Top 10 Ontario Adventures

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, Top 10 Adventure Sports Travel Lists     Canada, canoeing, canopy walk, Competition, helicopter flight, Hiking, ice climbing, Kayaking, mountain biking, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Ontario Tourist Board, Scuba Diving, snowmobiling, trekking, whitewater rafting

By having real temperature shifts and heavy snowfalls in winter, and strong sunrays blaze through its clean skies during summer, Ontario is ready and waiting all year round. read more

Nature is the law

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     Canada, New Zealand, Snowboarding, snowmobiling

News that an avalanche in Canadian British Columbia killed two snowboarders has sent a warning to all adventure sports fans: Beware the power of nature. We get to enjoy our sports thanks to the changing seasons, the ebbs and flows, and flurries and gales that nature provides. Enjoyment, however, needs to be tempered with respect.

If, harnessing the wind or surfing a wave, you think you are in control: think again. Countries such as Canada and New Zealand are often described as adventure sports playgrounds. That said, nature agrees entry times, and also decides when its time to pack up and go. The key to safe extreme sporting is knowing the limits – while pushing them a little, too; realising when playtime is over could be key to saving your life. read more

Is the Euro Winter X Games going mainstream?

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     olympics, Skiing, Snowboarding, snowmobiling, winter x games

I guess it depends how you classify mainstream, although it could be argued the Winter X Games has lost some of its X-factor since the Olympics woke up to snowboarding in 1998.

More traditional Olympic disciplines have been around since the year dot (1924 to be exact). Snowboarding, however, is a relatively new sport; the first ever Winter X Games was in 1997, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) taking snowboarding on its books a year later.

Before then, there was a clear division: regular Olympic sports one side, extreme sports the other. Although, hold on: Since when was luge not extreme? And as for ski-jumping, it’s completely off the richter.

So what does the Winter X Games bring that the Winter Olympics does not? Well, there are eight different competitions, these include Slopestyle, Ski and Snowboard SuperPipe and a demonstration event on snowmobiles – not sure this last one would make it past the IOC selection committee. read more