A beautiful reminder of the extreme Vertical Blue 2009 competition coming up:

Speed Riding – an extreme where Europe outranks the Americans

This is an extreme sport we have blogged about before but we feel has not been given enough column inches, enough exposure – we are talking about speed riding. It is young – only conceived in 2003 and it is therefore still very young. You can take off from 9,000 feet above sea level and be on the valley floor in less than five minutes. It is fast – very fast – furious and will give you a rush like you have never experienced.

It is also exclusive – born in Europe, more specifically France – it is Europe which far outranks the United States in numbers of participants. Europe affords the space of where to go which you will find is more restricted in the US – whereas up to 4,000 can be found practicing the sport in Europe the numbers in the United States are only a few hundred.

Further more it is claimed to be safer than a number of other pastimes but in the same breath it is also said to be safe – see what you think in the video below from r1g2b3 which shows action from……….well the Eiger of course, where else would you go for a buzz after lunch on a quiet Sunday afternoon!

A combination between paragliding and skiing we went in search of some info for you and were rather chuffed to find that Wikipedia did not have an entry for speed riding (at least not in the top 10 of our Google search!). It was to the www.Telegraph.co.uk where we turned and found this article by Mike Peake.

‘There are few extreme sports to which you could realistically ask for a gentle introduction. ……but speed riding, which is best described as falling down a mountain with grace, is one adrenalin rush that your grandfather could experience and hope to live to tell the tale.

Not that this new French addition to the thrill-seeker’s repertoire isn’t dangerous: hurtling down a snow-covered mountain at 60mph can only be risk-free when you’re at the controls of a Wii console. But this bizarre fusion of skiing and flying comes with an incredible get-out-of-jail-free card that has given it a safety record that’s hard to beat. When you see a rock, tree or Prince Charles and his entourage on the slopes ahead of you, all you have to do is yank on a cord and the paragliding canopy above your head will hoist you straight up and out of the danger zone.

“Base jumping is so extreme that there are no margins,” says 35-year-old François Bon, one of the paragliders who invented the sport at the end of 2003. “You have to be 100 per cent precise and base jumping is little more than a cascade. Speed riding is something that you can learn, slowly. It’s not something you have to throw yourself off the top of a mountain to try out.”

Designated speed-riding slopes and classes started springing up on the Alps three winters ago and since then hundreds of people have been certified as bona fide speed-riders (or speed fliers, as they are sometimes called) by the French Paragliding Federation. There are between 3,000 and 4,000 speed-riders worldwide and the sport has found friends in America, Japan, Scandinavia and New Zealand, although Bon insists its home is on the slopes of Les Arcs in the French Alps, where it was first conceived.

“When we started many skydivers and paragliders wanted to try it,” he says, “but now it’s mostly skiers. They’re not used to flying or using canopies, but that’s no problem because it’s better to be a good skier than a good flier. The rest you can learn.”

An adventurous speed-rider is looking for height, good snow and an exciting descent and the hardcore elite hire helicopters to drop them in places that would otherwise require a week off work. Kit consists of a pair of skis, helmet, goggles and a specially-designed canopy that is closely related to the traditional paragliding rig.

The idea of following the contours of a mountain while paragliding isn’t new: paragliders have been skimming mountain tops for years, sometimes with tragic results. But once Bon and his friends latched on to the idea of doing it with skis over more fall-friendly snow, they were onto a winner.

“We knew that the chance to fly fast and close to the snow would be very exciting,” says Bon, a paragliding test-pilot and former member of the French national team. “So we started to play with some existing canopies that we modified. By 2005 we were designing products specially.”

With just one fatality and a smashed back to date, speed riding is proving insurable and a surprisingly low-risk “danger” sport. “When you see our videos on YouTube, it looks pretty intense,” he says, accurately describing footage of one of his own hair-raising descents of the Eiger. “You’ll see that we’re going very fast and that there’s lots of flying, but when you start out there’s a lot more snow than air.”

But just like every sport, speed riding does have its golden rule. “It’s all about controlling your speed,” says Bon. “To run out of speed makes the glider fall down. You don’t want to be on a big slope and totally reliant on your skis if there are cliffs and the risk of avalanche. I’m only happy when I can see that canopy above me.” ‘

So where do you go if you want to give it a go and what do you need:

• probably a very good idea about how to ski to a proficient level
• equipment will be provided by your instructors
• training essential
• in Europe try www.speedriding-school.com
• in the US try ………..uh – we cannot find a teacher – now there’s an opportunity

Now watch this totally crazy footage from nimpO of Antoine Montant – another Frenchman – speedriding his way out of the path of an avalanche that would have swept all else before it – awesome.

… yet another thing you can do with a kite!

Is LANDSAILING an extreme sport?

The definition of LANDSAILING: a sailboat that travels on small wheels on the surface of land.

Can this count as extreme? An extreme sport?

Well, it is the speed that this sport can reach that elevates it into the extreme sport bracket. Moving over sand and land using a craft with wheels and carrying a sail for propulsion by the wind, and being entirely dependent on wind, is a skilful task.

A landyacht that is sailing downwind can reach no greater speed than that of the wind itself. But a landyacht, when it sails across the wind rather than being pushed along by it, can reach much faster speeds – up to 5 times as fast as the wind. This is because it creates its own wind from the velocity of its  movement and this greatly supplements the natural wind – and so great speeds can be achieved.

Now we’re talking. This is putting the sport comfortably into the extreme  catagory.

Due to the lightweight and aerodynamic build, racing yachts boost to top speed in about 5 seconds. Turning markers are usually taken at full speed!

The landyacht is a wind-driven board, usually light and comparatively small, mounted on 3 wheels. The front wheel is attached to a control system. The sail is about 5 square meters in area – this is variable depending on which model you have. The ‘sailor’, who is commonly called a ‘pilot’, sits on the board (or can lie on it), while using his hands and feet to control the craft using pedals or hand levers.  The landyacht uses no fuel.

The sport works best in windy, flat areas, and races often take place on beaches, air fields or dry lakebeds in desert regions. A gust of wind is considered more beneficial in a land sailing race than a favorable windshift.

The speed of the landyacht depends on its type. They are built for the purpose of speed and can go up to 100 mph. The world record is held by  Bob Schumacher (USA) in 2001,the Iron Duck, which reached the speed of 116.7 mph (188 km/h) in a wind of aproximately 30 mph. The Iron Duck was going at a speed of about 4 times the speed of wind.

Landsailing is quite easy to learn. The easiest way to start is to attend an event – local events are generally better as they are more relaxed although any event will do. Landsailors love to talk about the sport… so they say! Of course you will need a craft.

An extreme sport we have touched on once or twice, and similar to landsailing, is ice yachting – obviously practised on frozen lakes and rivers.

It is practiced in England, Poland, Norway and Sweden, but is very popular in Holland and Finland. However, its highest development is in America and Canada.

Another spin-off of this sport is Parakarting, or kite buggying, but more on these later I think… after all, one extreme sport at a time!

A profile of the Vertical Blue ’09 Freedive competitors

I promised you a competitor profile for the extreme freediving Vertical Blue Competition which runs from the 1st – 11th April – and here it is. My thanks go to William Trubridge for allowing me to copy his list.

A quick reminder as to who the current world champion holders are:

Male constant weight – 113m  – Guillaume Nery
Male no fins – 86m – William Trubridge
Male free immersion – 108m – William Trubridge
Female constant weight –  95m – Natalia Molchanova
Female no fins –  60m – Natalia Molchanova
Female free immersion –  85m – Natalia Molchanova

… and all 21 attending this competition will be hoping to challenge and break these records…

There are 11 countries represented at Vertical Blue 2009 – Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, UK, USA; and a total of 21 competitors.

Vertical Blue 2009: THE MEN

There will be twice the men to women at Vertical Blue 2009, but will they pack twice the punch?  Will there be rivalries and closely fought head-to-heads over the 9 days of competition?  Who will come up from the mysterious depths of Dean’s Blue Hole with the deepest tag for 2009?  Stay tuned, follow each athlete’s training, and maybe you will know before they do!

William Trubridge

The host of the competition, after a successful 2008 William is back to see if he can better his own records in Unassisted and Free Immersion.  He will have to stave off competition from rivals Nitsch and Winram.

Herbert Nitsch

Although he is the best freediver of this decade, Nitsch currently doesn’t hold any of the world records in the competitive depth disciplines.  This is likely to change at Vertical Blue, as Nitsch can lead an assault on any and all of the three disciplines offered at Vertical Blue.

Ryuzo Shinomiya

The Okinawa Dragon, Ryuzo, entered into the elite group of 100m Constant Weight divers last year.  With a refined technique and a measured and methodical approach to building depths, Ryuzo is still improving, and may be a serious contender amongst the world’s deepest this year.

William Winram

This year the best freediver in the west (pan-American records in all disciplines) is giving himself a full month to train in Dean’s Blue Hole before Vertical Blue starts in April.  He says he will arrive with no expectations, which is kind of ominous…

Eric Fattah

Last year Eric set a precedent for FRC diving, with a 67m dive after a passive exhale.  His training since has been merciless, but there are rumours he may be coming back to full inhale diving.

Robert King

The United States freediving champion, and a progressive improver, Robert will look to extend his record without fins and maybe attempt the constant weight record held by compatriot Deron Verbeck.

Davide Carrera

In 2001 Davide broke the world record in Free Immersion, with a long dive to 91m in rough conditions.  After a long hiatus from any events Davide returned 7 years later to compete with the Italian team at the 2008 world championships.  With his graceful and natural style Davide will look to build on the 90m constant weight dive he recorded in that competition.

Walter Steyn

Head and shoulders above any other diver in Australia, Walter recorded the second longest dynamic without fins in 2008: 176m.  He has also entered the 200m club with a fin.  One to watch for Vertical Blue 2009…

Leo Muraoka

Leo stole the show at Vertical Blue 2008, building through grit and determination to a national record in free immersion of 76m.  It still stands and Leo will no doubt be eyeing the remaining US records.

Frank Pernett

The lung doctor from Colombia.  Frank set the mark for his country without fins last year, and is back in 2009 to improve on it.

Kerian Hibbs

Being one of the top freedivers in a country like New Zealand is equivalent to world class.  Kerian will be competing this year with the monofin to convert his huge dynamic into depth.

Mads Becker Jørgensen

The Danish coach, Mads is a strong freediver himself, and will be diving mostly without fins.

Walid Boudhiaf

A talented up-and-coming French diver, Walid trains at altitude in Colombia.

Vertical Blue 2009: THE WOMEN

Here they are: the sirens of Dean’s Blue Hole for 2009.  Seven of the best female freedivers currently active in the world.  This year Vertical Blue will use 3 professional videographers and an editor, so every day we will be able to upload videos of these incredible girls in action.

Sara Campbell

In 2007 Sara did the impossible, breaking all 3 freediving world records in 3 days in her home waters of Dahab.  After taking a break in 2008 Sara is now back for her first fixture of 2009.

Kathryn McPhee

2008 was Kathryn’s year, with national records in all the disciplines, and a world record in her specialty: dynamic no fins.  She made her intentions clear at Vertical Blue 2008, with a no fins dive to 50m, and having passed that barrier she will now be thinking about catching up with Sara and the Russian Natalia’s.

Ilaria Molinari

She has been the deepest Italian girl, and is a true siren of the deep.  Ilaria’s first AIDA competition was the teams world champs, and at Vertical Blue she will have the opportunity to show what she is capable of individually.

Jana Strain

Jana burst onto the scene in 2008, with a huge dynamic apnea to net her a Canadian and pan-American record.  As an ex-ballerina, her powerful legs will now be tested for the first time in the depths of Dean’s Blue Hole.

Megumi Matsumoto

Megumi was one of the stars of Vertical Blue 2008, with a hat trick of Japanese national records across all the disciplines.  She has her work cut out for her now, as all three have since been taken away by compatriots Kitahama and Hirai.

Tomoko Yamanouchi

Tomoko built her performances in 2008, but was just a step behind the tough competition amongst the Japanese girls.  With a near perfect style and a lot of patience she will only keep building, and 2009 could be her year.

Georgina Miller

Stronger every year, George is a monofin specialist from England, who was part of the British team in the 2008 World Championships.

Thanks again William Trubridge of www.verticalblue.net for allowing me to use his Vertical Blue 2009 profile list. Also thanks to William for posting this fascinating video of his no fins, no suit freedive through the Arch, a 30m long tunnel connecting Dahab’s Blue Hole to the Red Sea at a depth of 55m – it gives you an idea of what this discipline is all about…

Vertical Blue ‘09 competition in the Bahamas

We have written about Freediving many times and mused on whether this is an extreme sport or not. Luckily for us, it is a very hospitable and friendly community and we have been ‘educated’ about the how’s and why’s of the sport by various freedivers.

Therefore, I think it is safe to say that freediving is certainly ‘extreme’, but important to make clear that freedivers are not stupid and are not trying to drive themselves beyond the point of no return, but are sportsmen (and women) who fully understand the dangerous environment they are challenging, and who respond carefully to the situation.

Having said all that, you might like to know that from April 1-11, 2009 Vertical Blue will once again hold its annual invitation only Freediving competition in Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas.

The event will host the biggest names in the sport, with world champions and world record holders competing to test the limits of the human capacity for depth on a single breath.

Dean’s Blue Hole is the deepest blue hole in the world, at 203 meters (660 feet), and the 21 invited athletes will be descending to over half that distance in their attempt to be crowned world’s deepest man/woman. They will begin arriving mid-March to acclimatize and start their training.

The 2008 edition of Vertical Blue was heralded as “the most successful freediving event” with 5 new world records and 23 national records being broken.

In 2009 athletes will once again compete in three disciplines:

• Constant Weight: the diver descends and ascends with fins or a monofin.  The current world records are 113m (370ft) for men and 95m (311ft) for women
• Unassisted: the diver cannot use any fins or propulsion equipment of any kind, and descends and ascends with a kind of adapted breaststroke.  The current world records are 86m (282ft) for men and 60m (196ft) for women.
• Free Immersion: the diver uses the rope to pull themselves down and up.  Current world records are 108m (354ft) for men and 85m (279ft) for women.

Some of the athletes who will compete this year include:

Herbert Nitsch: 23 world records in freediving, “greatest freediver ever”
William Trubridge: current world record holder in unassisted and free immersion.
Sara Campbell: set world records in all 3 disciplines over 3 days in 2007.  Her records have since been broken, and she is in training to get them back.
Ryuzo Shinomuya: Japanese freediving champion
Robert King: US freediving champion
Jana Strain: Canadian freediving champion

Watch this space as I will shortly be putting out an article on competitor profiles …

A REALLY extreme sport – the Oslo Ice Challenge

There’s an exciting new extreme sport competition this weekend (7th – 8th March) – freediving under the ice in Norway. Brrrrrrrr………

This is the first AIDA internationally recognised freediving competition ever to be done under ice and will be held at the frozen lake Lutvann just outside of Oslo. This special challenge will add a new aspect to the sport and give the competitors an experience to remember.

Diving under ice is a whole different experience and divers are assured that it is not that cold! Spending 5 minutes in 2 degrees will certainly make your face cold but the core temperature will not drop, and the deeper you go the warmer the water will get. The diving response, which allows freedivers to save oxygen, becomes much stronger in cold water.

The divers will go through a 3m x 3m hole in the 25cm thick ice. Visibility during the winter is approximately 20m. The surrounding ice will work as a platform for both judges and audience to view the performances close up, making it much more interesting to follow the competition.  Lutvann is a freshwater lake and there is no current which is a huge advantage.

Oslo Ice Challenge will gather freedivers ranging between local divers from Oslo Freediving Club to World Champions and World Record holders. The participants will be limited to 20. They will have the chance to compete twice on Saturday 7th and once on Sunday 8th in their chosen discipline. Following a point system which levels the disciplines, the winner will be the freediver with the most points from a single dive. There will also be a special static competition for the really hard core freedivers. They will compete in holding their breath in the cold water, and dry suits are not allowed.

There are still some spots left, so HURRY UP AND REGISTER!

To give you an idea of what it’ll  be like under the ice, watch this video posted by mourauxi.

An update on the Banff Mountain Film Festival

You might remember that way back in November I did an article on the wonderful Banff Mountain Film Festival. This annual festival is right down our street – fabulous films on the great outdoors and extreme sport.  I promised to bring you the updated schedule on screenings for Europe as and when it was published.

Kindly the Banff Film World Tour co-ordinator  alerted us to the following screening dates around the world… not all are in at the moment, but those that are, are in Australia, Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland and Switzerland.

A brief reminder as to what the Banff Mountain Film Festival is all about… enjoy this fabulous video from TheBanffCentre, with thanks.

The current available screenings can be seen in the following countries on the following dates:

AUSTRALIA

Adelaide:                    Venue: Mercury Theatre
May 26, 27, 2009

Brisbane:                     Venue: Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts
June 2, 3 & 4, 2009

Cairns:                           Venue: Cairns Civic Centre
June 5, 2009

Canberra:                    Venue: James O’Fairfax Theatre
May 13, 14, 2009

Hobart:                         Venue: The Plenary, Wrest Point Casino
June 18, 2009

Launceston:             Venue: Earl Arts Centre
June 17,2009

Melbourne:               Venue: RMIT Capitol Theatre
June 9, 10, 11 & 12, 2009

Perth:                            Venue: The Playhouse
May 19, 20 & 21, 2009

Sydney:                        Venue: Seymour Centre
May 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9, 2009

AUSTRIA

Eisenerz:                     Venue: Innerberger Gewerkschaftshaus
April 23, 2009

Innsbruck:                Venue: Congress, Saal Tirol
March 26, 2009

Klagenfurt:                Venue: Messe Klagenfurt
March 28, 2009

Liezen:                         Venue: Kulturhaus
April 18, 2009

Salzburg:                    Venue: Sporthalle Alpenstrasse
March 27, 2009

Vienna:                       Venue: Hauptuni, Audi Max
April 16 & 17, 2009

Vöcklabruck:         Venue: Stadtsaal
March 21, 2009

Waidhofen Venue: Plenkersaal
an der Ybbs: April 2, 2009

Wolfurt:                     Venue: Cubus
March 20, 2009

CHILE

Portillo: 2009 dates to be announced

Puerto Natales: February 12, 13, 2009

Puerto Varas: October 8, 9, 2009

Santiago: October 1, 2, 2009

Torres del Paine:February 16, 17, 2009

FRANCE

L’Argentière: OIS Communauté de Communes du Pays des Ecrins
la Bessée: January 9, 2009

GERMANY

Augsburg: Venue: CinemaxX
April 25, 2009

Berchtesgaden: Venue: Kino, Kur- und Kongresshaus
March 19, 2009

Berlin: Venue: Globetrotter
March 26-28, 2009

Bonn: Venue: Lichtspiele Stern
April 20, 2009

Braunschweig: Venue: CinemaxX
March 24, 2009

Dresden: Venue: Theater Wechselbad
April 7, 2009

Essen: Venue: CinemaxX
March 31, 2009

Frankfurt: Venue: Cinestar Metropolis
March 23, 2009

Freiburg: Venue: CinemaxX
April 2, 2009

Garmisch- Kongresshaus/Olympiasaal
Partenkirchen: March 21, 2009

Hamburg: Venue: CinemaxX am Dammtor
April 21, 2009

Hanover: Venue: CinemaxX
March 25, 2009

Karlsruhe: Venue: Filmpalast Schauburg
April 23, 2009

Köln: Venue: Globetrotter, Olivandenhof
April 22, 2009

Mannheim: Venue: CinemaxX
April 1, 2009

Munich: Venue: Forum
March 20, 2009

Nuremburg: Venue: Loewensaal
April 29, 2009

Pforzheim: Venue: Kulturhaus Osterfeld
April 8, 2009

Rosenheim: Venue: Ballhaus
April 28, 2009

Stuttgart: Venue: CinemaxX Bosch Areal
April 24, 2009

Ulm: Venue: Xinedome
April 27, 2009

ITALY

Livigno: Venue: Telemark Club, Livigno
March 31, 2009

SCOTLAND

Fort William: Venue: The Fort William Mountain Film Festival
March 13, 2009

SWITZERLAND

Basel: Venue: Casino
April 18, 2009

Bern: Venue: Hotel Kreuz / Saal Holder
April 17, 2009

Luzern: Venue: Verkehrshaus
April 19, 2009

Naters (Oberwallis):   Venue: Zentrum Missione
April 16, 2009

St. Gallen: Venue: Adlersaal
April 14, 2009

Zurich: Venue: Volkshaus
April 15, 2009

If you wish further information in any of these countries, please refer to the following list and the relevant email contact details.

In Australia, please contact: jrobinson@paddypallin.com.au

Austria:  info@inn-puls.at

Chile:  Patrickm@bmff.com

France:   info@ice-fall.com

Germany:   banff@moving-adventures.de

Italy:   info@hposta.it

Scotland:  info@mountainfestival.co.uk

Switzerland:   banff@moving-adventures.de

And, if you live anywhere near these screenings, make the effort to go see the films. I am sure you will find it time well spent. Extreme sport in all its exotic, bewildering, fantastic, nerve-wracking, exhilarating beauty….  Hope you get the chance to see them. Sadly the only screening in France is MILES away from where we live – like 7 hours or so, so I was unable to make it, but would love some feedback from anyone who does get to one of the venues.

Extreme white water rafting in Russia

Monday morning and we were wondering what to present today – of course there has been some great action over the weekend, not least from Val d’Isere in the French Alps where there has been some fantastic skiing in the FIS World Championships – but hey – deja vu – every Tom, Dick and Harry will be writing about that – so we thought we would show something a little different – white water rafting.

It may not be an activity to consider at this time of year if you are based in the northern hemisphere and certainly not in the Altay mountains in Russia where at the moment you are more likely to find a frozen river and ice and snow – but, and there is always a but, it might be something to consider for that extreme holiday you were planning for the summer – so read on.

The name Altay (or Altai) comes from the Mongolian word ‘altan’ which means golden and this landscape which lies over four countries – Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China – is truly a golden place to go. It is vast – broad and boundless with views that stretch as far as the eye can see – steppes, forests, deserts and snowcapped mountains and between the months of June and September its rivers offer some of the most challenging rafting to be found anywhere in the world.

The Katun’ is one of the best known rivers in Russia and Siberia since the Katun’ was the first river explored by foreign whitewater rafting enthusiasts. This is one of the most commonly run rivers in the Altai so there are many stories about this run.

The river runs 688 km from its source on the Mount Belukha (14,770 feet) glaciers and cuts through mountains, taiga, and meadows of high grass and flowers. The Katun’ rafting run is a high water journey similar to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.

Your ‘put-in’ is at Yaloman village on the Chuyskiy Trakt (highway connecting Russia and Mongolia). The river shows its power even before the major rapids: it is very fast and waves cover the entire width of this huge river. You can’t relax: any of these mountain-like waves can cause an unwanted swim or even flip a 16 foot raft. There are no Colorado style pools on Katun’. You will travel 4-5 miles per hour even without rapids.

There are few breath taking rapids on the Lower Katun’: Il’gumenskiy and Shabash are the most exciting. You definitely want to try and avoid some of waves in these rapids.  The last rapids you will run are the Teldekpen’ rapids which are locked in black rocky corridor and have enormous whirlpools.

Another well travelled river is the Chuya with spectacular views of every type of terrain the region has to offer. You will see the North Chuya Range covered with ice and snow, wide hollows between the mountains, canyons, and the dense taiga forest. The weather is usually good during the river rafting season, with air temperatures around 25 degrees centigrade (83 F), and water temperatures around 11 to 14 degrees centigrade. Rain is relatively rare here. Most of the water comes from glaciers and because of this, the water level is highest in the early part of July.

There are many great rapids on the Chuya. The first of them is Begemot (Hippo), a powerful Class 5 rapid beginning with a huge drop under the bridge and having a couple huge, powerful holes. After many Class 3-4 rapids you reach a few more Class 4 and 5 rapids including The Turbine and Tourist Club Horizon rapids.

Below these rapids the Chuya is still a very fast and exciting river. You will have fun on Class 3 rapids all the way to the confluence with the Katun’.

These journeys will take 10 to 12 days and you will cover a distance of between 100 and 200 miles depending on which river you select. Cost – reckon you need to budget up to $2,500 before any flights. For further information we suggest you visit either www.raftsiberia.com or http://en.kochevnik.ru/tours/3/

Oh and for those idle moments – well you should not forget to pack your fishing rod!

Most of the rafting is done in a rubber raft but as you can see in the video from maxwizardoff you can challenge yourself and go even more extreme!

Another snowkiting event…

The snow kiting expo in Minnesota has just ended and next up is the Montana Snowkite Rodeo. This begins  Saturday, February 14th 2009 through to Monday the 16th.

This freestyle and racing event attracts competitors from around the world including powerkiters from Norway, Canada, Sweden and the United States. jimstringfellow brings us a video showing us what we can expect. This is the 6th annual Rodeo eventand it will be taking place at one of Montana’s premier winter locations, the Mount Haggin wildlife management area, which is located just south of Anaconda, MT.

What better way to spend St. Valentine’s Day…

Something a bit different today – POLO

I felt like writing about something completely different today – just for a change, and so I’ve turned to a sport I know well – Polo… the Sport of Kings, and although rather elitist it can definitely hold it’s own in the catagory of extreme sport. Along with some other extreme sports, you have to take out extra insurance to play Polo – which gives you an indication of how dangerous it can be…

Elitist I say? Well, only really because of the cost of the horses, the stabling, the grooms, transport, etc – none of this comes cheap as you can imagine, not in the first world anyway – there was a time in Zimbabwe when we could buy a thoroughbred racehorse off the track for US$400! That has of course gone up now but horses out there, good horses, are considerably cheaper than here, which opens the game up to more people.

Briefly, as you might well know, polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. The traditional grass field is 300 yards long and 200 yards wide, though 160 yards wide if the field is using  side boards –  the approximate size of 9 American Football fields. Arena polo is played on much smaller fields. The teams consist of 4 a side and riders have a string of ‘ponies’ – 2-3 for low-goal polo, but many more for high goal and they score by driving a small white wooden ball through the opposing team’s goal posts using a long-handled mallet.

Polo is thought to have been invented by the Persians some time between the 6th century BC and the 1st century AD, though the modern game of polo, comes from Manipur, a remote north-eastern mountain state in India where  the game was known as either  ‘Sagol Kangjei’, ‘Kanjai-bazee’, or ‘Pulu’ – from which the modern name has derived – Polo. It became the quintessential game of the British Raj.

Polo is fast, furious, quick-witted and sure-footed. Your horse is an integral part of the game. The polo pony is selected carefully for quick bursts of speed, stamina, agility and manoeuverability. Temperament is critical; the horse must remain responsive under pressure and not become excited or difficult to control. They are trained to be handled with one hand on the reins, and to be responsive to the rider’s leg and weight cues for moving forward, turning and stopping. A well trained horse will carry his rider smoothly and swiftly to the ball and can account for 60 to 75 percent of the player’s skill and net worth to his team.

It is essential to be fit when you embark on a polo season. It is an exhausting, challenging, exciting game. You have an, approximately, 1,000lb polo pony under you to control and a very fast moving game to read.

It has to be one of the most satisfying team sports in the world!

International polo tournaments are held in some of the most glamourous spots in the world, amongst them St. Tropez in the sun and St. Moritz in the snow. In the 2,600 years or so since polo has been played , or a version of the game anyway, it had never been played in the snow… until now.

Polo is guaranteed to be full of thrills and spills – especially on ice, where, although they have specially designed horseshoes to protect and insulate the hoof and give as good a grip on the ice as possible, it is still slippery underfoot – have a look at this video from bilderundtoene of the 2007 Polo World Cup on snow at St. Moritz.

… as compared to polo on a taditional grass field, thanks to newcastlewebsites for the video:

In India they have added an extra twist to the game of polo – elephant polo, and here’s a quick excerpt of a chukka posted by etivyas to amuse you.

Here’s a little elephant that knows exactly what the game is all about, she’s worth her weight in gold! Thanks to cocqq for posting this video.

The modern sport has had difficulty grappling with the traditional, social and economic exclusivity associated with a game that is inevitably expensive when played at a serious level. Many polo athletes genuinely desire to broaden public participation in the sport, both as an end in itself and to increase the standard of play.

The popularity of polo has grown steadily since the 1980s, and its future appears to have been greatly strengthened by its return as a ‘varsity sport at universities across the world.

Polo is now played in 77 countries, though professionally in only a few, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, India, Iran, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, and the USA. Needless to say, Argentina dominates the professional sport and is today the source of most of the world’s 10-goal players – 10-goal is as high as you can go.