Extreme Sports

Does anyone need to risk everything to be the ninth person to summit an obscure mountain in Pakistan via its southern face, to set a personal-best “no limit” free dive, or to jump over more buses on a motorcycle? For some, the answer will always be, “Yes, we need to take risks for those things, too.”

Base Jumping

This is about leaping off a fixed object and deploying a parachute at some point before hitting the ground.

Risks? Parachute problems. Hitting bits of the object you’ve just jumped off.

Appeal? Morbid glamour. Base jumpers are considered the most daring of their breed and the most likely to be dead before your next conversation.

Motorcycle Leaping

This is a magnificent contest between man and… ground. From a rider's point of view it is, literally, a leap into the unknown; for a spectator it is thrilling and terrifying when a motorcycle is out of its natural element – which is to say high in the air.

Risks? Just missing the landing ramp. Hitting the landing ramp, but missing your motorcycle. Colliding with anything in between. Arriving at your destination only to have your motorcycle’s suspension collapse on impact. Losing control after landing and flying over the handlebars – then being cleaned up by your own machine.

Appeal? Fame. The opportunity to make a decent living in freestyle motocross (involving midair stunts like the one above).