Oproep voor alle adrenaline verslaafden
Als het springen vanaf een hoge klif de zee in, of het hangend aan een vlieger langs de kust scheren of zelfs het in een grote opblaasbal klimmen en hierin van een heuvel rollen u wel wat lijkt dan bent u hier op de juiste pagina.
‘River wat?!’ vraagt u zich misschien af. River bugging is uitgevonden in Nieuw Zeeland. Het betekent kort gezegd je vastbinden aan een opblaasbare stoel en jezelf hiermee van een woeste stroomversnelling werpen. Op dit eenpersoons vaartuig ziet de rijder of 'bugger' er uit als een 'bug', een insect, vandaar de naam. Er zijn in heel Europa slechts 20 plekken waar dit kan, 12 ervan zijn in Scotland! Kijk op Visit Scotland voor meer informatie.
Er zit een 'geboren survivor' zoals de Britse favoriet Bear Grylls, in ons allemaal. Probeer eens cursus bushcraft en survival technieken om dit stukje naar boven te halen. Bushcraft is de kunst van het leren overleven in de wildernes en je thuis voelen in de natuur, net als onze voorouders. Vuur maken, spoorzoeken, jagen en hutten bouwen zijn een aantal technieken die in de cursus worden aangeboden; technieken die Aboriginals en primitieve stammen nog steeds worden beheersd. Zoek online voor een cursus in de buurt.
Ready for an extreme river adventure great for families and kids too? Gorge walking gives a whole new meaning to a nice nature walk. Here, you’ll walk along steep sided gorges following the course of the river by any means necessary. This can involve climbing beside waterfalls, sliding down rapids, floating down fast flowing chutes and clinging onto rock faces. Wales has some of the best natural formations for gorge walking in the world. See Visit Wales or search online for centres.
Canyoning is the crazy big brother of gorge walking. Like gorge walking, you’ll navigate you way along a river’s course, but this is far more extreme involving heart-stopping jumps off steep gorges and high waterfalls. Coasteering is the saltwater cousin of canyoning. Instead of waterfalls, you’ll work your way around the coastline by rock climbing, cliff jumping and swimming. Neither are for the faint hearted!
Zorbing is one of those things that makes you think, “who the hell came up with that idea?”, but in the same moment scream, “I wanna have a go!”. It basically involves climbing inside a giant inflatable ball and being bounced, rolled and tumbled head-over-heels down a hill at speeds of up to 30mph. For zorbing in the South West see Zorb South, but there are places to Zorb all over Britain, so check online for other locations.
Quad bikes were originally used by farmers in difficult terrain, but it wasn’t long before the speed freaks caught on. What’s not to like about tearing through fields and woods, up and down steep ditches, through streams and across muddy bogs on a four-wheeled buggy capable of stomach-turning twists and jumps?! Forget a gentle bike ride through the countryside, spin, twist, skid and leap your way through the great outdoors.
Caving takes you on a journey deep into Britain’s underbelly, where you and your team guide each other through vast underground caves full of striking stalagmites and stalactites. Potholing takes this a step further and is a claustrophobe’s nightmare. Here, you’ll slide and wriggle through narrow tunnels, cross underground lakes and see sites that went undiscovered for thousands of years.
Also called land yachting, blokarting is like yachting, but in a kart on land instead of a boat on water. A blokart is essentially a long, thin, three-wheeled buggy with enough room for you to sit inside and a sail to accelerate and manoeuvre. The best place to blokart in Britain has got to be the beach and there are clubs based all around the coast. Search online for land yachting or blokarting UK for info on getting started.
Sandboarding is to sand what snowboarding is to snow. Now Britain might not have the best snowboarding conditions, but with over 10,000 miles of coastline lined with staggering sand dunes, we certainly have excellent year-round sandbording conditions. If you’ve never tried it before, it’s best to search online for a course, but many experienced snowboarders just use an old snowboard and get going. You could even dig your old sledge out of the garage and try a bit of sand-sledging!
Also known as traction kiting, power kiting is nothing like flying a kite in the park. The power harnessed by specially designed power kites is enough to drag you along the ground and lift you into the air like you’re jumping on the moon. You can use a power kite on its own, known as ‘power jumping’, or pair it up with a vehicle or board for a more extreme ride. Search online for a club near you.