Extreme Sports

Although we won't go into detail about extreme sports here as we have devoted another website that, only deals with extreme sports, simply because we are fascinated by them. However, here, we will at least attempt to define what constitutes an extreme sport.

Practically synonymous with the term action sport and also called adventurous sport Extreme sport is a general term for sports featuring speed, height, danger or spectacular stunts. A feature of such activities in the view of some is their alleged capacity to induce a so-called adrenaline rush in participants, which in reality is not a rush of adrenaline but is instead a product of increased levels of dopamine endorphins and serotonin). Extreme sports are often associated with young adults wishing to push themselves to the limits of their physical ability and fear, in turn pushing the boundaries of a particular sport. This youthful demographic accounts too for extreme sports' frequent association with youth culture, including its clothing, fashions, and music. However, as each extreme sport gains more recognition, and perhaps to the chagrin or the youth culture, it also gains more participants in other age groups.

The term, itself, gained popularity with the advent of the X Games, a made-for-television collection of events. Advertisers were quick to recognise the appeal of the event to the public, as a consequence competitors and organisers are not wanting for sponsorship these days. It is this aspect of extreme sports that has caused some to argue that the only difference between an extreme sport and a conventional one has to do more with the marketing aspect of the sport, and less to do with either the danger level or the �adrenaline rush' produced. A good example of their argument is . Snowboarding, which carries a more extreme image than skiing due to differing marketing strategies and the fact of being a newer sport. However, skiing is a faster and at least an equally dangerous activity. Furthermore a sport like Rugby Union, though dangerous and adrenaline-inducing, would not fall into the category of extreme sports due to its traditional image. Perhaps than, a more apt desciption of extreme sports is danger level plus innovation. To say that an extreme sport can be defined by being a newer sport wouldn't fit because some of extreme sports have existed for decades. Neither Rock climbing or ice climbing can be called a newer sport and surfing was originally invented centuries ago by the native inhabitants of Hawaii.

Many have tagged participants of extreme sports as "adrenaline junkies", while many of the participants dismiss the tag altogether, saying that they enjoy developing their physical and/or mental skills, seek mastery of inhospitable environments, look to escape from the mundane rigours of day-to-day existence, or simply love the wilderness environment in which many of these sports take place. Bob Drury, a paraglider pilot says, "We do these things not to escape life, but to prevent life escaping us"�even though accidents in these sports could be fatal. Many participants also don't think of their activities as either extreme or sports at all. To the most passionate purists, the sport label doesn't fit because they aren't competing to win anything. Worse, the extreme label has frequently been blamed for stereotyping participants in these activities as stupid, reckless, and even suicidal

Several extreme sports, including snowboarding, were included in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and 2006 Winter Olympic Games, which caused some participants to believe that mainstream inclusion have been a cause for extreme sports to lose much of their essential elements.

So while the arguments continue on both sides, the high profile of extreme sports and the culture surrounding them has led to some humor with invented parodies like Extreme ironing�. in which people take an ironing board to a remote location and iron a few items of clothing�urban housework, extreme croquet, house gymnastics, and extreme wheelbarrow.

Ok, so we went into more detail than originally planned, but at least we didn't go into describing each and every extreme sport. That we saved for our extreme sports.com. site.