- Spice up your boring life with one of these extreme activities.
The life of an adrenaline junkie is one of constant thrills — until it isn’t. At some point, many adventurers feel like they’ve done every dangerous activity.
If you’re one of these people, don’t fret. There are plenty of heart-pounding sports out there for you to risk your life with.
And some of them can get pretty weird.
Here’s a collection of some of the strangest extreme sports for all you burn-out thrill seekers. Just as a disclaimer, nobody at Oddee is responsible for anything that might happen if you try these sports.
1. Wife-carrying
What’s more fun than going on an adventure on your own? Doing it with your special lady, of course!
Wife-carrying is a form of extreme obstacle course racing originating from Finland. In the race, the man must complete a series of challenges — from water-crossings to climbing over walls — while carrying the wife using one of the acceptable techniques.
If you’re unmarried, don’t worry. The official rules state the wife doesn’t have to be yours.
You could borrow a neighbor’s or fetch her “from further afield.” You’re solid as long as she’s 18 and weighs at least 108 pounds.
The sport has spread all over the world as a fun couples’ activity. The annual world championship, however, is still held in the sport’s native Finland.
2. Parahawking
Parahawking was spawned by British TV broadcasts. It’s a sport that combines paragliding with falconry.
Parahawkers take to the air using a paraglider, accompanied by a trained hawk. The bird is supposed to follow its master as the two soar through the air.
Since both paragliders and birds of prey seek out thermal air currents to keep them aloft, the two are a natural pairing. Well-behaved and well-performing birds often receive tasty treats from the parahawkers during their flight.
You can also help injured animals while you have some extreme fun. Parahawking was invented by bird trainer Scott Mason as a method to rehabilitate rescued hawks.
3. Highlining
Think you have a good sense of balance? Put your abilities to the test with a bout of highlining.
Highlining is essentially tightrope-walking taken to its logical — and most dangerous — extreme. The walkers must cross a piece of tough, rubbery line stretched over a yawning chasm.
Usually, the line spans two mountain tops. And the sport is just as dangerous as it sounds.
Even when wearing a safety harness and lifeline, there’s a real risk of serious injury. A fallen highline walker might swing back on the lifeline and smash right into a jagged rock wall.
But without a line, you’d just plummet into the abyss. You’ve been warned.
4. Bossaball
Bossaball is a fairly recent addition to the extreme sports catalog. Born in Brazil in the early 2000s, it’s a variant of beach volleyball played by 3-to-5-man teams on a giant inflatable court featuring a trampoline.
The rules have been changed to accommodate the new court. Team members are allowed to hit the ball up to eight times before passing it over the net.
Oh, and that trampoline is there to bounce the attacker high up into the air to spike the ball to the opposing side.
5. Chess Boxing
Want to push your brain and your brawn to the max? Then chess boxing is the sport for you.
Chess boxing is a hybrid sport that marries — you guessed it — chess and boxing. The opponents face each other in the ring and around a chess board during alternating rounds.
You can win the game by checkmate on the board or a knockout in the ring. From its origins as an art performance, chess boxing has grown into a competitive sport with two governing organizations.
6. Zorbing
Zorbing sounds like the characters in a Saturday morning cartoon might do. And, really, it kind of is something like that.
A zorb is a giant inflatable hamster ball with another, softer ball inside it. Zorbers get into the zorb and take off running down a hill.
There’s really no rules to zorbing, other than having fun trying to stay upright inside the tumbling ball. But hey, no one’s stopping you from coming up with rules for competitive zorbing.
There are even zorbs big enough for three people. Although we have to say, that sounds like a recipe for broken limbs.
7. Cheese Rolling
Cheese rolling is as much a sport as it is a folk tradition. Hailing from Gloucester, England, cheese rolling is an annual festival taking place on Cooper’s Hill.
To start the game, a referee sends a wheel of cheese rolling down the hill. Then the contestants take after it, trying to catch it.
The winner gets to keep the cheese.
If that doesn’t sound extreme to you, consider that the 9-pound cheese can reach speeds up to 70 miles per hour. On several occasions, it has bounced into the audience and injured people.
That’s why in 2013, they swapped to a soft foam replica. Otherwise, the sport is still the same.
8. Extreme Ironing
Do you think ironing is a boring chore? That just means you haven’t taken it to the extreme.
In extreme ironing, you’re supposed to climb, hike, dive, or otherwise get yourself to a difficult and challenging location while carrying an ironing board, a clothes iron, and a piece of clothing. Then, you iron the clothes.
Extreme ironing enthusiasts have ironed their clothes on top of mountains, in the depths of caves, at the bottom of the ocean, and in many other extreme places. What a way to make an everyday chore into something that could potentially kill you.
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