Archive for May 28th, 2008

The next installment of the Red Bull Air Racing World Series moves to a course built over the Detroit River between Detroit in the USA and Windsor in Canada and will be held on May 31st and June 1st.

Created in 2001 the air show now visits 10 cities worldwide, each with its own unique features and recognizable backdrop. The automotive city, aviation beacon and stunning skyline will be the stage for 12 world class pilots who will be judged on speed, flying precision and skill. Not only is the air race being held in two countries for the first time but it is the first time this world series has been to Detroit.

Pilots must navigate their lightweight planes on a low-level race track made up of air-filled pylons, flying at speeds reaching 230 mph, while withstanding forces up to 10 Gs. The object is to complete the course and steer through 65 foot high inflatable pylons – or air gates – in the fastest possible time.

“Planes race only 10-20 feet above the water. Unlike other air shows, the Red Bull Air Race takes place at eye-level providing amazing views of high performance race planes flown by some of the best pilots in the world right in front of you,” says Maddy Stephens, Red Bull communications manager.

Speed is not all. Pilots must also pass between the air gates in the correct position, if not, penalty seconds are tacked on. The pilot who accumulates the most points at each race and at the end of the season wins the Red Bull Air Race World champion crown.

Spectators will also get a chance to check-out the race pits from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 31st at the Metro Airport. Tickets on the Detroit side are sold out, but tickets are still available on the Windsor side. Another extreme sport which is certainly attracting the crowds.

Pilots in the Red Bull World Series Air Race scheduled to race in Detroit over the weekend May 31st/June 1st

He found her hiding in a tall tree and called to her that if she came down he might beat her.

Local residents believe he climbed the tree and as he made his final grab, she leaped. In anguish at her death (or anger that he had missed her) Tamale jumped after her, not realising his wife had tied liana vines around her ankles and survived the fall.

N’gol is now a fertility rite. Every year in April, when the first yam crop is ready, the islanders on the south of the island start building a huge tower for the land diving. It takes about 5 weeks to build, all materials come from the forest: lianas, branches, trunks…. Eventually a wooden tower between 20 to 30 meters high is erected.

Each diver must select his own vine. Its size is of utmost importance and if it is only 10 cm too long, the diver could hit the ground and possibly break his neck. As the vines stretch at the end of the dive, the land diver’s head must curl under their shoulders, which must themselves touch the earth, making it fertile for the following year’s yam crop.

Bungee jumping is not so different in that the leap, from a much taller structure – I believe the world’s highest bungee jump is now 233 metres – should not end with any fatal impact but I have not heard that there is still a significance of fertility in the jump?! If I am wrong and someone has had an immaculate conception we would be delighted to hear your story!!

Land diving in Vanuatu. (Tim Cayton, World Press Photo

The following article was printed in The Independent:

Family blames daughter’s death on the pursuit of most extreme sports

By Terri Judd

“The parents of a British backpacker killed while river-boarding in New Zealand have accused extreme sports companies of trying to outdo one another.

Emily Jordan, 21, became trapped between rocks while riding a body-board down a raging river near the resort of Queenstown on South Island. After 20 minutes guides managed to free her but were unable to resuscitate her. The death on Tuesday came just a day after Sridhar Shekar, a doctor from Leeds, was killed while jet-skiing in Australia.

Ms Jordan had been on a six-month backpacking trip with her boyfriend, Armour, 23, when she decided to try river-boarding down the Kawarau river gorge with the Mad Dog River Boarding Company. The firm advertises the sport as “the most personally challenging and action-packed water activity in New Zealand”.

Ms Jordan’s mother, Sarah, said yesterday she would not have let her daughter try river-boarding because she believed it was too dangerous. “We were upset when she left for six months but I thought at least she would be coming back and I would see her again – it has been a very traumatic day,” she said. Ms Jordan’s father, Christopher, added: “Are these companies right to try and outdo each other [to] attract kids to do these sports? Are they trying to push this too far?”

… The problem with this is… where does personal choice come in? Personal decisions? Personal desires? The thing is, if you do an extreme sport you are of course taking a risk. It’s there in the name “extreme”. The chances of there being danger involved is there too. The consequences are yours. If the consequences worry you then you mustn’t do it.

The tragedy of the thing is when something goes wrong – as it did for 21 year old Emily Jordan.

But – and here is the brunt of the matter – can one blame anyone else for the tragedy? No-one expects a death but if you are participating in something dangerous of your own free will – and having signed an alarming piece of paper which says “that if I died it wasn’t Mad Dog’s fault” can you really blame anyone else? Accidents happen. We cannot protect ourselves against them all the time. No-one wants this tragedy to happen to them. Of course they don’t. But you can’t always prevent it.

An accident, by definition, means “an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss; casualty; mishap” (dictionary.com).

The guide taking a canoe trip down the Zambezi, and one of his party is attacked and killed by a crocodile. Is this his fault? Or the company’s fault? Of course it isn’t. It’s a tragic tragic accident. But people canoe down the Zambezi every day quite safely. Just someone, every now and then, encounters a problem. Does this stop the industry? I don’t think so.

It’s a matter of choices. Freedom of choice. If you are an adult you have the right to choose. If you choose to do something dangerous, you will be aware, when making that choice, that the danger is there.

This world is so protected now. We are protected from everything. Governments put rules and regulations in place everywhere to protect someone from something.

This is probably a reason why extreme sport is becoming more and more popular. People feel a need to challenge themselves. You want to do something that pushes you to the edge as nothing else does any more. And so you take a challenge. And maybe you take another…

I don’t think you can stop it. It’s human nature to challenge yourself. Some more than others. Can you blame others when an accident happens? I wholeheartedly sympathise with the Jordan family (god I’d hate this to happen to any member of my family), but I’m not sure you can…