Outdoor Sports Connections
These sports are all about attitude, individuality, and pushing everything to the limit.
If you are among the more adventurous; here are 11 outdoor sports sure to get your adrenalin pumping.
Bullfighting - Very popular in Mexico and Spain. February 5th is Mexico's Bullfighting Superbowl when over 40,000 fans attend the Plaza Mexico for premiere bullfighting competition. The world famous Pamplona bull run is held every July 14th outside of Madrid. Every year, Spaniards spent close to $1 Billion to watch 17,000 bullfights. Considered one of the most dangerous arena sports.
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/spain/a/spain
http://gomexico.about.com/cs/mexico
www.askmen.com/fashion/travel/60/61
Dirt Biking - This competitive sport in known for its Extreme Motocross Championships and the AMA Supercross Series. Most popular in Texas,Washington, California, Nevada,and Florida.An estimated 50,000 are involved in this sport. Potentially a dangerous sport with injuries to the spine and rib cage. In 2002, 20 of the top 40 cyclists were injured in competition.
www.motocross.com
www.amadirectlink.com
www.amamotocross.com
www.supercross.com
Cricket - Believed to be the world's 2nd most popular sport, after soccer, with millions in 120 countries participating or viewing. This sport is really catching on here in the U.S. with major expansion programs planned in high schools and colleges. As far as we could tell, there have been no serious injuries from this sport.
www.usaca.org
www:icc-cricket.com/icc/events
Lacrosse - This sport also is catching on in U.S. Colleges and High Schools. It was started by Native Americans in Canada. There are over 100,000 lacrosse players in the U.S. but it also a favorite among the U. K. countries. Recently, the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Team has received a lot of international press. It is somewhat dangerous with potential injuries to the head and face.
www.lacrosse.org
Heli-Skiing - The 7 most popular spots for this sport are: Aspen, Alta, Whistler, Snow Valley, Squaw Valley, Mammoth, and Vail. While very expensive, the rush you experience from this winter sport is simply irresistible. While there have been many injuries and some fatalities, these most often occur when trying to heli-ski in foggy or stormy conditions.
www.heliskijackson.com
www.snowtown.com
www.heliskiguide.com
www.powderheaven.com
Hang Gliding - The modern triangular wing used in hang gliding was invented by Regallo of NASA in the 1960's. According to the U.S. Hang Gliding Association, there are 10,000 registered hang gliders. The hang glide is considered an aircraft and is monitored by the FAA. The most popular places to hang glide are: Kitty Hawk, Lookout Mountain, Monument Valley, and along the California coastline. Considered a dangerous sport with many fatal and non-fatal accidents per year.
www.ushga.org
www.hangglide-utah.com
www.windsports.com/index2.html
http://flyaboveall.com/flyaway/
SCUBA Diving - Made
popular after the invention of the aqualung by Jacques Cousteau in the 1940's,
the most extreme form of this is Deep Sea Underwater Exploration. The most
popular places are:the Phoenix Islands near Fiji, Trinidad, Tobago, New Zealand,
and the Coral Reef Chain in the Tasmania Seas near Australia. Considered
very dangerous due to divers losing their orientation and swimming down when
they should be swimming up, and coming up too fast which causes "the bends."
www.alltheseas.com/Deep-Sea-Diving.html
http://uwex.us
www.exploreuw.com
Rock Climbing - The most popular places to rock climb in North America are: Joshua's Tree, CA, Bishop, CA, Yosemite National Park, Lion's Head, Ontario, Devil's Tower, WY, and Christmas Tree Pass, NV. Considered somewhat dangerous due to falls and getting lost.
www.rockclimbing.com
www.aai.cc/
www.nationalgeographic.com.adventure/climbing.html
Rugby - While very popular in the U.K. countries, this sport is also the fastest growing team sport in the United States. It experienced a Renaissance in the U.S. in the 1960's and has grown to over 50,000 players by 1999. Despite the fact that it is sanctioned as an International Sport by the IOCC, it has not yet made it onto the Olympic venue. The 2007 Rugby World Cup is to be played in Paris, France. Considered dangerous because the players wear no padding, and there is a lot of body contact.
www.usarugby.org
www.irb.com
www.worldcupweb.com/rugby
Summer Mountain Climbing - Most popular in the Rocky Mountains States of the U.S. 75% of mountain climbers suffer some sort of injury during their climbing career.
http://climb.mountainzone.com
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/climb.htm
www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock
Winter Mountain Climbing - Most popular in the Swiss Alps and the Himalayas. Colorado and Wyoming host some of the best climbing schools around. Ice and Snow Climbing are particularly dangerous and there have been several deaths at some of the world highest peaks.
www.usaclimbing.org
http://webmountain.net/climber/climbing/links.html
www.uiaa.ch
www.climbing.com
Outdoornewswire.com News
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Scuba Diving Magazine gives high ratings for Underwater Kinetics.
Freediver Will Go Deep to Reclaim Title
Martin Stepanek hoping to break "constant weight" freediving record.
Freediver Having "Dream Week"
Sara Campbell breaks diving record for British women -- and men.
Great Whites Gain Good Friends
Guadalupefund.org steps up to protect sharks off Isla Guadalupe.
Four Wild Islands
No matter which activities float your boat, these getaways are a slice of paradise.