Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Top 10 Best Adrenaline Rushes

Following up on my last post about the Top 10 Extreme Sports for Amateur Athletes, I would like to explain how I ranked the Best Adrenaline Rush category.

Skydiving with Tate

Bar none, the best way to raise your adrenaline is to GO FAST! The more you are aware of the sensation, the higher the adrenaline rush, and looking at my list, the top 6, except for ice climbing, are essentially ranked according to top speed achieved in each sport. Of course, there are other things that raise your adrenaline, such as real (or perceived) danger, and that's where ice climbing gets a boost.

For canyon swinging and bungee jumping, you are strapped into a system that essentially does the same thing over and over, day after day, and if you've seen someone use the contraption before you, except for your completely (ir)rational fear of falling, there's no reason to be afraid. Ice climbing requires quite a bit of physical exertion and the potential that your ropes, boots, and ice picks could become detached from the glacier or frozen waterfall at any time heightens your senses. Every time you climb, the course is different, and that adds quite a bit to the rush you get when you climb.

 

The other sports on the list are not so extreme in the adrenaline rush department, though in short bursts in particular situations, can achieve a pretty big rush. For instance, if you are setting a new personal best depth in free-diving, the feeling for the last few feet before you reach your target can be insane: "There's no way I can make it back up!" you might think; but when you turn around and head back up, your lungs slowly expanding as the pressure decreases, you realize that you probably could have gone even further. White-water rafting and scuba-diving are also relatively low adrenaline sports, though rough rapids or running into a shark respectively could give you a fair jolt of adrenaline. Rock climbing is mostly an endurance sport, and if you do it properly, you'll never get an "adrenaline" rush; though falls can be pretty scary if you've got a lot of slack in the line or are climbing top-rope.

 

What are your thoughts? Did I get it right? I've only ranked the sports I've done. What should I try so I can add it to the list?

 

Let me know in the comments down below and be ready for my post next week which deals with the Top 10 Most Physically Challenging extreme sports.

 

The List:

Top 10 Best Adrenaline Rushes

1. Solo Skydiving

2. Motorcycle Driving

3. Tandem Skydiving

4. Ice Climbing

5. Canyon Swinging

6. Bungee Jumping

7. Free-diving

8. White-water Rafting

9. Scuba-diving

10. Rock Climbing

 

 

As I stated in the first article, all of these rankings are based on my subjective experience and should only be used as a guide when deciding whether to get into a particular sport. If you don’t do your homework and make an uneducated decision, any of these sports can kill you. However, with proper training and awareness of the potential danger, these sports can become some of the most amazing experiences of your life. I only rank sports I have personally done, and I agree that there are other sports that could fall somewhere on this list; I just haven't done them yet!

Thanks for reading.

Ethan J. DeLano "The EJDe"

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