UKC

starting to look at topics for my second year project, I find this particular subject quite interesting and wondered what all you guys think? or if you may be able to point me in the direction of any good articles relating to the subject.

So why do people do high risk/ extreme sports?

an act of escapism to take a break from "real life"?
for the sense of achievement?
for the adrenaline rush? addictive personalities?
to see the beauty of the outdoors from a different perspective?
to look "good" in front of peers/ the opposite sex?

let me know what you think, and/ or why you do what you do!
cheers bekx

In reply to icklebekx: All of them!

In reply to icklebekx:

All of the above, other than the last one.

I used to think it wasn't for the adrenaline fix but you miss it when you can't get it !

Though mostly to be out in the mountains and a sense of achievement.

I suspect for some (blokes mostly I imagine), there is also an enjoyment in the technical side of the climbing game.

In reply to JonC:

None of them but the last one!

http://matadornetwork.com/sports/women-rank-rock-climbing-as-the-sexiest-sp...

In reply to icklebekx: Everyone has different reasons and they're often a combination of the above, there is rarely a simple answer.

Personally, I'm addicted to it. It's not the "danger" as frankly I think there's very little compared to some of the other sports I've been in to heavily in the past. I enjoy the experience, adventure and feeling of flowing easily over territory relatively few others reach in beautiful surroundings.

The fact my girlfriend finds me irresistible whenever we climb together obviously has nothing to do with it, at all, ahem.

In reply to icklebekx:

It never struck me as "high risk"! Medium maybe, but not high. Depends also on how you approach safety - climbers vary enormously on this. Perhaps it might be worth defining risk and acknowledging a broad spectrum of ability and informed choice as a starting point for your project. I don't mean to put a dampener on your project, it sounds quite good fun.

In reply to gribble:

exactly.
i know more people hurt worse from skateboarding, rugby and volleyball.

anyway, id agree with all your examples. even the last one in some cases.

In reply to icklebekx:

Why do some people class certain sports as high risk / extreme?

Does this classification hide things from you as much as it reveals things to you?

Are there people who do certain sports because of the perceived risk / danger?
Are there other people who do exactly the same sports irrespective of the perceived risk / danger?

What happens when certain sports get "re-classified?" One sport may "lose" the "status" of being an extreme sport, and other sport may "gain" that "status."

For example, the following sports all contain an element of risk, but would you class them all as "extreme" sports?
downhill mountain biking
rugby
horse riding
scuba diving
BASE jumping
sea angling (especially from rocky shores)
winter climbing
ocean sailing

In reply to icklebekx:

Maybe ask these lads?

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=468036
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=447098
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=416359
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=396156

Hundreds more where this came from.

I think rock climbing is generally misunderstood, people assume that it's dangerous as it 'looks' dangerous to the untrained eye. The fact that it appears to be and logically should be dangerous means that those of us that do pursue it as a sport do so very bloody carefully.

In reply to kit perry:

V good, lol

I was speaking for myself but clearly I haven't thought carefully enough about it !

In reply to icklebekx:
I presume this is for a college or university assignment.
If so, I suggest you look through the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, and the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education.

I also commend Breivik, Gunnar (2010) "Trends in Adventure Sports in a Post-Modern Society" from the journal Sport in Society, vol 13, No 2, pp 260 - 273

A foundational article is Lyng, Stephen (1994) "Edgework: A Social Psychological Analysis of Voluntary Risk Taking" in the journal American Journal of Sociology, Vol 95, No 4, pp 851 - 886

In reply to icklebekx:

Because I was crap at football!

I personally climb and yes I don't see it as a particularly "high risk" sport (when its done safely), but it seems to be put in that category by most people. I'm going to be looking at other "high risk" sports too, but as I climb its one of the sports that I'm more interested in finding out why people do it, whether they perceive it to be a high risk sport or not.

In reply to icklebekx:


I'd say the opposite of escapism. It reconnects you with living in the moment, experiencing the World at it's most raw and basic. So called real life insulates you from what is "real". Climbing / mountaineering reconnects you, and leaves you with a enhanced sense of what it means to live in your natural environment. As for your last point, definitely not. My mountain climbs tend to just be with my patner, out of side and mind of others. I rarely talk about mountaineering apart from with others who share my passion.

In reply to icklebekx:

I'm an ass man, I couldn't find any other sport where I am required to stare at my partners ass all day.

In reply to icklebekx:

I just like all the shiney gear

In reply to icklebekx:

Extreme sports is a marketing term that has nothing to do with climbing.

As for your other questions, most are closer to psycho-babble, looking good in front of the opposite sex is impossible in my case

ALC

In reply to icklebekx:

pmsl, I climb mainly indoors. When I don't it's an old disused quarry. Occasionally I might be found on a midge infested swamp.

In reply to icklebekx: I'd also say first four but predominantly for escapism, rush and achievement. At the end of the day its all relative. One person might find in line skating in Hyde Park a buzz. Maybe look at upbringing/childhood influences as factors? Intrinsic motivation?

Good luck with your project. For my uni dissertation many moons ago I chose a similar subject looking at motivation/perception of participation in outdoor pursuits by blind people. Kinda shot myself in the foot though cos no-one had done much study on it and my lecturers said it was too subjective albeit pioneering. Hope you get an A!

All of the things you mention, but you missed another.

Some people don't like the risk element at all but still enjoy climbing - for achievement yes but also just because the movement itself is fun. The risk is a side effect.

Why do people engage in high risk activities like driving a car? For escapism? Achievement? Adrenaline rush? I think you get my point

In reply to icklebekx:

team work component.
goal achievement.
escapism
camaraderie
OCD (lets face it most runners and climbers are well on the spectrum..)
views/poisions
isolation

In reply to icklebekx:

Because it's there.

In reply to icklebekx:
Check out this article by Grant...
http://web.mac.com/evilpics/Site/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus.html
and he's a real Dr!

In reply to icklebekx:

The premise of this project that climbing is a high risk sport, like many other very similar projects that come up on UKC is wrong, so it would not be possible to do a good project on it. Ask why people do sports like golf, cycling, fishing, skiing etc and you would rule out 2 of your 5 options.

There are many more interesting and meaningful questions to ask about climbing. Do you have the option for choosing other topics?

In reply to icklebekx: It depends what type of climbing I'm doing...
top roping a Diff, leaves me with only a sense of satisfaction, meanwhile soloing a VS ticks just about all those boxes.

In reply to icklebekx:

Why do people do anything?

In reply to PaleMan:

^^^^ This.

As to the last point, most of my climbing is done solo, sans ropes, on my own on a crag somewhere. The opposite sex doesn't come into it.

Also, I agree with others that I don't consider climbing an extreme sport or dangerous per se. It *can* be dangerous - if you want to solo something at the limit of your ability - but that is a choice you make yourself. I consider sports to be far more "extreme" where the possiblity of injury is not a decision you necessarily make for yourself - where you are depending on other people to be careful or at least not reckless, or where you are dependent on machines - e.g. a tyre not to burst at the wrong moment.

I guess why I enjoy it? I've never found anything else which engages your whole body and your brain in quite the way climbing does. The martial art I used to do (sometimes still do) has the same to a certain extent, but has the disadvantage of being done in a sweaty dojo with lots of other sweaty folk, as opposed to out in the middle of nowhere with beautiful countryside all around.

In reply to PaleMan:

I'm not disagree with the rest, but after a stressful day at work, some f*****t chewing my arse, to go for a proper fell run/scramble etc just blasts everything away and takes me back to what makes me happy. Totally escapism. That's not to say I don't agree with the rest that you say, good points.

In reply to icklebekx:


If anyone tells you that this is not a big part of their reason, do not trust them.

In reply to icklebekx:

Homophobic.

In reply to stroppygob:

Ah, but you are a boulderer... (going by your photo gallery,anyway!)

In reply to icklebekx:

I wouldn't class most climbing as particularly "high risk" and it depends on the level you climb at.

What do you mean by "risk"? I suggest most people mean likelyhood of death.

If so
Bouldereing and top roping are very low risk
Indoor wall climbing is very low risk*
Sport climbing is low risk*
DWS is low risk
Trad well within your grade is low risk*
Pushing your grade on trad is medium risk*
Soloing is medium to high risk
Summer hill walking is low risk
Winter hill walking can be medium or even high risk depending on conditions
Snow and ice climbing can be medium to high risk*
Scrambling is low to medium risk
Alpine mountaineering can vary from low to high risk
Mountaineering in the High Ranges can vary from medium to high risk

* This assumes risk to a leader. Risk to a second is much less.

In reply to Trangia:

nice, tho you forgot the riskiest form of climbing - drytooling.

In reply to LastBoyScout:


+1

I don't really think about climbing as high risk. There are plenty of other sports that I'd enjoy if it weren't for the risk, motorcross racing being the example that springs to mind.

jk

In reply to Trangia:

This rather assumes there is any decent gear....