EXTREME ENDEAVOURS
D THE SPOTLIGHT turn up the intensity
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If life has become a little stale and predictable, and you’re keen to inject some high-octane excitement into it, then consider some of the following pursuits – if you dare! WORDS MICHEL CRUZ VIDEOS YOUTUBE.COM
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here are those for whom tennis is too tame, paddle too passive, karate too kind and football too friendly. If you belong to this group, and think kite-surfing and scuba diving are yesterday’s fads, when you look at your bike and get bored, then perhaps it’s time to explore some new pursuits and get out of your comfort zone. The following selection of activities does that and more, taking you to the very edge of your daring, to the point where maybe you wish you’d shut up and stuck with telly, tea and biscuits, rather than thrusting yourself into this madness!
WINGSUIT FLYING Ever watched a Bond movie and thought ‘I can do that’? Well, manned flight has been a dream ever since Icarus tried it, and achieving the freedom of a bird without the need for aeroplanes and engines remains an intrinsic human desire. In the 1960s, it was believed we’d soon all be buzzing around on any of a variety of flying gadgets, but in the mid-1990s Frenchman Patrick de Gayardon actually succeeded in doing just that by creating the first effective wingsuit. A veteran skydiver,
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skysurfer and base jumper, he initiated a revolution that has seen ever more advanced versions of the wingsuit used by daredevils who jump out of planes, off cliffs and buildings to freefall for what seems like ages before deploying a parachute. More recently, jetpacks have been added, creating spectacular scenes as Swiss pilot Christophe Dubois flew in formation with the French air force’s aerobatics team, the Patrouille de France.
