Extreme Sports

36326_Cover 27/06/17 4:10 PM Page 1

Extreme Sports

Extreme Sports faster, climb higher and compete for longer.

No sporting challenge is too great or too difficult. See what it takes to beat

EXTREME SPORTS

Extreme sportsmen and sportswomen go

the rest and be the best.

Browse the complete Collins catalogue at

www.collins.co.uk ISBN 978-0-00-733632-6

9 780007 336326

www.collins.co.uk/collinsbigcat

An information book

Adrian Bradbury

What are extreme sports?

Most extreme sports are physically tough, so their

Extreme sports involve all the action, adventure, thrills and heartaches

rather than older, but fitness, skill, balance

of other sports, but with added risks. Extreme sportsmen and sportswomen

and, above all, training and experience

push themselves to the limit. If they go fast, they want to go faster. If they climb

are more important than age.

sportsmen and sportswomen tend to be younger

high, they want to climb higher. If they find something easy, they want to make it more difficult. They want to challenge themselves, even if it means facing much greater dangers than in ordinary sports.

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What are extreme sports?

Most extreme sports are physically tough, so their

Extreme sports involve all the action, adventure, thrills and heartaches

rather than older, but fitness, skill, balance

of other sports, but with added risks. Extreme sportsmen and sportswomen

and, above all, training and experience

push themselves to the limit. If they go fast, they want to go faster. If they climb

are more important than age.

sportsmen and sportswomen tend to be younger

high, they want to climb higher. If they find something easy, they want to make it more difficult. They want to challenge themselves, even if it means facing much greater dangers than in ordinary sports.

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Fly like a bird

Skydiving

All airborne extreme sports are at

Parachutes were first used as a way of escaping safely from a hot air balloon.

the mercy of the weather, which can

Their design and safety improved during the 20th century and jumpers began

change quickly and dramatically.

to use parachutes for sport.

Anyone taking part in these sports must decide if they have the skill and experience

In a typical skydive, the jumpers will leap from a plane at an altitude of 3,962 metres. They’ll open their parachutes 610 metres above the ground after a freefall of one minute.

to cope with the conditions.

Is it safe to jump or fly?

parachute strong, lightweight helmet to protect the head on landing

goggles to keep the jumper’s vision clear

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Fly like a bird

Skydiving

All airborne extreme sports are at

Parachutes were first used as a way of escaping safely from a hot air balloon.

the mercy of the weather, which can

Their design and safety improved during the 20th century and jumpers began

change quickly and dramatically.

to use parachutes for sport.

Anyone taking part in these sports must decide if they have the skill and experience

In a typical skydive, the jumpers will leap from a plane at an altitude of 3,962 metres. They’ll open their parachutes 610 metres above the ground after a freefall of one minute.

to cope with the conditions.

Is it safe to jump or fly?

parachute strong, lightweight helmet to protect the head on landing

goggles to keep the jumper’s vision clear

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Training and safety

Sometimes skydivers jump together.

This is called formation skydiving.

All skydivers take intensive training courses that teach them how to open their canopy, how to change their body position in the air and how to land safely.

Extreme skydivers jump higher! Jumps have been made from a height of over 9,144 metres. For these, the skydiver needs to carry bottled oxygen as the air is very thin at that altitude.

Record breaker The highest skydive was from an altitude of 31,333 metres by US Captain Joseph Kittinger in 1960. His speed was recorded as 988 kilometres per hour – almost breaking the sound barrier.

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Training and safety

Sometimes skydivers jump together.

This is called formation skydiving.

All skydivers take intensive training courses that teach them how to open their canopy, how to change their body position in the air and how to land safely.

Extreme skydivers jump higher! Jumps have been made from a height of over 9,144 metres. For these, the skydiver needs to carry bottled oxygen as the air is very thin at that altitude.

Record breaker The highest skydive was from an altitude of 31,333 metres by US Captain Joseph Kittinger in 1960. His speed was recorded as 988 kilometres per hour – almost breaking the sound barrier.

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Wingsuit flying In order to be able to stay in the air longer, a special suit was designed to slow the jumper down. The wingsuit catches the air, increasing

Training and safety This sport’s so difficult to get right that jumpers should have experienced at least 200 skydives before attempting their first wingsuit flight.

wind resistance, or drag, so that the jumper falls at around 97 kilometres

The chief developer of the wingsuit, Frenchman Patrick de Gayardon,

per hour when skydiving, rather than the normal speed of 193 kilometres

was killed in 1992 when he jumped to test his latest design.

per hour.

This wingsuit jumper has a camera attached to his helmet to record his flight.

The wingsuit is based on the webbed arms and legs of a flying squirrel. For this reason it’s often known as a “squirrel suit”.

wings made of of thick nylon

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