Nothing to do with "Extreme Sports" - but this is the sort of tale that really is an "Extreme Tale" ...

A 65-year-old Californian woman has saved the life of her husband, 70, by fighting off an attacking mountain lion with a small log and his pen.

Jim and Nell Hamm were walking in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the cougar wrestled Jim to the ground.

Nell started hitting the animal with the log but it kept hold of Jim's head. She then tried to stick the pen in its eye. The cougar eventually let go.

Mr Hamm is in fair condition after having his lips stitched back together.

Tags: extreme tales, bravery, survival

Posted by drk at 02:42 PM | Permalink

An update here on the man who wanted to "Skate Australia" - apparently he has finished ...

A British man today broke the record for the longest journey made on a skateboard after completing a charity trek across Australia.

Dave Cornthwaite, of Swansea, south Wales, finished the final section of his 5,820km (3,638 mile) journey in Brisbane at around 2.30am GMT (12.30pm local time).

The 27-year-old graphic designer began his epic trip on his battered skateboard Elsa in Perth, Western Australia, on August 30.

He has since passed through Adelaide, along the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Victoria, and Sydney in New South Wales, notching up an average of 60km a day.

Article continues
Mr Cornthwaite's antipodean odyssey, which has raised more than £16,000 for three children's charities, smashed the previous record for a skateboard journey, set by an American who skated 4,830km in 2003.

He arrived in Brisbane yesterday, stopping 3km (2 miles) from the finishing line before completing the final stretch in the city's South Bank area today.

Source

Tags: cornthwaite, marathon, world record, charity, charity skateboarder

Posted by drk at 01:25 PM | Permalink

The "Extreme Tales Newsboard" - a digg-style news site hosted on the CrispyNews site is going down. Apparently CrispyNews are giving up on their free service to concentrate on something called "CrispyIdeas".

Right now I am busy salvaging the most interesting posts from the Extreme Tales Newsboard - and tucking them away in their proper place here on the Extreme Tales Weblog. I've technorati tagged everything from the old "Extreme Tales Newsboard" site to make it easier to notice what has been migrated.

Once I've migrated I'll revamp this site a little bit and then go back to posting here. It was nice using the CrispyNews engine for while - the ability to add, comment vote and discuss in the forums was good - but now the service is closing down it just means more work ....

Tags: crispy news, extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 07:18 PM | Permalink

Tristan and Nic Puehse are fraternal twins who were born on December 8, 1997 and began skating just after their 6th birthday. Their natural athletic ability and toughness, combined with a "no-fear" attitude have made them serious competitors.

They began skating in CASL's (California Amateur Skateboard League) 8 and Under division in May 2004. In their very first CASL competition, Tristan took 1st and Best Trick while Nic placed 2nd. In August 2004, they were moved up to the 10 and under Sponsored division while still just six years old!

In July 2004, after 2 months of competitive skating, Nic won gold and Tristan silver at the California State Games in San Diego.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:01 PM | Permalink

Who are the biggest thrill seekers of all? Not surfers. Sure, surfing may rank as one of the world's coolest sports, but football -- even soccer -- outstrips it for danger, a new study says.

Based on data from 32 worldwide surfing competitions held between March 1999 and September 2005, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School found the rate of significant injury among surfers to be 6.6 per 1,000 hours of surfing -- about one-third the rate found in men's college soccer and one-fifth that of men's college football.

"Soccer had about 19 injuries, and college football had about 33,'' in a similar period of activity, says Dr. Andrew Nathanson, an emergency medicine physician at Rhode Island Hospital and lead author of the study, published this month in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:03 PM | Permalink

An Angwin man was arrested at the foot of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan on Dec. 3 for allegedly BASE jumping off the famous rock formation.

According to Ranger Leslie Reynolds, Walden Grindle, 28, of Angwin, and Fernando Motta, 29, of Oakland, were ascending fixed ropes on the rappel route when they encountered off-duty Ranger Keith Lober, who struck up a conversation with them.

The two men asked if Lober was a ranger, and when he assured them he wasn’t, they said they planned to BASE jump from El Capitan that night, Reynolds said. Later in the evening they did so, and Grindle was arrested by Lober and other rangers as he landed. Motta evaded the rangers in the dark, but turned himself in two hours later, Reynolds said.

Both men were charged with illegal air delivery, and Motta was charged with possession of marijuana, Reynolds said. Among the evidence seized by rangers was video from Motta’s helmet camera, Reynolds said.
Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:28 PM | Permalink

Crikey!! - a scholarship to study and learn surfing - it wasn't like that in my day - more's the pity!!

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A YOUNG Port Alfred surfer has been awarded a surfing scholarship from the International Surfing Association.

Lungani Memani, 17, was chosen along with four other surfers from a pool of 20 applicants as recipients of the 2007 scholarships.

Memani and the other recipients will each receive $12 000 (R87 000).

Memani, who started surfing when he was 10, said he began as a lifesaver before doing any surfing.

“I was approached by Warwick Heny, a surfer, who asked me if I was interested in doing surfing.”

Memani said he enjoyed surfing so much that he wanted to become a professional surfer.

“It‘s a very good feeling to be in the water. I don‘t think there‘s anything I‘d like to do more than surfing.
Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:26 PM | Permalink

Note that this time it could only be "trespassing and vandalism" - and not "illegal air delivery". The authorities have a real hard time pinning down exactly what to charge BASE jumpers with - but they are determined to stamp out "illegal" BASE jumping.

What to you think? Are you a BASE jumper who has been prosecuted? Do you think the laws are adequate or should be changed? If you are a law-enforcement official or local counciller - please tell us your views also

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A thrill-seeking Edmonton man is facing possible charges after climbing a Telus communications tower early yesterday and parachuting to the ground.

The unidentified 29-year-old BASE jumper caught the attention of two cops just moments before he landed in a field near 83 Street and 90 Avenue, said Edmonton police spokesman Jeff Wuite.

The officers were patrolling the south side about 3 a.m., when they spotted the parachutist coming in for a landing in an adjacent field, Wuite explained.

"After first claiming he had jumped from an airplane, the man admitted to jumping from a nearby communications tower," Wuite said.

The urban skydiver has been released from police custody, while the question of charges - including trespassing and vandalism - is being assessed.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:25 PM | Permalink

Not very often we get to link to "Hello" magazine - but it looks like "indoor skydiving" is going mainstream - as the Beckhams try it out ....

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The former Spice Girl's husband David Beckham had forked out £1,200 to privately hire out the Airkix centre in Milton Keynes - where a 150mph wind tunnel recreates the exhilarating sensation of freefall parachuting. Sons Brooklyn, seven, and four-year-old Romeo spent 20 minutes with their mum and dad lying face-down on tables to learn the parachute manoeuvres before entering the wind tunnel.

"David and Brooklyn were both really good and were going up and down and forward and back and turning like proper skydivers," revealed an insider. "Posh and Romeo had a great time, but weren't as good."

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:23 PM | Permalink

A new physical fitness fad is taking college campuses by storm, with participants bouncing off the walls — literally.

Parkour, an import from France, is a graceful race through urban settings, where runners vault, climb and career their way along, letting no obstacle stop their progress.

Traceurs, as participants are called, leap over walls, slip through railings and even dive through open windows. Think Jackie Chan, without the violence.

Its appearance at the University of Central Florida ranges from late-night runs through campus, caught on video posted on YouTube, to impromptu practice sessions near the campus theater by a group calling itself Renzhe Parkour, Urban Ninjas.

A growing network of Central Florida traceurs are turning up on blogs and parkour Web sites, all looking for the same thing: a place to run.
Source:Parkour in Florida

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:19 PM | Permalink

A follow up on "Zen and Zero" - described as " Hunter S. Thompson-esque film about a group of sea-starved Austrian surfers and their quest for waves".

You can find the trailer for "Zen and Zero" at SurfExtravaganza - Quicktime or WMV

"A 7000 Miles surfing pilgrimage through Central America looking for answers we didn't even know the questions for"

Posted by drk at 05:11 PM | Permalink

Likewise you can catch up with more information about Of Wind and Waves

Of Wind and Waves" premiered to rave reviews and great enthusiasm on a four-island, six venue tour of Hawaii in August, 2006.

The documentary had its world premiere at Mountainfilm in Telluride over Memorial Day weekend, 2006, where it won "The Inspiration Award!" Woody's daughter, Mary Sue Gannon, and son, Jeffrey Sellon were in Telluride to share the experience and celebration.

In 2004, the 35-minute version won the "Audience Award for Best Short" at the Maui Film Festival. Watch this space for uncoming screenings in Hawaii, California and other states.

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:04 PM | Permalink

A couple of films of interest to Extreme Sports enthusiasts here:

"Of Wind and Waves" - an inspiring film profiling the extraordinary 92-year-old surfing, sailing and soaring legend Woody Brown.

"Zen and Zero" - a Hunter S. Thompson-esque film about a group of sea-starved Austrian surfers and their quest for waves.

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 12:13 PM | Permalink

Hyne finished fourth in the opening round of World Cup circuit in Graz.

It has given the New Zealand snowboard camp a real boost ahead of next week's world championships in Switzerland in what was their debut as a team in a World Cup.

Hyne produced strong form in the Big Air competition to qualify for the top 16 and was then were involved in a series of gruelling head-to-head knockout rounds.

The New Zealander produced a stunning effort with a series of flawless moves that gave him the second highest score of 26.2 in the first finals round.

He was knocked out in the semifinals by the eventual winner, Finland's Peetu Piroinen.

"I'm very pleased. I was pretty tired at the end, because I arrived in Graz at 5am by car," Hyne said.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:33 PM | Permalink

The Cave City Skate Club is applying for grants and planning several fund-raisers to raise money to build a skateboard park within the Cave City Park, now that city officials have designated an area for the facility, spokesman Matthew Hubbard said.



The group is also getting donations from banks and other area businesses, he said.

Others who have represented the group during Cave City Council sessions include Anthony Compton and Susan Tully.

“Our first fund-raiser will be a concert,” Hubbard said. Hopefully, the concert will feature bands from a wide area and which are known to support skateboarders’ efforts, he said.

The group hopes to hold the concert in the city park, but nothing has been scheduled as yet because everything is in the planning stage, Hubbard said.

The group hopes to build a $175,000 skate facility that would also be used by inline skaters and freestyle bicyclists.
Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:31 PM | Permalink

An Icelandic man killed in a parachute jump performance at a North Coast dance festival was a good friend of one of Australia's most experienced BASE jumpers, Anthony Coombes, who died last year jumping from a 1100-metre cliff in Norway.

BASE jumping is a form of parachuting that involves jumping from objects such as cliffs and skyscrapers. It stands for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth.

So close was their bond that the 27-year-old Icelander, known as Benni, travelled to Australia late last year to spend Christmas with Coombes's sister and mother at Goonellabah, near Lismore on the state's North Coast.

But exactly two weeks later, yesterday, Benni was also dead, when a skydiving performance at the Superfreaks dance festival near Bonalbo, about an hour west of Lismore, went wrong.
Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:29 PM | Permalink

More Argentinian Parkour - this time in Buenos Aires

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:59 PM | Permalink

Emma Beyer is not Britain’s most famous world champion, but she is one of the most glamorous. Freefall skydiving from 10,500ft has a romance of its own, but the 33-year-old from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is also a former model and is seeking work high above the Hollywood hills, where few superstars dare to go.

Two of Beyer’s three gold medal-winning team-mates from last summer’s World Championships in Germany have done stunt work. Amanda Kemp was Angelina Jolie’s body double in Tomb Raider 2 and Julia Foxwell played Halle Berry’s more hair-raising moments in the James Bond film Die Another Day.

“The things they got up to on set were far more dangerous than anything we do in our everyday lives skydiving,” Beyer said. “It was a lot of fun and, because we do so much training in California, those sorts of opportunities do come up.”

Just as well because Beyer has remortgaged and let her house to fund her sport. She estimates that her annual skydiving bill exceeds £100,000. “It’s been worth it, but without sponsorship the well soon runs dry,” she said.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 05:58 PM | Permalink

Man has dreamt of flight ever since our ancestors first saw birds soaring into the sky.

And even after the dream was realised, first with hot-air balloons and later with heavier-than-air aeroplanes, the dream remained unfulfilled.

Because being truly at one with the air, able to swoop and soar like a falcon or an albatross, remained an impossibility.

And in legends where the dream became real, as in the myth of the Ancient Greek birdman Icarus, the price was a heavy one; an ignominious crashing to Earth.

But for one brave Swiss pioneer, a former military pilot called Yves Rossy, the dream has become reality.

For as these amazing pictures show, Rossy, 45, has managed to come as close as it is possible to get to the feeling of being truly like a bird.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:00 PM | Permalink

No not Dubya - the other kind of Bush ...
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A skydiving instructor who plunged to earth when both his parachutes failed, says his last words before impact were: "Shit, I'm going to die".

Michael Holmes, 25, went into a spin when his main parachute became tangled during a 4,000m drop over Taupo in New Zealand last week, but survived when he landed in a blackberry bush.

"When the second parachute didn't open I realised it was all over," he told The Times newspaper in London, from his bed in Waikato Hospital.

"I was going to die. You don't have much time to say goodbye. I just said: 'Shit I'm going to die'."

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:05 PM | Permalink

Two men jumped from the Macau Tower on Sunday in Macau, China.

By jumping off the 764-foot tower, A.J. Hackett broke his old world record for longest bungee jump.

The two men inaugurated the tower, which opened in 2001 as a conference center, as the world's highest bungee jump facility

Both men were awarded certificates by the Gunness World Records.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:03 PM | Permalink

From Global Surfing News - again - a great source of Surf related news ...
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The Noosa Malibu Club is pleased to announce the major participation of Global Surf Industries as the primary partner in the 2007 Noosa Festival of Surfing, together with the support of APN News & Media. The Festival, beginning March 5, 2007 is now a week long celebration of Longboarding, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Music, Film and Surf Culture.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:02 PM | Permalink

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:22 PM | Permalink

Everyone knows there’s no shortage of surfers on the Gold Coast and today the younger brigade of Gold Coast surfers showed us there’s plenty of talent coming through the younger ranks, all keen to emulate their more famous Gold Coast elders like Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore!

Coolangatta surfer James Woods opened day two in good 1m waves at Duranbah with an easy win over Pt Lookout Queensland surfer Darcy Phillips. Woods is the number one seed at this event following his good recent form and his win today was strong enough to suggest he’ll be very hard to beat in the blue ribbon 16 and under Boys division.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:19 PM | Permalink

In old Hawaii, the kahuna were endowed with special powers: prophecy, healing, canoe making, predicting the surf. As the Executive Director of the Triple Crown Randy Rarick is a modern day kahuna, responsible for the entire apparatus of the Hawaiian surfing events, an apparatus that goes into motion when Randy and his partner Bernie Baker sniff the wind, read the buoys, look at the satellites, consult their sub-kahuna, feel their bunions and decide the surf conditions will be worthy of a Triple Crown event.

It’s all a big deal, that requires a great deal of patience and experience, but Rarick has that experience, as he has lived on the North Shore for 35 years and has been involved with competitive professional surfing going back to the early days of the IPS and the ASP.

On Sunday, December 3, Rarick is at home, in his office, cruising a little bit during an off day in the Triple Crown. The O’Neill Sunset is on hold, and the North Shore is moving out of a period of bad weather and bad surf. Rarick answers a phone all from a guy in Las Vegas who is looking for a board to go with this woodie. Randy deals with that, and with a Brazilian guy wanting to buy some t-shirts, then he sits in his office, tries to ignore the phone and answers a few questions.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:18 PM | Permalink

Interesting this - in the Skate vs NoSkate wars the skateboarders have actually been ALLOWED to skate on the sidewalk ...
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Skaters in Grottoes will not have to leave the town limits to use their boards legally any longer.

Monday night, Town Council passed a revision of the town code allowing skateboards on sidewalks.

The revision passed with a vote of 4-2. Council members Jim Justis and Charlie Lawhorne voted against the change.

Councilman Ed Sterling said the revised amendment would allow the general use of skateboards on town sidewalks, but prohibited their use "as a way to impede or obstruct pedestrians."

After the amendment was passed, Mayor Doug Shifflett told the kids in attendance that disrespectful use of the boards would not be tolerated.

"I have no problems with skateboards," he said. "I just hope that the kids that use them will be more respectful of the people around them."

The old town code — which passed in May — prohibited using "skates, skateboards and toys dangerously" on town sidewalks, according to a copy of the law.

After town residents spoke against the ordinance, the code was changed to allow the use skateboards, bikes and scooters.

Shifflett — whose term as mayor ends next month — had opposed the use of skateboards on sidewalks. Previously, he said, "skateboarders don’t know how to be polite to pedestrians."

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:17 PM | Permalink

Since skateboarding’s initial rise in popularity during the 1970’s, skateboarding and in-
line skating have established themselves as national sports.

In fact, skateboarding has become so popular in America that the number of skateboarders in the U.S. (11.6 million) actually surpassed the number of baseball players (10.9 million) in
2000!

Yet, while our local landscape is speckled with baseball fields, you won’t find a single skatepark.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:16 PM | Permalink

After weeks of cancellations and postponed schedules, the alpine snowboarders are looking forward to competing this week in one Parallel World Cup race.

On December 13th, 2006, the world’s best carving aces meet up in San Vigilio di Marebbe, Italy, to battle for World Cup points in the second Parallel Giant Slalom of the 2006/2007 NOKIA Snowboard FIS World Cup on the slope “Pré da Peres”.

The Parallel Slalom in Bad Gastein, Austria, which was scheduled on December 16th, 2006, has to be cancelled due to lack of snow.

Source

Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:14 PM | Permalink

Pipeline Masters

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Tags: extreme tales newsboard

Posted by drk at 06:09 PM | Permalink

SkyVenture (http://www.skyventure.com) started in Orlando in 1998, when original owner Bill Kitchen decided to create a place where skydivers could train and other people could get the sensation of skydiving without jumping. The company, now owned by a group of investors, has since expanded to Arizona, California, Colorado, New Hampshire, England and Malaysia, with plans for several more in the next few years, including one currently being built in Moscow.

It wasn't a new technology -- wind tunnels have been around since the late 1800s and there were already skydiving tunnels on the market -- but Kitchen wanted something that was safer than previous versions.

What he did was create a 40-foot tower that's shaped like an hourglass, with a large air tank at the bottom, a narrow flying chamber and an expanded area at the top, where large fans suck the air upward. The air underneath gets compressed once it reaches the chamber and the fans help create a vacuum known as the Venturi effect, similar to the way a carburetor gets gas into a car's intake.

Posted by drk at 06:08 PM | Permalink