While some people are content with the challenges of sports like golf or tennis, others opt for more extreme adventures. For many, it’s the element of risk and danger that enhances the experience. A segment of the tourism industry has developed to serve those who seek such an adrenalin rush.
The following are several commercial extreme adventures that show the diversity of experiences (air, land and water) that are available:
Aerial Acrobatics
• TSNY Trapeze School (www.trapezeschool.com) lets circus wannabes conquer fear and push their athleticism to new heights. Experiences are offered in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC. Two-hour long classes provide aerial arts instruction in the flying trapeze, static trapeze, vertical rope, and other aerial arts. Those that catch on quickly find themselves hanging from the arms of a fellow swinger before the end of the session.
Extreme Adventure Sports In Usa
Deep Diving
• Wreck Diving with New York-based Mad Dog Expeditions (www.maddogexpeditions.com) is an adventure that combines the thrill of uncovering history on the wrecks with the perils of scuba diving at depth.
Extreme Adventures in USA Photo Gallery
HALO
• HALO Jumper (www.halojumper.com) offers High Altitude, Low Opening (HALO) tandem parachute jumps in Memphis, Tennessee, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Attached to an instructor, participants dive from the cruising altitude of a passenger jet, where the air is thin and temperatures dip to -25°F. The chutes open only a few thousand feet above the ground.
Extreme Adventures In North America
Jet Fighter Aircraft Flight
• Incredible Adventures (www.incredible-adventures.com) lets participants fly a MiG-29 or MiG-31 Foxhound jet under the guidance of an experienced reconnaissance pilot. Over 2,000 flights have been arranged since 1993.
North Pole
• Quark Expeditions (www.quarkexpeditions.com) runs a summer cruise to the geographic North Pole aboard the nuclear-powered Russian icebreaker Victory. Brave passengers take the “polar plunge” (swimming at the Pole without a wetsuit). The price is $30,000.
Extreme Adventures In The Usa
Shark Diving
• Great White Adventures (www.greatwhiteadventures.com) lets divers in submersible cages get up close with great white sharks. Excursions are offered to the Guadalupe Islands from San Diego and to the Farallon Islands from San Francisco.
Skyscraper Jump
• SkyJump Las Vegas (www.skyjumplasvegas.com) opened in 2010 at the Stratosphere Tower. Guided by a cable line, participants jump from a platform atop the skyscraper to a target 829-feet below. The jump was certified by Guinness World Records as the highest of its kind.
Extreme Adventure Vacations Usa
Speed On Salt
• Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats (www.saltflats.com) sanctions driving events where participants’ speeds regularly top 200 mph. At such speeds, salt has a coefficient of friction akin to ice.
Superboats
• Super Boat International (www.superboat.com) hosts a series of boat races with boaters reaching speeds topping 100 mph.
Volcano Visit
• In Hawaii, helicopter tours hover 500 feet over Kilauea, the bright orange, molten lava of the most famous active volcano. Sans doors – to get better photos -temperatures reach about 130 °F. Operators include the following:
– All Big Island Hawaii Tours (www.allbigislandhawaiitours.com)
– Blue Hawaiian Helicopter (www.bluehawaiian.com)
– ParadiseCopters (www.paradisecopters.com)
– Sunshine Helicopter Tour (www.sunshinehelicopters.com).
