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.

Extreme Sports and The Evolution of Skate

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, ash     Adventure Sports, extreme sports, skate, Skateboarding, Surfing

When surfers took to skating on land, a new chapter in extreme sports was opened.

Much has changed since those halcyon days.  Yet while trucks are unrecognizable from the first sets that rolled, many of the more casual moves are the same, some becoming classic, even legendary. read more

Summer X-Games: Who’s taking gold this year?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     espn, olympics, Skateboarding, tony hawk, winter x games, x games

If you don’t know: the X-Games are the extreme sports World Cup, Olympics, Cup final and Superbowl rolled into one!

This is where skate legend Tony Hawk first pulled off the legendary ’900′ back in 1999 and BMX uber rider Dave Mirra somehow turned a double backflip in 2000.

We just sat in on a press conference with Tony Hawk and friends, and Sandro Dias, one of only a handful of skaters to land a 900 told us he did it at the X-Games the first time he hit the ramp, never even checked it out beforehand: X-Games is where things happen!

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Keeping Extreme Sports Safe

Ian K    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     Accident, Adventure Sports, Danger, equipment, extreme sports, gear, Injury, Protection, Protective clothing, Risk, Safety, Safety Tips, Skateboarding, Sport Safety

It’s not been a good month for skateboarding. There have been a number of accidents that have made the press, and inevitably questions are being asked about the safety of extreme sports.

So, it seems only right we set the record straight, and make four points on safety and risk: read more

Extreme Sports: Who’s pushing the boundaries?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     dean potter, extreme sports, Felix Baumgartner, free climbing, parkour, shaun white, Skateboarding, skydiving

In sports, if you think it has all been done before you have two choices: You can do it faster and better; or you can turn it upside down, twist it inside out, and innovate. Extreme sports do the latter. They are sports, radicalised. Turbocharged. Adrenalised. And with little, or no compromise.

Even still, these sports have their pioneers. We have picked five sports that take it to the edge, and people in each who are pushing back the limits of what is consider physically possible.

Why do they do it? It’s simple: There are no boundaries… read more