There are many extreme sports that involve flying and freefalling. In these sports, athletes put their lives in the hands of their equipment. They rely on their equipment to save them from falling to their deaths. Occasionally their equipment does fail, and in most of these cases the athlete is seriously injured or killed. Doing extreme sports is always a huge risk!
Bungee jumping has become a very popular sport over recent years. It gives jumpers a huge thrill. In bungee jumping, participants drop themselves off from a fixed structure, usually a bridge. They plummet downwards at a high speed towards the water. But don't worry, the bungee jumpers are tethered to a strong fixture with a large, strong elastic band. When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper moves downwards. And when the cord recoils, the person goes back up. The bungee jumper continues to oscillate up and down.
BASE jumping takes bungee jumping to the next level. BASE is an acronym. It stands for the four things participants are allowed to jump off from: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Instead of an elastic band, BASE jumpers leap off the ground putting all their trust in the parachutes on their backs! The BASE jumpers freefall until they reach the right height. Then they pull on the cord and their parachute is released. If all goes according to plan, they land safely and slowly on the ground!
When BASE jumping was still relatively new, there wasn't standard equipment for the sport. People modified existing skydiving equipment for it. This caused many accidents as it was not safe or reliable.
If jumping off a cliff is not risky enough for you, then you might be interested in skydiving. Skydivers start by taking a small plane and flying until they are at the right altitude. Then, the door opens up and out they go! Skydivers fall through the air until it is safe to open up their parachutes. Just to be safe, there are always two parachutes. There's the main parachute and the backup one called the reserve parachute. Many people enjoy going skydiving and some people even go in large groups! This is called formation skydiving.
Wingsuit flying is similar to skydiving. The flyers wear a special suit, which slows down their falls. This suit has wings between the legs and the arms. When the wingsuit flyers reach the ideal altitude, they will deploy their parachute. This involves unzipping their arm wings so that they can reach the steering parachute toggles.
For those athletes less interested in falling and more intrigued by flying, hang gliding is an exciting option. Hang gliders usually run and jump off a cliff with their bodies strapped to a hang glider. Hang gliders have no motors and no propeller. They just glide! Experienced hang gliders can stay in the air for hours!
Paragliding is similar to hang gliding, but instead of a glider, pilots sit in a harness strapped to a giant winged kite. They launch themselves off from a cliff and soar until they eventually come to a slow stop on the ground! Stopping might look easy, but it involves a lot of techniques. The paraglider has to take into account the wind and their own movements in order to safely land. If they're not careful, they could collide with other objects.
If heights don't cause you trepidation, then maybe one of these falling and flying sports are for you. Like with many other sports, if you're a novice, it is best to learn from someone more experienced and qualified first. There is a big difference between flying and falling, but for these extreme athletes, sometimes that difference becomes a bit blurry!