Skateboarding

Skateboarding is the act of riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. A person who skateboards is most often referred to as a skateboarder, or just skater.

Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an artform, a job, or a method of transportation.Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.

Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the ollie, was developed in the late 1970s by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand as a half-pipe maneuver. Freestyle skateboarder Rodney Mullen was the first to take it to flat ground and later invented the kickflip and its variations.


Trick skating:

With the evolution of skateparks and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change.
Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional manoeuvres like riding on only two wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"), spinning only on the back wheels (a "pivot"), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a "hippie jump", long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom.

In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary manoeuvre caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the "Magic Flip", which was later renamed the Kickflip, as well many other tricks including, the 360 Kickflip, which is a 360 pop shove it and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks.

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Surfing

Surfing is the act of riding down a breaking wave, gathering speed from the downward and forward movement. Most commonly, the term is used for a surface water sport in which the person surfing moves along the face of a breaking ocean wave (the "surf"). However, surfing is not restricted to saltwater, but can sometimes take place on rivers, using a standing wave. This Event was created in the 1700's where European travelers in Tahiti used planks of wood.

The main use of the word "surfing" is for riding waves using a board on which the surfer stands. This is sometimes called "stand-up surfing", to distinguish it from bodyboarding, in which the individual riding the wave only partly raises his upper body from the board surface, and from bodysurfing, where no board at all is used.

Two major subdivisions within contemporary stand-up surfing are longboarding and shortboarding, reflecting differences in surfboard design and riding style.

In tow-in surfing (most often, but not exclusively, associated with big wave surfing), a surfer is towed into the wave by a motorized water vehicle, such as a jetski, generally because standard paddling is often ineffective when trying to match a large wave's higher speed.

Depending on wave size, direction, and on wind conditions, sailboats can also surf on larger waves on open sailing waters. Unlike "surfers", sailors usually do not surf in beach waves, and they usually do not go out in order to surf; instead, the wave and wind conditions may allow them to boat surf during a sailing trip. More recently, the same principle of craft-based surfing has been increasingly used by kayakers, notably in the sport of playboating, which is mostly carried out on rivers (see playspot).

Surfing-related sports such as paddleboarding and sea kayaking do not require waves, and other derivative sports such as kitesurfing and windsurfing rely primarily on wind for power, yet all of these tools may also be used to ride waves.

Recently with the use of V-drive boats, wakesurfing has grown. Wakesurfing is surfing behind a boat, riding the wave or wake which is created by the boat.

Origin :

Surfing was a central part of ancient Hawaiian culture, and the chief was the most skilled wave rider in the community with the best board made from the best tree.[citation needed]Moreover, the ruling class had the best beaches and the best boards, and commoners were not allowed on the same beaches, but they could gain prestige by their ability to ride the surf on their extremely heavy boards. According to the same website[citation needed], surfing permeated ancient Hawaiian society, including religion and myth, and Hawaiian chiefs would demonstrate and confirm their authority by the skills they displayed in the surf.



The art of surfing was first observed by Europeans in 1767, by the crewmembers of the Dolphin at Tahiti. Later, Lieutenant James King, wrote about the art when completing the journals of Captain James Cook upon Cook's death in 1779. When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in 1866 he wrote “In one place we came upon a large company of naked natives, of both sexes and all ages, amusing themselves with the national pastime of surf- bathing.”

Surfers and surf culture

Surfers represent a diverse culture based on riding the naturally occurring process of ocean waves. Some people practice surfing as a recreational activity while others demonstrate extreme devotion to the sport by making it the central focus of their lives. Within the United States, surfing culture is most dominant in California, Florida and Hawaii. Some historical markers of the culture included the woodie, the station wagon used to carry surfers' boards, as well as boardshorts, the long swim suits typically worn while surfing.

Maneuvers

Surfers' skills are tested not only in their ability to control their board in challenging conditions and/or catch and ride challenging waves, but by their ability to execute various maneuvers such as turning and carving. Some of the common turns have become recognizable tricks such as the "cutback" (turning back toward the breaking part of the wave), the "floater" (riding on the top of the breaking curl of the wave), and "off the lip" (banking off the top of the wave). A newer addition to surfing has been the progression of the "air" where a surfer is able to propel oneself off the wave and re-enter. Some of these maneuvers are now executed to extreme degrees, as with off-the-lips where a surfer over-rotates his turn and re-enters backward, or airs done in the same fashion, recovering either with re-rotation or continuing the over-rotation to come out with his nose forward again.

"Tube riding" is when a surfer maneuvers into a position where the wave curls over the top of him or her, forming a "tube" (or "barrel"), with the rider inside the hollow cylindrical portion of the wave. This difficult and sometimes dangerous procedure is arguably the most coveted and sought after goal in surfing.

"Hanging Ten" and "Hanging Five" are moves usually specific to longboarding. Hanging Ten refers to having both feet on the front end of the board with all of the surfer's toes off the edge, also known as noseriding. Hanging Five is having just one foot near the front, toes off the edge. Hanging Ten was first made famous by James (rip) Carman from the early Californian surfing beaches.

"Tow in" is when a surfer is pulled behind a jet ski or a boat onto a large wave (sometimes small). Tow in surfing is when your feet are straped to your board. Tow in is useful on large, fast, and powerful waves because it is almost imposible to paddle into 60 foot. So tow in is much faster, in fact surfers go into the wave at around 40 mph.
Equipment
Surfing can be done on various pieces of equipment, including surfboards, longboards, Stand Up Paddle boards (SUP's), bodyboards, wave skis, kneeboards and surf mats.

Surfboards were originally made of solid wood and were generally quite large and heavy (often up to 12 feet (3.7 m) long and 100 pounds / 45 kg). Lighter balsa wood surfboards (first made in the late 1940s and early 1950s) were a significant improvement, not only in portability, but also in increasing maneuverability on the wave.



Most modern surfboards are made of polyurethane foam (with one or more wooden strips or "stringers"), fiberglass cloth, and polyester resin. An emerging surf technology is an epoxy surfboard, which are stronger and lighter than traditional fiberglass. Even newer surfboard designs incorporate materials such as carbon fiber and variable-flex composites.

Dangers

Drowning

Surfing, like all water sports, carries the inherent danger of drowning. Although a surfboard may assist a surfer in staying buoyant, it cannot be relied on for floatation, as it can be separated from the user.The use of a leash, which is attached at the ankle or knee, keeps the surfer connected to the board for convenience but is not used as a safeguard to prevent drowning. The established rule is that if the surfer cannot handle the water conditions without his or her board then he or she should not go in.

Collisions

Under the wrong set of conditions, anything that a surfer's body can come in contact with is potentially a danger, including sand bars, rocks, reefs, surfboards, and other surfers.Collisions with these objects can sometimes cause unconsciousness, or even death.Many surfers jump off bridges, buildings, wharves and other structures to reach the surf. If the timing is wrong they can either damage themselves or their equipment, or both.
A large number of injuries, up to 66%,are caused by impact of either a surfboard nose or fins with the surfer's body. Surfboard fins can cause deep lacerations and cuts, as well as bruising due to their shape. While these injuries can be minor, they can open the skin to infection from the sea; groups like SAS campaign for cleaner waters to reduce the risk of infections.

Being knocked off your surfboard by a wave, a collision with others, or generally hurting oneself whilst surfing is commonly referred to as a wipeout.

Sea life

Various types of sea life can sometimes cause injuries and even fatalities. Depending on the location of the surfing activity, animals such as sharks, stingrays, seals and jellyfish can sometimes be a danger to surfers.

Localism

Local surfers can sometimes use intimidation and violence, in an attempt to guard their surf break against use by outsiders in an attempt to avoiding crowding. This is called "localism." Some surfers have been known to form gangs that surf a certain break, and fiercely protect their spot from outsiders. These surfers are typically referred to simply as "locals". An example of a notorious localized surf break, is Lunada Bay, in Palos Verdes, California.

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Snowboard

Snowboards are boards, which resemble a wide ski, with the ability to glide on snow.
Users of such equipment may be referred to as snowboarders. Commercial snowboards generally require extra equipment such as bindings and special boots which help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who generally rides in an upright position.[1] These type of boards are commonly used by people at ski hills or resorts for leisure, entertainment and competitive purposes in the activity called snowboarding. A size and shape variance in the boards accommodates different people, skill levels, snow types, and riding styles. The average length varies between 140-165 cm and the average width is between 24-27 cm.[citation needed] Shorter boards are typically considered youth size, designed for use by children, though some varieties of short boards are specifically designed for a special purpose, such as the performance of snowboarding tricks. Such tricks may take place in a snowpark along side freestyle skiers. The development of commercial snowboards has seen the use of a laminated wood core sandwiched between multiple layers of fiberglass.[citation needed] The bottom or 'base' of the snowboard is generally made of various constructions of plastic, and is surrounded by a thin strip of steel, known as the 'edge'. The top layer, where a printed graphic may reside, can be made of Acrylic.[citation needed] The first snowboard was invented and manufactured in Utah beginning in the early 1970s, and was commemorated in 2007 by the United States mint among the three semi-final designs of the Utah state quarter

History:
Some argue that the first snowboard was invented by Sherman Poppen in 1965 and was called a Snurfer (combination of Snow Surfer).The snurfer was fairly simple and had no bindings. However the state of Utah claims that the first snowboards were developed and manufactured there in the early 1970s, and was commemorated in 2007 by the United States mint among the three semi-final designs of the Utah state quarter.At least one source believes that Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards)and/or Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards) invented snowboarding. A vice-president of Marketing for Burton, statedin 2008 that a book which describes Jake Burton Carpenter as the inventor of the snowboard is "misleading".

In 2008, selling snowboarding equipment was a $487 million industry. In 2008, average equipment ran about $540 including board, boots, and bindings.

Board Types:
Snowboards come in several different styles, depending on the type of riding intended:

* Racing/Alpine: long, narrow, rigid, and directional shape. Best during machine groomed slopes. Most often ridden with a "hard" boot, but also ridden recreationally with soft boots, particularly by riders in Europe.
* Freeride: longer in length, and semi-directional. Moderate to stiff in flex. Used for long, fast turns in various types of snow from groomed hard-pack to soft powder.




* Freestyle: Generally shorter in length with a Semi-directional or twin-tip shape. Moderate to soft in flex. Incorporates a deep sidecut for quick/tight turning. Used in the pipe and in the park on various jumps and terrain features including boxes, rails, and tables.
* Park/Jib (rails): flexible and short, twin shaped with a twin flex to allow easy switch riding, wider stance, with the edges filed dull. Used for skateboard-park like snowboard parks.
* All-Mountain: A hybrid between freeride and freestyle boards. The 'jack of all trades, master of none.' Normally directional in shape with either a twin or directional flex. Moderate in flex for various types of terrain.
* Split: Not to be confused with the swallow-tail, the split board consists of a stable powder board that can be broken down into two touring skis, used when hiking in deep backcountry conditions.

Snowboards are generally constructed of a hardwood core which is sandwiched between multiple layers or fibreglass. Some snowboards incorporate the use of more exotic materials such as Carbon Fibre, Kevlar, Aluminium (as a honeycomb core structure), and have even incorporated Piezo dampers. The front (or "nose,") of the board is upturned to help the board glide over uneven snow. The back (or "tail") of the board is also upturned to enable backwards (or "switch") riding. The base (the side of the board which contacts the ground) is made of Polyethylene plastic. The two major types of base construction are Extruded and Sintered. An extruded base is a basic, low-maintenance design which basically consists of the plastic base material melted into its form. A sintered base uses the same material as an Extruded base, but first grinds the material into a powder, then, using heat and pressure, molds the material into its desired form. A sintered base is generally softer than its extruded counterpart, but has a porous structure which enables it to absorb wax. This wax absorption (along with a properly done 'hot wax'), greatly reduces surface friction between the base and the snow. Snowboards with sintered bases are much faster, but require semi-regular maintenance and are easier to damage. The bottom-edges of the snowboard are fitted with a thin strip of steel, just a couple of millimeters wide. This steel edge allows the board to grab or 'dig in' to hard snow and ice (like the blade of an ice skate), and also protects the boards internal structure. The top of the board is typically a layer of acrylic with some form of graphic designed to attract attention, showcase artwork, or serve the purpose similar to that of any other form of printed media. Flite Snowboards, an early and often underquoted designer, pressed the first closed-molded boards from a garage in Newport, RI in the mid 1980's. Snowboard topsheet graphics can be a highly personal statement and many riders spend many hours customizing the look of their boards. The top of some boards may even include thin inlays with other materials, and some are made entirely of epoxy-impregnated wood. The base of the board may also feature graphics, often designed in a manner to make the board's manufacturer recognizable in photos.

Snowboard designs differ primarily in:

* Length - Boards for children are as short as 90 centimetres; boards for racers, or "alpine" riders, are as long as 215 cm. Most people ride boards in the 140-165 cm range. It is a myth that the height of the rider solely dictates the length of the snowboard. Rather, the length of a snowboard corresponds mainly to the style, weight, and preference of the rider. A good rule of thumb is to stay within the recommended manufacturer weight range. The longer the board, the more stable it is at high speed, but it is also a bit tougher to manoeuvre. Another factor riders consider when selecting a snowboard is the type of riding it will be used for, freestyle boards being shorter than all-mountain boards.
* Width - The width is typically measured at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width varies with the sidecut and taper. Freestyle boards are up to 28 cm wide, to assist with balance. Alpine boards are typically 18-21 cm wide, although they can be as narrow as 15 cm. Most folks ride boards in the 24-25 cm range. Riders with larger feet (US size 10+) may have problems with narrower boards, as the rider's toes and/or heels may extend over the edge of the board, and interfere with the board's ability to make turns once it is set on edge, or 'get hung up on the snow.' This is called toe/heel-drag, and can be cured by either choosing a wider board (26 cm or more), adjusting the stance angle, or a combination of the two.
* Sidecut - The edges of the board are symmetrically curved concavely, so that the width at the tip and tail is greater than the centre. This curve aids turning and affects the board's handling. The curve has a radius that might be a short as 5 meters on a child's board or as large as 17 meters on a racer's board. Most boards use a sidecut radius between 8-9 meters. Shorter sidecut radii (tighter turns) are generally used for halfpipe riding while longer sidecut radii (wider turns) are used for freeride/alpine/racing riding. One new development in sidecuts was the introduction of Magne-Traction by Mervin, which owns: Lib Tech, GNU, and Roxy. Magne-Traction incorporates seven bumps on each side of the board which LibTech speculates will improve edge holding.
* Flex - The flexibility of a snowboard affects its handling and typically varies with the rider's weight. Usually a harder flex makes turning harder while a softer flex makes the board less stable at high speed. There is no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices and boarders who mostly do rails tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone else something in between.
* Tail/nose width - Many freestyle boards have equal nose/tail specs for equal performance either direction. Freeride and alpine boards, however, have a directional shape with a wider and longer nose. Boards designed for powder conditions exaggerate the differences even more for more flotation on the powder.
* Camber* - The curvature of the base of the snowboard effects handling and carving. Typical modern snowboards have an upward curvature of a few degrees along the effective edges. Experimentation has led to boards with rocker, or upward curvature. First developed by K2 Snowboarding /feature. the rocker makes for a more buttery board and can improve float in deep powder.

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BMX Bike

A BMX bike or BMX is the name of a popular bicycle which is used for both casual use and sport.

Construction :
BMX bicycles are designed for stunts, tricks, and racing on hilly dirt BMX tracks.

On most freestyle bmx bikes, the front wheel has 36 spokes, but some more abusive riders use 48 spoke front wheels, because they are stronger. The same goes for rear wheels. A lot of bikes use 36 spokes, most commonly on dirt jumping bikes. But 48 spoke rear wheels are very common, especially on street bikes, as they have to withstand harsher and more frequent impacts.

Race bmx bikes wheels can vary in size, from 20" to 24".

Dirt jumping and freestyle bikes wheel sizes include 16" and 18" for younger, smaller riders, 20" for most other riders, and a few companies including Haro and Sunday have even made 24" freestyle bikes for taller or older riders who feel cramped on a standard 20" bmx bike.

History :

BMX started in the early 1970s when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California, drawing inspiration from the motocross superstars of the time. The size and availability of the Schwinn Sting-Ray made it the natural bike of choice, since they were easily customized for better handling and performance. BMX racing was a phenomenon by the mid-1970s. Children were racing standard road bikes off-road, around purpose-built tracks in [California]. The 1972 motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the US; its opening scene shows kids riding their Schwinn Stingrays off-road. By the middle of that decade the sport achieved critical mass, and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed especially for the sport.

George E. Esser founded the National Bicycle League as a non-profit bicycle motocross sanctioning organization in 1974. before they set up the NBL, George and his wife, Mary, sanctioned motorcycle races with the AMA (American Motocross Association). Their two sons, Greg and Brian, raced motorcycles, but also enjoyed riding and racing BMX with their friends. It was their sons’ interest, and there being no BMX organizations in the East, that prompted George to start the NBL in Florida.

By 1977, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993 BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The sport of Bicycle Motocross - Freestyle BMX is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition and the ETNIES backyard jam, held largely on both coasts of the United States. The popularity of the sport has increased due to its relative ease and availability of places to ride and do tricks.

In 2003, the International Olympic Committee made BMX a full medal Olympic sport for 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and Māris Štrombergs (male, for Latvia) and Anne-Caroline Chausson (female, for France) were crowned the first Olympic champions.

Many great BMX riders go on to other cycling sports like downhill such as Australian Olympian Jared Graves, former "golden child" Eric Carter, and youth BMX racer Aaron Gwin.

Sport and leisure use
As a form of leisure activity or sport BMX biking has become popular. Enthusiastic people, especially children and teenages will often attend BMX parks and centres and sometimes compete in organised competitions. One form of BMX biking is Freestyle BMX.

Models
BMX bicycles are available several distinct model types :
* Race
* Freestyle (park,street,vert)
* Dirt jumping
* Flatland
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Sky diving

Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the sport of jumping from enough height to deploy a fabric parachute and land safely.

The history of parachuting appears to start with Andre-Jacques Garnerin who made successful parachute jumps from a hot-air balloon in 1797. The military developed parachuting technology first as a way to save aircrews from emergencies aboard balloons and aircraft in flight, later as a way of delivering soldiers to the battlefield. Early competitions date back to the 1930s, and it became an international sport in 1951.

Sport Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport, as well as for the deployment of military personnel Airborne forces and occasionally forest firefighters.

In the early days, a trained skydiver (or jumper) and a group of associates met at an isolated airport, sometimes referred to as a "drop zone." (DZ) A fixed base operator at that airport usually operates one or more aircraft, and takes groups of skydivers up for a fee. It was common for an individual jumper to go up in a Cessna light aircraft such as C-172 or C-182. These days, it is common for busier DZs near populated areas to use multiple, larger aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan C208, De Havilland Twin Otter DHC6 or Short Skyvan.

A typical jump involves individuals jumping out of an aircraft (usually an airplane, but sometimes a helicopter or even the gondola of a balloon), at approximately 4,000 meters (around 13,000 feet) altitude, and free-falling for a period of time before activating a parachute to slow the landing down to safe speeds.

Once the parachute is opened, (usually the parachute will be fully inflated by 2,500 ft). the jumper can control his or her direction and speed with toggles on the end of steering lines attached to the trailing edge of the parachute, and so he or she can aim for the landing site and come to a relatively gentle stop in a safe landing environment. All modern sport parachutes are self-inflating "ram-air" wings that provide control of speed and direction similar to the related paragliders. Purists in either sport would note that paragliders have much greater lift and range, but that parachutes are designed to absorb the stresses of deployment at terminal velocity.

By manipulating the shape of the body—as a pilot manipulates the shape of his aircraft's wings—a skydiver can generate turns, forward motion, backwards motion, and even lift. Experienced skydivers say that in freefall one can do anything a bird can do, except go back up.

When leaving an aircraft, for a few seconds a skydiver continues to travel forwards as well as down, due to the momentum created by the plane's speed (known as throw-forward). The perception of a change from horizontal to vertical flight is known as the "relative wind", or informally as "being on the hill". In freefall, skydivers generally do not experience a "falling" sensation because the resistance of the air to their body at speeds above about 50 mph (80 km/h) provides some feeling of weight and direction. At normal exit speeds for aircraft (approx 90 mph (140 km/h)) there is little feeling of falling just after exit, but jumping from a balloon or helicopter can create this sensation. Skydivers reach terminal velocity (around 120 mph (190 km/h) for belly to Earth orientations, 150-200 mph (240-320 km/h) for head down orientations) and are no longer accelerating towards the ground. At this point the sensation is as of a hard wind.Many skydivers make their first jump with an experienced and trained instructor (this type of skydive may be in the form of a tandem skydive). During the tandem jump the jumpmaster is responsible for the stable exit, maintaining a proper stable freefall position, and activating and controlling the parachute. With training and experience, the fear of the first few jumps is supplanted by the tact of controlling fear so that one may come to experience the satisfaction of mastering aerial skills and performing increasingly complicated maneuvers in the sky with friends.
Skills
Parachuting has complex skills that can take thousands of jumps to master, but the basics are often fully understood and useful during the first few jumps. There are four basic areas of skill: basic safety, free fall maneuvers, parachute operation, and landing.

Free-fall maneuvers

In freefall most skydivers start by learning to maintain a stable belly to earth "arch" position.In this position the average fall rate is around 190 km/h (120 mph). Learning a stable arch position is a basic skill essential for a reliable parachute deployment. Next, jumpers learn to move or turn in any direction while remaining belly to earth. Using these skills a group of jumpers can create sequences of formations on a single jump, a discipline formerly known as relative work (RW) and now as formation skydiving (FS). In the late 1980s more experienced jumpers started experimenting with freeflying, falling in any orientation other than belly to earth. Today many jumpers start freeflying soon after they earn their license, bypassing the traditional flat-flying stepping stone.

Parachute operation and landing :
The decision of when to deploy the parachute is a matter of safety. A parachute should be deployed sufficiently high to give the parachutist time to handle a malfunction, should one occur. 600 metres (1,970 ft) is the practical minimum for advanced skydivers.Skydivers monitor their altimeters during freefall to decide when to break off from the formation (if applicable) and when to open their parachutes. Many skydivers open higher to practice their parachute flying skills. During a "hop-and-pop," a jump in which the parachute is deployed immediately upon exiting the aircraft, it is not uncommon to be under canopy as high as 1200 to 1500 meters (4000 to 5000 ft).Parachute flying involves two basic challenges. Firstly to avoid injury and secondly to land where planned, often on a designated target. Some experienced skydivers enjoy performing aerobatic maneuvers with parachutes, the most notable being the "Swoop". This is a thrilling, but dangerous maneuver entailing a steep, high speed landing approach, before leveling off a couple of feet above the ground to maintain a fast glide parallel to the surface. Swoops as far as 180 metres (590 ft) have been achieved.

A modern parachute or canopy "wing" can glide substantial distances. Elliptical canopies go faster and farther, and some small, highly loaded canopies glide faster than it is possible to run, which can make them very challenging to land. A highly experienced skydiver using a very small canopy can achieve over 100 km/h (60 mph) horizontal speeds in landing.

Today, the majority of skydiving related injuries and deaths happen under a fully opened and functioning parachute. The most common cause being poorly-executed, radical maneuvers near to the ground, such as hook turns, or landing flares performed either too high or too low.

Safety:
Despite the perception of danger, fatalities are rare. However, each year a number of people are hurt or killed parachuting world-wide.Injuries and fatalities occurring under a fully functional parachute usually happen because the skydiver performed unsafe maneuvers or made an error in judgment while flying their canopy, typically resulting in a high speed impact with the ground or other hazards on the ground.[citation needed] In recent years, one of the most common sources of injury is a low turn under a high-performance canopy and while swooping. Swooping is the advanced discipline of gliding parallel to the ground during landing.Changing wind conditions are another risk factor. In conditions of strong winds, and turbulence during hot days the parachutist can be caught in downdrafts close to the ground. Shifting winds can cause a crosswind or downwind landing which have a higher potential for injury due to the wind speed adding to the landing speed.

Equipment failure rarely causes fatalities and injuries. Exact numbers are difficult to estimate but approximately one in a thousand deployments of a main parachute results in a malfunction. Ram-air parachutes typically spin uncontrollably when malfunctioned, and must be jettisoned before deploying the reserve parachute. Reserve parachutes are packed and deployed differently, they are also designed more conservatively and built & tested to more exacting standards so they are more reliable than main parachutes, but the real safety advantage comes from the probability of an unlikely main malfunction multiplied by the even less likely probability of a reserve malfunction. This yields an even smaller probability of a double malfunction although the possibility of a main malfunction that cannot be cutaway causing a reserve malfunction is a very real risk.

Types:
There are several different disciplines to embrace within parachuting. Each of these is enjoyed by both the recreational (weekend) and the competitive participants.
Types of parachuting include:
* Accuracy landing - Landing as close as possible to a target.
* BASE jumping - From buildings, antennas, bridges (spans) and cliffs (earth).
* Blade running - A kind of slalom with a parachute.
* Big-ways - Formation skydiving with many people all falling belly to earth.
* Canopy formation - Making formations with other parachutists while under canopies. (Known also as canopy relative work or simply CRW (CRew))
* Canopy piloting - Also known as 'swooping'.
* Formation skydiving - Making formations during freefall. (Known also as relative work or simply deployment-position RW)
* Freefall style
* Freeflying - Flying in multiple orientations (i.e. head down, flocking, and sitflying). A more advanced approach to skydiving.
* Freestyle skydiving
* Military Parachuting
o HALO/HAHO
o Treejumping
* Para-ski
* Speed Skydiving - represents the fastest non-motorized sport on Earth, with Speed in excess of 500 km/h (310 mph)
* Skysurfing - Skydiving with a board strapped to one's feet.
* Vertical Formation Skydiving - a subset of Formation skydiving that uses high-speed freeflying body positions instead of bellyflying. (Known also as VRW)
* Wingsuit flying - Skydiving with a suit which provides extra lift, and powered skydiving where the wingsuit flyer adds propulsion.

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bungee jumping

Bungee jumping (also spelled "Bungy" jumping)is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to hover over one spot on the ground. The thrill comes as much from the free-falling as from the rebounds.

When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper flies upwards again as the cord snaps back, and continues to oscillate up and down until all the energy is dissipated.
Equipment :
The elastic rope first used in bungee jumping, and still used by many commercial operators, is factory-produced braided shock cord. This consists of many latex strands enclosed in a tough outer cover. The outer cover may be applied when the latex is pre-stressed, so that the cord's resistance to extension is already significant at the cord's natural length. This gives a harder, sharper bounce. The braided cover also provides significant durability benefits. Other operators, including A J Hackett and most southern-hemisphere operators, use unbraided cords in which the latex strands are exposed (pictured at right). These give a softer, longer bounce and can be home-produced.


Although there is a certain elegance in using only a simple ankle attachment, accidents in which participants became detached led many commercial operators to use a body harness, if only as a backup for an ankle attachment. Body harnesses are generally derived from climbing equipment rather than parachute equipment.

Retrieval methods vary according to the site used. Mobile cranes provide the greatest recovery speed and flexibility, the jumper being lowered rapidly to ground level and detached. Many other mechanisms have been devised according to the nature of the jump platform and the need for a rapid turn-around.

The Highest Jump :
In August 2005, AJ Hackett added a SkyJump to the Macau Tower, making it the world's highest jump at 233 metres (760 ft).
The SkyJump did not qualify as the world's highest bungee as it is not strictly speaking a bungee jump, but instead what is referred to as a 'Decelerator-Descent' jump, using a steel cable and decelerator system, rather than an elastic rope. On 17 December 2006, The Macau Tower started operating a proper bungee jump, which became the "Highest Commercial Bungee Jump In The World" according to the Guinness Book of Records. The Macau Tower Bungy does have a "Guide cable" system which limits swing (the jump is very close to the structure of the tower itself) but does not have any effect on the speed of descent, so this still qualifies the jump for the World Record.

There is another commercial bungee jump currently in operation which is just 13m smaller, at 220 metres (720 ft). This jump, which is made without guide ropes, is located near Locarno, Switzerland and takes place from the top of the Verzasca Dam (pictured). This jump was prominently featured in the opening scene of the James Bond film GoldenEye.

Safety and possible injury :
There is a wide spectrum of possible injuries during a jump. One can be injured during a jump if the safety harness fails, the cord elasticity is miscalculated, or the cord is not properly connected to the jump platform. In most cases this is a result of human error in the form of mishandled harness preparation. Another major injury is if the jumper experiences cord entanglement with their own body. Other injuries include eye trauma, rope burn, uterine prolapse, dislocations, bruises, whiplash, pinched fingers and back injury.
Age, equipment, experience, location and weight are some of the factors, and nervousness can exacerbate eye traumas In 1997, Laura Patterson, one of a 16-member professional bungee jumping team, died of massive cranial trauma when she jumped from the top level of the Louisiana Superdome with improperly handled bungee cords and collided head-first into the concrete-based playing field. She was practicing for an exhibition intended to be performed during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXI. The bungee jumping portion of the show was removed from the program and a commemoration of Patterson was added.

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