Sports Adventure Has Always Been

¶ … Sports

Adventure has always been an integral part of the human experience, and risk helps define character. All heroic tales center on a hero who undergoes trials involving great physical and mental challenge, and most of their challenges supercede the everyday human experience. Extreme sports are the modern manifestation of adventurism and exploration, risk-taking and challenge. Now that almost every inch of the globe has been traversed, the modern adventure odysseys involve stretching the limits of human potential. Extreme sports connote any activity taken to the maximum -- the max. Extreme sports, from mountain biking to surfing to snowboarding to skydiving, test the boundaries of human mental and physical exertion. The term "extreme sports" denotes two different ideas. Extreme comes from a Latin term meaning outside of; therefore, that which is extreme is outside the realm of everyday, average human experience. Sport is a derivative of an Old French word meaning diversion. Extreme sports therefore imply recreational activities that are outside the realm of ordinary human experience. Basketball cannot be considered extreme because many people can and will play. Many people associate extreme sports with danger. Although most extreme sports carry with them a high degree of physical risk, there are many sports that are dangerous but not extreme. For example, hockey carries a high risk of physical injury but hockey is generally not considered to be an extreme sport. Therefore, just because a sport is dangerous doesn't necessarily mean it can be classified as "extreme." Thus, extreme sports can be defined as any recreational activities that carry a high degree of physical and mental risk but are also outside the realm of mainstream experience.

Extreme sports are outside of the realm of mainstream experience and as a result, they lead to the creation of subcultures. Subculture is therefore one of the hallmarks of extreme sports, exemplifying the essence of the root meaning for "extreme." That which is extreme is outside of the ordinary. Therefore, an extreme sport, even if dangerous, cannot be part of mainstream culture. For example, most people in the United States do not play football, but football is certainly not considered to be an extreme sport. Football is for sure a dangerous sport, but it is also a mainstream sport, broadcasted live on national television networks, a sport that has become commonplace even to those who do not play. Skateboarding, on the other hand, is technically less dangerous than football but still carries with it a stigma of fringe culture and subculture. People who skateboard are labeled "extreme" because they are outside of ordinary mainstream culture. Therefore, extreme sports necessarily create subcultures around them that define them as being external to mainstream reality.