Popular Extreme Sports
In this article, we’ll introduce some popular extreme sports!
Are you familiar with extreme sports?
“Extreme sports” are activities that involve performing daring feats using various gear or your own body, often incorporating intense elements, or competing in height and speed.
In recent years, activities like slacklining and bouldering have become especially popular.
For those who’ve thought, “I want to try at least once!”, we’ve put together a list of popular extreme sports this time.
Some can be dangerous, so don’t push yourself!
Know your limits and enjoy them to the fullest!
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Popular Extreme Sports (11–20)
Surfing
Surfing is a long-standing staple of marine sports and remains very popular.
It was added as an official event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
You might think surfing is just about riding waves, but in competition, points are awarded for various maneuvers as well as for the ride itself.
There are longboard and shortboard categories, but the Olympic event uses shortboards.
Scores are determined by factors such as where and how you ride on the wave.
bungee jump
Bungee jumping—many people picture comedians doing it on TV.
It’s a sport where you leap from a high place, like a bridge or a skyscraper, with only a safety cord.
While it’s often seen as a test of courage or a kind of punishment game, it’s actually a competition that judges the beauty of your balance and form in midair when you jump from that height.
wakeboarding
Wakeboarding is a popular summer marine sport.
A handle is attached to the end of a rope trailing behind a motorboat; you hold the handle, get pulled by the boat on a board, skim across the water, and perform acrobatic tricks such as jumps and spins.
For beginners, just standing up on the water while being towed by the boat is a challenge.
Seeing riders pull off multiple tricks and land back on the water in that situation is nothing short of amazing.
kiteboard
Kiteboarding is a sport that’s like a combination of parasailing and wakeboarding.
It’s a water sport where you ride a board and glide or jump across the water, pulled by a wind-filled kite.
You steer the kite by controlling the bar attached to it, moving the kite’s position and catching waves smoothly with the board.
While handling the kite, riders compete in accelerating and decelerating, as well as performing tricks like spins and jumps.
caving
Caves often bring to mind academic surveys, sightseeing, or even explorers entering them.
Enjoying that cave experience as a sport is called caving.
In Japan, it’s still a relatively unfamiliar term, isn’t it? Like explorers, participants wear easy-to-move-in clothing, put on a headlamp, and venture into the cave, progressing deeper inside.
As you watch, they squeeze through extremely tight passages—so narrow you wonder, “Can a person really get through there?”—sometimes just barely wide enough for one person.
It’s quite thrilling even for onlookers.
Zorb
Zorbing is an activity where you get inside a large rubber sphere and roll down a slope.
There are variations such as hydro zorbing, which involves adding water inside, and harness zorbing, where you wear a harness.
At first glance it looks like a fun attraction for kids, but the speed you reach rolling down a slope is far beyond mere play.
Its popularity is slowly rising in Japan as well, and it seems that more facilities are offering the experience.
skis (short skis) / snowboard-like short skis
Speaking of skiing, it’s a sport where you glide down snowy mountain slopes, but skiboarding involves wearing boards under 100 centimeters and performing various acrobatic tricks while descending.
It’s also known as fun skiing or short skiing.
Like snowboarding, there are numerous tricks such as spinning in the air while riding at speed, jumping, and sliding backward.
Extreme Bike
Extreme bike stunt riding on large motorcycles.
It’s impressive to see one trick after another performed on such massive bikes—so big that just lifting them upright from a tipped-over position is tough! Beyond wheelies and drifts, the rider even stands up on the seat while moving, serving up a series of nail-biting moments.
It’s impossible to look away, and the exhilarating action is the real draw.
Rock climbing
Competitive rock climbing involves ascending natural rock faces and cliffs.
In recent years, bouldering has become well-known as a form of sport climbing, and many people enjoy it as a way to get moving.
Rock climbing, however, is one of the more demanding disciplines within sport climbing.
Because you’re climbing on natural rock, you have to find your own handholds and footholds.
The view after you reach the top is likely breathtaking, but it’s definitely a sport that requires courage.
Paraglider
Paragliding is a popular sky sport that even beginners can enjoy and easily get started with.
Experiences and schools are held in nature-rich locations.
Paragliding is also enjoyed as a competitive sport, with events like acrobatics, speed races, and endurance races.
Seeing gliders flying not only over mountains but also above towns and event venues makes it look wonderfully freeing—almost like being a bird.