Posts Tagged ‘New York’

When you get a line up that includes Terje, Travis Rice, Daniel Ek, Scotty Lago and Torstein Horgmo and throw in the extreme sports ever present sponsors in the shape of Red Bull you are likely to have some thrilling action. And that is what you can see in this thrilling video from extremityTV which shows all the thrills and spills of snowboarding.

These extreme snowscrapers were in action at the beginning of 2009 when Red Bull set up a snowboard park in central New York with a backdrop of high rise buildings – perhaps not the usual environment for snowboarding but it certainly allows many more people to witness the skills of these great athletes and so hopefully it might inspire others to follow in their footsteps….enjoy

We wrote last week about the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and headlined that blog as extreme art. We also mentioned that our favourite in the equestrian world was flat racing and of course this weekend saw the running of the 2009 Kentucky Derby – one leg of the American Triple Crown.

The world of extreme horse racing is somewhat complicated and will take us some time to provide a thorough explanation. You have different age groups, you have the boys – colts – and girls – fillies – you have the different class of races, the different weights to be carried, the different distances to be raced and the different surfaces to be run on – dirt or turf.

And beyond all that you have the characters involved, not just the horses but their owners, their trainers their jockeys and their adoring fans. A day at the races is in our humble opinion great entertainment.

At the extreme end of the sport, the very best of the best, as an owner or trainer you are hoping your colt will win the Triple Crown.

In the United States this consists of the Kentucky Derby run over 1.25 miles on dirt at Churchill Downs, Kentucky; the Preakness Stakes run over 1.187 miles on dirt at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland and the Belmont Stakes run over 1.5 miles on dirt at Belmont Park in New York.

In the United Kingdom the Triple Crown for Colts consists of the 2,000 Guineas run over 1 mile on turf at Newmarket, Suffolk; the Derby run over 1.5 miles on turf at Epsom Downs, Surrey; and the St. Leger run over 1.75 miles on turf at Doncaster Town Moor Race Course, Yorkshire.

Both in the United States and United Kingdom these races are for 3 year olds and if achieved your horse joins a very select group of past winners.

In the US it has only happened 11 times the last time being 1978 when Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, won all three races and it has not happened in the UK since 1970 when Nijinsky, ridden by Lestor Piggott achieved the accolade. There have been 15 winners of the Triple Crown in the UK.

It could be argued today that winning the Triple Crown in the UK will never be achieved again as it is believed the ’stud’ value of a colt who has won at distances of between 1 mile and 1.75 miles will be reduced – somewhat ironical but owners are concentrating on reproducing speed and not stamina.

So there you have an introduction to the world of extreme flat racing and on Saturday we saw the second biggest upset in the history of the Kentucky Derby when Mine That Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel, stormed home up the rails at a rain sodden Churchill Downs to win by a convincing margin. At odds of 50-1 it was indeed a surprise and it will be interesting to see how he runs in the next leg – the Preakness.

See the action below from kentuckyderby of how he managed to do it.

We were talking with friends last night about the tsunami which struck south east Asia on December 26th 2004 killing an estimated 150,000 people – the worst natural disaster in modern history. ‘That will be nothing’ chirped up our friend, ‘it will be the collapse of Cumbre Vieja that will leave in its wake a death toll of more than a million people’.

OMG – what is that we thought and having been given a rudimentary explanation by our friend we decided to do some further research when we got home and what follows is a brief synopsis of why it is western Europe which poses the most extreme threat to human life on the east coast of the United States.

Researchers at Benfield Hazard Research Center have identified a potential Atlantic Ocean tsunami threat from large-scale landslides at the Canary Islands. Surface and submarine investigations show a long-term history of mega-landslides at multiple locations in the Canary Island chain.

Recently, scientists have realised that the next Mega Tsunami is likely to begin on one of the Canary Islands, off the coast of North Africa, where a wall of water will one day race across the entire Atlantic Ocean at the speed of a jet airliner to devastate the east coast of the United States, the Caribbean and Brazil.

Dr Simon Day, who works at the Benfield Greig Hazards Research Centre, University College London, says that one flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, is unstable and could plunge into the ocean during the volcano’s next eruption.

Dr. Day says: “If the volcano collapsed in one block of almost 20 cubic kilometres of rock, weighing 500 billion tonnes, it would fall into water almost 4 miles deep and create an undersea wave 2000 feet tall. Within five minutes of the landslide, a dome of water about a mile high would form and then collapse, before the Mega Tsunami fanned out in every direction, traveling at speeds of up to 500 mph. A 330ft wave would strike the western Sahara in less than an hour.”

After six hours it would reach Britain, where waves up to 40 ft high would hit southwest England at 500 miles per hour, travel a mile inland and obliterate almost everything in its path.

However, the destruction in the United Kingdom will be as nothing compared to the devastation reeked on the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Dr. Day claims that the Mega Tsunami will generate a wave that will be inconceivably catastrophic.

He says: “It will surge across the Atlantic at 500 miles per hour in less than seven hours, engulfing the whole US east coast with a wave almost two hundred feet high, sweeping away everything in its path up to 20 miles inland.

Boston would be hit first, followed by New York, then all the way down the coast to Miami, the Caribbean and Brazil.” Millions would be killed, and as Dr. Day explains: “It’s not a question of “if” Cumbre Vieja collapses, it’s simply a question of “when”.

Of course you will all want to know the answer to that question – when – we know no more than the boffins but we think you might like to think twice before closing on that beach front property in the Hamptons.

By definition natural disasters are not predictable – reference the terrible loss of lives in the earthquake in Italy this week but as you will see in the video below from the thomgoddard the devastation will have no precedent.

Writing about extreme sports we never imagined we would have to cover the topic of nudity – well read on folks for that is what the people of British Columbia have been doing – taking their clothes off and bearing all as they make one giant leap of faith and bungee jump – all in the name of charity.

The annual naked bungy jump fundraiser for the B.C. Schizophrenia Society at WildPlay’s Bungy Zone south of Nanaimo attracts hundreds of people from as far as New York and Wisconsin. More often than not, nudity takes a backseat to facing the fear of heights or getting an adrenaline rush.

“I have no shame,” said Olympia’s Nick Wenzel after his jump as he stood under the bridge in nothing more than his birthday suit and a pair of sneakers. Wenzel has made the six-hour commute four times to take the naked leap of faith in Nanaimo, but this time he didn’t jump solo. Girlfriend Audrey Norris clutched Wenzel for dear life as they tipped off the plank together, face-to-face, for her first-ever jump.

“It was so much fun,” said Norris, who adds she was more nervous about being cold than anything else.

By early Sunday afternoon, the Bungy Zone had registered more than 160 jumps and raised more than $5,800, beating last year’s donation tally.

Pilots Kevin Teker and Ian Johnson from Seattle brought a cheering crew with them to add to their once-in-a-lifetime experience. The duo saw the event posted on the Internet and Teker said “now that’s got to be one crazy T-shirt.” Teker’s wife painted blue wings on her husband’s upper back before he ascended to his post, where a jump master wrapped his ankles.

“This is about overcoming a personal challenge,” said Teker before he shuffled to the end of the plank, spread his arms and flew into the air.

For Steven Bobowski, WildPlay senior jump master, it was just another day at the office. He’s been helping people take the plunge for 14 years and whether they’re clothed or not, it’s all the same to him.

“It can be the most amazing experience is someone’s life. It’s empowering,” said Bobowski as another bum disappears over the edge. When asked if the nudity bothers him at all he lets out a little laugh. “My guy friends give me a little grief over being around other naked guys, but all I say is eye contact is a beautiful thing.”

Our thanks go to Krista Charke of The Daily News for bringing us this story and also to bcssprov for the video below which shows the action!

In another bungee jumping incident 49-year-old Mark Afforde survived a snapped bungee cord during a jump from a 400-foot high bridge over Canyon Creek, near Yacolt on Thursday, reports shortnews.com . He broke free just as he bottomed out and was only 25 feet over the water.

Afforde’s wife said that it was the only time he’d ever tried the extreme sport and is probably the end of her husband’s thrill-seeking days. Afforde escaped serious injury, only complaining of a sore backside.

Thankfully we can report a happy ending this this territying story but it does demonstrate why bungee jumping has to be considered an extreme sport.

We told you of New York’s Snowscraper challenge which was held on Thursday. Below you can read an account of how events turned out and how local lad Shayne Pospisil came good on the night to land the first prize of $50,000. Congratulations Shayne – way to go.

This story is brought to you by A.J. Voelpel in a special for newsday.com

Thursday night at Red Bull’s Snowscrapers, the largest urban snowboarding contest held in North America, local pro Shayne Pospisil beat out a field of the most talented snowboarders in the world — including Olympic and X-Games icon Shaun White — to capture the title and $50,000 first place prize.

Thousands of spectators braved the subfreezing temperatures and flooded to East River Park to see the best riders compete for their share of a $100,000 prize purse. Sixteen riders participated in a 60-minute jam session to perform their most creative and jaw-dropping maneuvers in front of a panel of international licensed judges, with only eight advancing to finals.

The contestants challenged the height of near-bye apartment buildings as they launched off a 90-foot tall ramp, landing on to a double-sided pyramid feature. The state-of-the-art ramp design allowed fans to get up close and personal to see their favorite pros flying roughly five-stories into the sky.
Many were there to see the ultra-popular White, who was fresh off two gold medal performances at the X-Games two weeks ago (winning in Superpipe and Slopestyle). However, he was upset by Norway’s Torstein Horgmo, who pulled off a flawless backside 900 (three complete twists) in the first heat of head-to-head matchups in the finals.

Freestyle sensation Travis Rice, who won the big air competition at X- games, dug into his Santa-Claus-sized bag of tricks and stomped a perfect alley-oop, backside rodeo (a back flip with a 180-degree twist) to advance to the final four.

With only two riders left, Pospisil, from New Jersey, topped Horgmo with a frontside 900 to take home the title. Horgmo ($15,000) and Scotty Lago ($10,000) took home second and third place, respectively. Backcountry legend, Terje Haakonsen, received $5,000 for best trick when he pulled out his patented method grab, much to the delight of the crowd. Contest favorites Pat Moore and Heikki Sorsa both failed to advance to the finals.
To date we have only found redbull’s promotional video which you can view below. From the account of the evening it sounds as though it was a spectacular evening – lucky you if you managed to be there, it must have been fun.

If you were unable to catch the action live or on MSG Plus, it will rebroadcast Sunday, Feb. 15 on NBC but should something appear on YouTube before that time it will be our pleasure to bring the link to your computer.

We picked this story up in The New York Times and as the event happens today had to bring it to your immediate attention. So if you are in the vicinity of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Lower East Side of Manhattan make sure you check out what is sure to be a really spectacular event.

Snowboarding comes to New York city- photo courtesy of Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

The New York Times continues:

Over the last three weeks, a massive snowboard ramp has risen in East River Park, in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge. Nine stories tall and 150 yards long, it required more than 100 workers to build, and it has lured 16 of the world’s top professional snowboarders to compete in Thursday’s Red Bull Snowscrapers, billed as the largest urban snowboard event in North America.

Thanks to redbull for the video.

Riders, including the 2006 Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White, Travis Rice, and Terje Haakonsen, will zip down the ramp and soar 50 feet while performing aerial maneuvers before touching down on either side of a 36-foot-long ramp. A panel of judges will rate the best moves and style. The winner will get $50,000 of a $100,000 purse.

Admission is free. The event will also be broadcast live on the MSG Network and replayed on NBC on Feb. 15.

“There is a small percentage of folks that get to go up into the mountains and see snowboarding, and see these guys,” said Snowscraper organisers. “And to bring them into this urban setting where there’s millions of people, and bring the mountains to the people, is super important for us, good for the people of New York and good for the sport of snowboarding.”

“Snowboarding is starting to become a little more prevalent and people are starting to understand it a little more, like what a halfpipe is,” said Rice, 26, who is regarded as the sport’s most versatile rider and a favorite to win Snowscrapers.

All 16 riders will attempt their best tricks during an hourlong jam format. The top eight advance to a final.

With such a huge ramp, there will be a small margin for error. Overshooting the landing area means falling 50 feet; coming up short means striking the spine in the middle.

“It’s going to be challenging and dangerous,” Rice said. Then he added a sentiment that could also apply to the snowboarding economy these days: “But it’s going to separate the men from the boys.”

We will endeavour to bring you some footage and news of the event over the next couple of days.