In recent weeks we have seen some pretty scary and, in one case, fateful accidents over the last few months and begs the question, when does extreme become dangerous?
The profile of extreme sports and the athletes that take part in these sports has become huge in the last couple of years, no doubt helped by the unstoppable surge of social media platforms and it’s users and of course, blogs such as ours!
But this increase in coverage seems to have coincided with the risks in this area become greater and greater. This week saw renowned base jumper, Jeb Corliss, broke both of his legs in South Africa, moments after jumping off the edge of a cliff. Only a day before that, another extreme athlete, ice climber John Roberts, died after a 60-foot fall in Colorado.
The investment in sponsors could also be a factor when it comes to the stakes becoming higher for this athletes, with more pressure on their shoulders to take more risks, to justify their sudden higher level status.
As much as we enjoy watching these jaw-dropping stunts being performed and records being broken, there does seem to be a underlying feeling of the athletes playing ‘Chicken’ with each other, daring one another to take it one level further, until ultimately, perhaps fatally, one comes up short.
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