Ozaki 8 is a list of extreme sports that honours nature's forces. It was originally created in the movie Point Break. These sports push and test the abilities of poly-athletes. The character in the movie wanted to engage with nature's forces through extreme sports in order to bring more attention to environmental issues. Some hardcore athletes and movie enthusiasts decided to create their own Ozaki 8 tasks.
The first item on the list is Emerging Force. It refers to dangerous rapids and involves rafting in whitewater rivers. Tyler Bradt is a kayaking enthusiast and has excelled at the sport since he was a child. He wanted to set a world record for the highest kayaking drop. In order to set this record, Tyler plummeted over the Palouse Falls, which is a 10-story drop.
The second item is Birth of Sky, also known as Mountain BASE jump. The athlete has to perform a BASE jump from some of the highest points on Earth. The official location for this jump is on Mount Everest. Valery Rozov is the daredevil that jumped off one of Mount Everest's peaks. He wore a wingsuit and jumped off at the height of 7,220 metres. He still holds the record for the highest BASE jump in the world.
Next is Awakening Earth. Some people also call this task the Sky-to-Earth BASE jump. This ordeal takes the extreme athlete on an adventure that starts in the sky and ends in a very deep cave. The official location for this stunt is the Cave of Swallows in Mexico. Some people call it the portal to the center of Earth.
The fourth ordeal is called Life of Water. In the original movie, the athletes surf a 60-foot wave. Garrett McNamara is the world record holder for surfing a 100-foot wave!
The fifth ordeal is Life of Wind or Wingsuit Flight. Based on the movie, the official location is at a narrow ravine in Switzerland, nicknamed "Crack". Nobody is known to have done it in that location, because it is a very dangerous place to fly in a wingsuit.
Life of Ice or Snowboarding an Unridden Line is the sixth ordeal. The athlete has to snowboard on an unridden trail. It's not that simple, in order to find this unridden trail, the athlete has to be dropped off via helicopter. Once it reaches a formidable location, the snowboarder can start on the task. Shaun White is one of the most famous snowboarders in the world. He was the first snowboarder to win three Olympic gold medals.
The seventh ordeal is Master of Six Lives, which involves climbing a cliff face with no safety gear. Angel Falls is the place to go for this stunt, since its cliff stands at about 3,000 feet. This is a very dangerous ordeal, and one wrong step could be your last one.
The last item on the list is the Act of Ultimate Trust. This task also takes place at Angel Falls, but instead of climbing on it, the daredevil is going to jump off it. Oh, and that jump has to be made without using any safety equipment. There is a good chance that the jumper won't survive. This is a mythical feat at best.
Why do these daredevils engage in death-defying deeds? Some people like bragging rights. When athletes experience these extreme situations, they are more aware of their mortality. This awareness causes their brains to release a large amount of dopamine. Dopamine is a feel good chemical in our brains. When dopamine is released, we feel happy. Other reasons for participation could be a mix of a number of things, including escapism, ego, and a way to overcome grief.