All About Skateboarding- From Mild to Extreme
Posted in: Featured Xtreme Sports Articles, Skateboarding, Xtreme Sports
It’s hard to believe but skateboarding has been around for almost 50 years at this point. What started as a small niche and trend in the 1960’s has developed into one of the major individual sports across the globe. More young people are getting involved than ever before, and skateboarding is clearly enjoying its popularity and its growth into the mainstream, despite its counter-culture history and beginning.
Right now it’s estimated that about a third of all skateboards are under the age of 18. That’s a really big figure and it shows you how much of a youth driven sport this is. It also shows that in the future there will be more and more people participating, as these kids grow older and continue to participate, and more youth get involved after them as well.
It certainly is quite the change in culture and acceptance from when skateboarding really first premiered. As mentioned, it was somewhat of a counter-culture activity at the time, and it was practiced by only a small group of people before it started to grow and emerge. Longboards were used as opposed to the shorter boards of today, and instead of hugely complex aerial tricks and maneuvers, riders skated through emptied out pools and down the streets.
Street skating and freestyle skating are both still very popular today. There are some fantastic skate parks where you can go to trick on a variety of different ramps and platforms, and different setups and so forth. However you can also just pick any street, parking lot or park and use what’s available to you such as curbs, benches, fire hydrants and more.
However, what really captured the public’s attention and brought the sport to the mainstream was the half pipe or vert skating. Riders in a half pipe get a ton of air time, which allows them to perform some sensational and complex tricks. The one man most responsible for this is the legendary Tony Hawk. When he completed the 900, which is three and a half full rotations in one jump, it was truly a monumental moment.
It launched himself, the entire sport and really the whole culture of the X Games to the next level. Now the X Games are one of the major worldwide sporting competitions, and the extreme sport of skateboarding has its own professional tour which makes stops all around the world. It’s a long way from empty pools and long boards, and skateboarding is only going to continue to grow and expand even more.
If you’re ready to get into skateboarding, whether it’s by participating yourself or just by watching on television, there has never been a better time. It’s really mainstream and widespread these days, which means you can find high level competitions to watch all of the time, and you can quickly learn, experiment and innovate for yourself. Be sure you approach learning how to skateboard carefully however, and utilize all of the proper equipment and safety gear.
There are many companies that provide excursions down rivers across the world offering some fantastic options when it comes to what they would like to do for their trip. A casual float down Class II rapids or wildly wicked extreme thrills with Class Vs are available in almost every state and province. Trips can be as short as 5 hours or many offer rafting outfitters over up to week-long excursions to really explore the rivers and experience nature in its rawest form. Some are even very lavish in nature depending on the location and provider.
Mountain biking is a great way for kids to explore the outdoors, stay in shape, or just have fun. Racing down the side of a mountain is a lot of fun indeed, although it can also be quite extreme. Even being extreme, if you ride with caution and wear the appropriate safety gear, it can be enjoyed by the entire family.
Snowboarding really got its start when a man by the name of Sherman Poppen decided to nail kid’s skis together in an attempt to improve their skills. As he saw how quickly kids took to this and how much fun they were having his entrepreneurial side took over and he went into mass production of the ‘snow board’. Millions of dollars and thousands of happy boarders later, Sherman will always be remembered for bringing snow boarding to the masses.