Adrenalin news

Surf the turf

With global warming melting away all our ice and snow, people are going to need to find a snowboarding alternative and Rosie Khdir has found just the thing - Sandboarding.

By replacing the snow with sand beneath your feet, you get a sport that can be practiced all year round and in many more countries, 44 countries to be exact!

When sandboarding you use the same techniques as snowboarding, but instead of it taking place on mountains you board down sand dunes either on beaches or in the desert. It is claimed that the ancient Egyptians used to slide down sand dunes on planks or wood of pieces of pottery and images of people sandboarding were even found from World War II. But despite the early histories of the sport it didn’t really become known until the 1970s when it was introduced to the US by Jack Smith and rider Gary Fluitt.

The design for the sandboard was based on that of a snowboard but needed alteration as its speeds were disappointing in comparison. Help came in the form of a surface wax called ‘Formica’ which accelerated the board to new success. In 1998 Venomous sandboards produced the ‘Race base’ which allowed boarders to reach speeds of up to 50mph, transforming it into an extreme adrenalin sport.

Sandboarding schools have popped up around the globe as people begin to discover the delight of a new board sport, one that is much more easily accessible. The National Sandboard League in the US holds 6 events every year and dozens more competitions are held by South American associations.

The first sandboarding park opened in Lane County on the south central coast of Oregon, USA, and since then sand surfing schools have begun to emerge on almost every continent. Sandboarding is a great prelude to snowboarding and is apparently much more forgiving.

Locations for sandboarding in the UK are as follows:

Next time you head down to the beach in search of a killer wave, why not try the boarding the dunes instead.

Image Credit: Stephen Glauser

Get ab-Zorbed

Have you ever wondered how a hamster feels when it’s rolling around in its little ball? Well wonder no more as Rosie Khdir reveals the newest adrenalin filled craze of Zorbing.

Many people chose to scale mountains, surf gigantic waves and jump out of planes to get their fix of adrenalin, but why not try rolling down a hill in a large blow-up ball?

As silly as this image might seem, it is actually a fast growing fun filled activity that can prove to be a good abdominal workout.

The Zorb, invented in New Zealand by Dwayne Van Der Sluis and Andrew Akers in 1994, is a large inflatable sphere containing another smaller sphere inside, suspended by hundreds of nylon strands.

Participants are placed into this inner compartment, alone or with a friend, and either secured with a harness (Harness Zorbing) or accompanied by 20 litres of hot or cold water (Hydro Zorbing). You are placed in this bubble at the top of a hill and then rolled down about 200 metres, either in a straight line or in a zig-zag.

The experience is like nothing else, as you lose all sense of which way is up or down and the countryside is a mere blur of colour around you. Observers can hear screams of delight and excited laughter as the ball propels you downward faster.

Hydro Zorbing is a new addition to the programme and is, one can only image, like being placed in a washing machine, and is the only water sport you’ll find on land!

There are many sites now set up in the UK offering this new sport of Zorbing, or globe riding as it’s also known. Zorbing South was the first site set up in the UK and is based in Dorset. It has been around for nine years offering the Zorbing experience to over 50,000 people, with a pleasing 100 per cent safety record.

So if you fancy an adrenalin rush with lots of laughter then Zorbing is the way to roll.

Image Credit: TheGirlsNY

Breaking waves

There aren’t many British surfers out there capable of inflicting damage on the Australians or Hawaiians, says Johann Keetch, but of the few who can one stands out amongst all of them. Meet Alan Stokes.

Surfing the coastal waters of Britain requires a special resolve. Granted you’ve less chance of being munched by a shark than say your Australian counterpart, but you still have to contend with freezing wet weather and unpredictable storms, and that’s during the summer season.

Someone who grew up learning to surf in this environment is UKPSA tour leader Alan Stokes. One of Britain’s finest, and ambassador for Maximuscle, Stokes has recently reached the Boardmasters World Qualifying Series 5 Star Event in front of 100,000 spectators, and won the Gul Night Surf on Fistral Beach, Newquay, scoring a perfect 10 on the way to the final.

He began using Maximuscle products after damaging his ankle, and was told by a specialist that he needed to beef up in order to protect his joints. Speaking to Ed Andrews in Huck Magazine, he said:

“Last year, I had a bad ankle injury and was out of the water for four months. I was going a bit crazy so started training a lot to get back in the water. A specialist told me I needed to protect my ankle with muscle so I needed to get bigger and stronger. Maximuscle sorted me out with loads of products like Pro Max protein bars and Viper rehydration drinks, and they have really supported me.”

In between competing Alan is fortunate enough to work on various modelling assignments for, amongst others, Vans and clothing brand Animal. When the summer season ends in the UK you will usually find him chasing waves around various tropical parts of the world and generally having a good time.

This probably makes you feel slightly sick, especially if you’re reading this whilst stuck in the office. But try not to resent him too much, he is just a guy from Cornwall, albeit one with a pretty cool job, and as all good Cornish lads he’s a keen supporter of the RNLI, one of the world’s last surviving breed of true hero.

Look out for him on the UKPA Tour for the rest of the summer.

Freedom to roam

There is something undeniably childlike behind the concept of freerunning, the kind of limitless use of imagination that you took for granted before hormones came along and ruined everything.

To look at the urban landscape as a giant playground, a place where buildings become climbing frames and the city one big assault course, harks back to a time when you really thought you had a chance of becoming Spiderman one day.

Freerunning evolved, or is really just a variant of, the French method called Parkour or l’art du déplacement; the way of moving as quickly and efficiently as possible from one place to another that was developed in French military circles throughout the 20th Century. A curious form of martial art based on flight rather than fight.

It was taken up by a small group and friends, who named themselves the Yamakazi, a word from the Lingala language of the Congo meaning ‘strong spirit, strong body’, and developed into an urban street activity (they shun the word ‘sport’ believing that competition limits their possibilities). The group then split between two separate philosophies.

There are now those who retain the original ideals of speed and economy of movement, and others who champion the newer freerunning method that emphasises individual creativity and seeks to make the jumps and rolls more graceful and aesthetic.

The leading force behind freerunning, Sabastien Foucan, will be in London this autumn to deliver a seminar on the subject, at the Freestyle Festival 2009. He will also be hosting the freerunning arena at the event that also includes street courses dedicated to BMX, skate and inline.

Sebastien will be on hand to talk about his personal philosophy behind freerunning and give advice on key techniques, most important of which is mastering the art rolling as you land. This prevents impact on the legs and spine, allowing you to drop from greater heights whilst propelling you moving forward. You might recognise him from the 2006 freerunning documentary Jump London or from the classic opening chase scene in Casino Royal; he was the guy getting chased down by Bond across building sites in West Africa.