlagers often move along highways. This requires the ability to control the board as well as a car and avoid collisions. The most difficult thing is to brake in time, since the skate has no devices for this. Athletes often have to bump into trees, poles, and other obstacles to stop. If a person has forgotten to wear protective equipment, such riding often ends up in the hospital.
10th place: Rafting
Rating: 4.1
Rafting is a sports rafting on fast and rough mountain rivers. Athletes sit on rafts – inflatable boats designed for 1-3 pairs of people. This is primarily a commercial sport, which does not necessarily require relevant experience.
The main difficulties in rafting are overcoming water rapids, steering the boat in a fast current, avoiding obstacles while moving. The routes are divided into difficulty levels, from one to six points. Individual obstacles are classified in the same way, only for them the scale starts from zero (0-6).
Dangers await rafters at waterfalls, whirlpools, underwater pockets. Of course, this sport is dangerous for those who cannot swim. In case of injuries, there is often no one nearby who is able to help – rafters swim in the mountains, far from human settlements. Routes above 3-4 levels of difficulty are suitable only for those who have been swimming for a long time.
Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.
