Bigger, Better and Blacker: GoPro Hero3 Reviewed

Mark Pawlak    ash, Travel Gear     Adventure gear, camera, extreme sports, GoPro, GoPro Hero3, Photography, travel gear

Technology jumps. Most of the time it’s not worth making the leap, instead saving your effort, and money, for the real game-changing moves. The GoPro Hero3 promises enough to tempt an upgrade, and as shown here, it’s black – sort of.

High-tech with a touch of old Kodak

Just in case you’ve had your head in the sand for the last three years, GoPro has taken a massive chunk of POV camera market.

And thanks to its compact design, range of mounts and dedication to building products tailored to the adventure sports world, it’s the deserved market leader.

So what’s new this time?

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Still Jumping: Bungy Inventor AJ Hackett Interviewed

Mark Pawlak    ash     Bungy, bungy jump China, bungy jumping, china, colorado, extreme sports, Macau, New Zealand

For some it’s a rite of passage, for others it’s a test of courage. But for the founder of the bungy jump, AJ Hackett, it’s much more than a moment. It all started back in 1988 when AJ and Henry van Asch began to challenge people and gravity with their first leaps in Queenstown, New Zealand.

Innovating and capturing the Kiwi spirit of adventure

In many ways bungy is the poster boy of extreme sports and remains perhaps the most accessible highspeed adrenaline rush around.

But that’s just what I think. For a more accurate look at bungy, here’s AJ Hackett in his own words and a great vid expalining how it all came about.

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Sports that kill, and why we do them anyway

Tamsin    ash     adventure holidays, Adventure Sports, Baumgartner, Dangerous sports, extreme sports, Hermann Maier, Skiing, Skydive, skydiving, Surfing, Val-d’Isère, water sports

Anyone who has seen the footage of Hermann Maier’s spectacular crash at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics will have a fairly good idea about the dangers of skiing. But did it stop you booking a week in Val-d’Isère the following season? Probably not.

We all know there are inherent risks involved in extreme sports. Image: Flickr/ Rhys Asplundh

When it comes to adventure sports, however extreme, we all know there are inherent risks involved. You could be caught by an avalanche while skiing, a shark while surfing, a stray wind while base jumping or even a bolt of lightening while golfing.

Despite this millions take to the slopes, waves and air every year. Many pushing the boundaries of what is safe or even possible, on the never ending quest for adrenaline.

So what makes normally gravity-abiding people throw themselves out of planes or off of tall buildings?

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All that Glitters: Why Extreme Sports have no place in the Olympics

Mark Pawlak    ash     Adventure Sports, Brazil, extreme sports, kitesurfing, olympics, Olympics 2012, water sports

Watching the Olympics one thing was clear – there’s no connection between the Games and what are known as ‘extreme sports’, and clearly the two should never mix…

Olympic Rings Image Flickr: ToNy

Recently there’s been an unprecedented rise in popularity, with people and brands loving these edgy and unconventional sports.

Yet, extreme sports are rarely about ‘executing a four year plan’, nor are they always role model production lines. And they are about searching for something more valuable than gold…

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The Ultimate List of Extreme Sports

Mark Pawlak    ash     Adventure Sports, adventure sports holidays, extreme sports, ultimate extreme sports

Considering all the new sports and hybrid forms constantly emerging, compiling the ultimate list of extreme sports is a big ask.

We’ve been helping people find out information about these sports and have the world’s largest database of adventure holidays – so it’s down to us to nail this!

Freefall - the ultimate extreme sport? Photo: flickr/whatleydude

That said, we want your input.

Take a look at the list we’ve started and see if you can add to it. And if you can summarise why your sport belongs in the ultimate list of extreme sports in less than two lines, catch up on Facebook, add a comment and we’ll add your knowledge.

Fight for your sport, that’s what we say!

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Extreme Sports California: Where it all began?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash     California, extreme sports, mountain biking, moutainbiking, San Fransisco, Skateboarding, trekking holidays, US

California, it’s all in the name. This golden state has a draw, a lure much stronger than that created by Hollywood and the films of fantasy, and we can see why…  Away from the urban centres, headed south along the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles there’s an endless summer going on.

A nutrient-rich current bathes the California coast and volcanic nitrates infuse its central valley; if neighbour Nevada is bleak desert, ‘Cali’ is the oasis on every road trip.

Initially prized by the Spanish for its fertile land, California was later settled by prospectors looking for gold. Granted, the rewards are now more likely to be found in Silicon Valley, but there’s still riches to be found in them there hills…

And it’s rockin’ adventure sports! Head north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and there’s Mount Tamalpais, spiritual home of mountain biking; roam south 180km and you’re into big surf and the eco-wonderland of Big Sur.

Highway 1 offers stunning views at the apex of every coastal switchback; the Pacific Ocean turns a deeper blue as it reaches the horizon and inland, Los Padres National Forest pushes 350km to the western edge of Los Angeles County. Almost two million acres: hiking and trekking holidays here really could go on forever…

Way up in the High Sierras there’s more extreme activities going on. As the state boasts top skiing resorts, and even claims to have been the birth place of snowboarding, could it be argued California is the extreme sports capital of the world?

We’ve included the skate sensation ‘Second Nature’ as it reveals a little of the space and beauty of the place – and a couple of suit-wearing super-dudes loving their sport, immersing in nature and grinning ear-to-ear.

The movie has won too many awards to mention (Best Sports Film at the 2010 Sonoma International Film festival/ X-Dance Action Sport Festival and many more) and it’s guaranteed to win you over! Enjoy and ask yourselves: Is California the extreme sports capital of the world?

If you think you know the adventure sports capital of the world, vote here in our Facebook poll.

5 reasons adventure sports fans love Egypt

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash, kiteboardingholidays, snowkitingholidays     Adventure Sports, extreme sports, kitesurfers, multi-activity-holidays, watersports

Unrest in Egypt remains top of the news agenda, still it’s a country favoured by the extreme sports and adventure sports community, and as soon as the political temperature falls, they’ll be back.

Here’s why:

It’s great for kitesurfers. Sea temperatures rarely fall below 18C, conditions remain excellent for all standards, and destinations are really well developed.

Kitesurfing on Egypt's flat waters

It’s a scuba fans dream. While all we are seeing above the surface is drama, under the water Egypt has some of the best dive spots in the world. As well as a collection of reefs, there are submarine canyons and the submerged wreck of the SS Thistlegorm to discover.

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