Adrenaline Junkies

Velocity · #1 10-09-2007, 04:56 PM

With your hands on the top of your head, constantly shifting your weight from your left to your right foot and back again, a long exhale is about the only thing you can do to calm your nerves. At the moment your balls win the battle against your brain, a rush of endorphins hits and you find a way to push off with your legs. You open your eyes again only to see nothing but air for 2 miles below you and your brain gloatingly says I told you so while maintaining your endorphin high so that you don't panic and end up doing something stupid. Your body rushes towards the fields below and you notice another poor soul moving his arms in a quite unnatural manner. In an instant, the 6 hours you spent on the ground learning hand signals and safety from the instructors rush back to you, and you realize you need to straighten out, and activate your parachute. Your sudden deceleration jolts your body, yet when you finally hit the ground, your knees feeling the pounding and begin to buckle beneath you. Finally, as you walk back towards the road where you will be picked up, you ask yourself, "Why on earth would I do that?" as well as, "When can I go again?"

I highly recommend if you go skydiving to choose the option where you begin your certification and dive alone the first time. The feeling of being unhindered and unattached to anything in the sky is amazing, and worth dealing with the class so you don't have to tandom jump. My brief summary of the experience does not come close to doing it justice, and I don't think I could give words to accurately describe how it feels.

I live in Iowa which limits my discussion on extreme sports due to the lack of mountains and water. What else can give people a similar rush? I'm guessing windsurfing on an ocean would be fairly intense, and blistering down a mountain strapped to skis is fun. Please share experiences that had your heart pounding in your chest so that all of us can have more enjoyable free time.

Though perhaps on a lower level than me, as we can see from the plethora of amusement parks filled with roller coasters, most Americans enjoy feeling like they could die at any second. Is there something wrong with us for enjoying "near-death" experiences? What drives us to do this?

Also, as an aside, this guy is ridiculous: Crazy Heli-Diver

raptor517 · #2 10-09-2007, 05:07 PM

is it weird that i used to enjoy things that made me feel like i could die any second, and now im not very comfortable with that feeling? i used to love flying down the mountain on skiis yelling the whole way and hoping no1 got in my way and also hoping i didnt bang into a mogul and go flying into a tree, but now, i dno im much more reserved i guess. i went sky diving like a year and a half ago, but have no desire to do it again though i think it was an overall enjoyable experience. i dno, i dont have any desire to risk throwing my life away like i used to. why is that?

swingdoc · #3 10-09-2007, 05:18 PM

raptor -

I assume everyone's sorta like me and starts to get a sense of their own vulnerability and mortality as they age. I'm not all that excited to see how fast I can drive on the highway or do other stupid stuff, although I can remember a time just a couple years ago when I loved that kind of thing.

Yeti · #4 10-09-2007, 08:54 PM

That video, wow. I am speechless. 15 feet?

SmokeyRidesAgain · #5 10-09-2007, 09:24 PM

What a [censored] nutbar. He would win the universe if he had skis on and just rode it out.

cbloom · #6 10-09-2007, 09:45 PM

That video is insane.

I used to love the adrenaline rush and did skydiving, etc. etc. but I crashed by bicycle in a fast descent a while ago and hurt myself bad, and I can't do it any more. It's not like I "realized I'm mortal" or anything rational, it's just that the thrill is gone and in it's place I just feel out of control and close to crashing whenever I do anything crazy. BTW fast bike descents are probably the easiest & cheapest way for anyone out there to do some seriously crazy exciting risky activity. Try it on a fixie with no brakes if that gets boring.

I'm not really impressed by the thrill-jockeys, but when guys have horrible accidents and then jump right back in to the same activity and keep pushing the risks, that's impressive (in an insane sort of way).

SmokeyRidesAgain · #7 10-09-2007, 10:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Try it on a fixie with no brakes if that gets boring.

[/ QUOTE ]
Don't give me these kinds of ideas.

Rootabager · #8 10-10-2007, 01:41 AM

I am up for doing most things that I have control over. I will drive a car really fast, or go off jumps with a moutain bike.

But if someone else is in control of it I am scared to death.

I hate riding on the back of motorcycles, theme park rides, etc.

that video is crazy, but I thought he didnt have a parachute . I thought he was going ot sky.

cts · #9 10-10-2007, 01:52 AM

that video was sick, nice link

i would definitely consider myself an adrenaline junkie. i love driving 200mph, skydiving, playing poker at the highest limits where big wins are huge and big losses really hurt, etc

kerowo · #10 10-10-2007, 02:31 AM

Meh. It turns out the worst thing you can say at a funeral is "...but he died doing what he loved doing." Unfortunately I found this out after a roommate of mine fell off Mt. Shasta, probably onto his head, he was in a coma for a while but I don't think he ever made it off the mountain. Never made it to his 1 year wedding anniversary either.