Adrenaline Sports
Life, for the majority of people, has become a boring and tedious routine. Feeling depressed, you wake up Monday morning knowing that your day will be no different from all the other Mondays that have previously jaded your existence. There is no challenge, no excitement and no adventure. Just the same old tasks day in, day out.
In a strange way family holidays can appear to feel the same. Year after year you might take the caravan down to the same Cornwall camp site and gaze around the beauty and wonder of the Eden Project. Others may venture out and top up their tan at some Spanish coast, escaping the unpredictability of the British summer.
At first these appear like a suitable way of recharging those overused batteries. After all, spending quality time with the family away from the office is what summer holidays are all about.
But they can also be seen as an opportunity. An opportunity to experience that rush of adrenaline that a luxurious holiday in the Costa del Sol can not offer. An opportunity to recharge the batteries in a way where your body is pushed to limits you never even knew existed. The opportunities I am talking about is adrenaline sports.
Adrenaline sports, such as snowboarding, kayaking, hand gliding and bungee jumping, are specifically designed to drive the body to the limits of its physical ability. When it first appeared in the late 80’s, the term was originally set up to classify adult sports such as mountaineering, surfing and rock climbing. However, over the years adrenaline sports has gained a more youthful focus, with sports like BMX, motocross, skateboarding and snowboarding all falling into the same category.
As a young boy I used to love that combination of speed, fear and height that ultimately define adrenaline sports. Every Sunday I would participate in a local motocross event along with dozens of other kids who shared the same enthusiasm for the sport as I did. Now for those of you who are oblivious to the sport of motocross, it basically consists of boys or girls riding off road motorbikes around a track designed to push the body to its full potential. The rough terrain and tricky jumps not only tests your physical ability but also your mental capabilities, making the sport challenging as well as exciting.
Just like motocross, BMX follows similar principles. Originating out of Southern California in the early 70’s, BMX was designed by young kids as a way of imitating their motocross heroes on modified Schwinn Stingray Bicycles, heralding a new breed of extreme sports. Since then its popularity has soared and with the help of other disciplines, such as skateboarding, it has ultimately created a culture away from the more adult forms of adrenaline sport.
Despite its success, the youth generated activities appear more of a past time rather than a once in a life time opportunity which remains the main reason to why sports such as bungee jumping and hand gliding sustain its appeal. Unlike skateboarding you can’t just wake up and decide to go down to your local park for a dose of adrenaline rush. Coasteering, for example, is a physical activity that needs a very high energy environment where water, rocks, caves and gullies come together. The main aim is to walk or swim along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline without the aids of boats, surfboards or any other craft, pushing your body to its very limits. That notion of adventure or challenge is rarely gained on a caravanning trip in Norfolk.
Abseiling, like coasteering, is an adventure sport that has become very popular. Suspended hundreds of feet over land, the technique is often used in mountain climbing when a cliff or slope is too dangerous to descend without protection. Apart from being used by climbers, it is also used as military operations, rescue application and a method of canyoning, which is another sport that explores the wonders of canyons using techniques such as scrambling, climbing and walking.
Such is its success and popularity that there are even specifically catered holidays which allow you to experience that sense of risk and excitement. For example, the Lake District has offered climbing and outdoor adventure holidays since the mid 70’s so you haven’t got to empty your pockets for that annual trip abroad.
These examples of both youth and adult generated activities prove how popular and appealing adrenaline sports have become. Escaping from the original concept of categorising adult sports, it has emerged as an opportunity for the whole family to push the boundaries of their physical capabilities and experience the rush of adrenaline that everyday life fails to deliver
