We are all accustomed to competitions stringent safety rules ensure that injuries – at least life-threatening ones – are kept out of bay; with players heavily padded and spectators fenced off. Even combat sports rarely result in more than some scratches and a nosebleed.
But some people are so testosterone craved, and lacking tons of brain cells that they are actually configuring extremely dangerous games with violence and potential death. These entries aren’t just some stunts that one guy did – they’re actual competitions, mostly annual, which people continue to participate in despite the insane amount of danger involved.
Here are the 15 most extreme danger sports from around the world.
15| Vertical Blue
Vertical Blue draws the best free divers in the world to a serene, clear blue underwater cavern in the Bahamas. One by one, the divers descend down a rope that extends more than 600 feet (182.9 meters) below. They have to fight against the impulse to breath, they risk blacking out under the strain, and they even have to be prodded to inhale and exhale once they return to the surface — such is the state of delirium they find themselves in once they’re again in their natural environment.
14| The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling Competition
Hundreds of people travel to Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, England, to watch grown men throw themselves down a hill after a giant wheel of cheese. The idea is to catch the cheese before it reaches the bottom of the hill, but it’s nearly impossible since the cheese rolls at up to 70mph. The hill itself is too steep to run down, so the end result is a few dozen people sliding, rolling, and tumbling all the way to the bottom.
13| Chess Boxing
Competitors box then play chess in alternating rounds, beginning with a four-minute chess round. Contests can win by a knockout in the ring or on the board (checkmate). If a competitor fails to move a chess piece in the allotted time, he is disqualified.
12| Baby Jumping
This event occurs every year in Castrillo de Murcia, a tiny village in Spain. Newborn babies – 5 or 6 in a group – are lined up on mattresses in the middle of the street while men dressed as devils jump over them. It’s an integral part of the festivities held during the annual Corpus Christi feast, and the event is seen as a cleansing ritual.
11| Extreme Ironing
Extreme Ironing – or EI as it’s known in the industry, is not just thought of as a kooky sport, but as a performance art. The website sums it up as “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.” Competitors have taken their laundry on speed bikes, atop mountains whilst abseiling, on white water rafts, or done whilst break dancing. A new record was set in March 2008 when a team of 72 divers simultaneously ironed underwater.
10| Pelota Purepecha
What was essentially field hockey for pyromananiacs, this ancient mesoamerican game used a flaming puck. Recenlty, it has actually started making a comeback as the Mexican government is pushing to revive its ancient past times.
9| Wife Carrying
For whatever reason, the Finnish decided to invent a sport that involves men racing through an obstacle track, whilst carrying their wives on their backs. And the lucky winner wins his wife’s weight in beer. But it’s not as easy as hulking your loved one over your shoulder and speeding off – several types of carry are practiced: piggyback, fireman’s lift, or Estonian-style, where the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders.
8| The Chile Bike Race
This annual downhill bike race involves a madcap full-speed descent through the streets of Valparaiso, Chile. Riders must navigate tight turns, 15 foot drops, flights of stairs, and all the inherent dangers that come from putting a race track right in the middle of a populated city. According to one rider, “…we are basically going into the jumps blind since they probably won’t even test them until [the day of the race].”
7| Freestyle Alligator Wrestling Competition
Alligator wrestling is arguably the manliest activity ever invented. Participants jump into a pool of water and go head to head with a wild alligator for 10 minutes, with the goal being to wrestle the gator out of the water. Bonus points are available for any stunts the participant wants to perform with the wild alligator.
6| The Basant Kite Flying Festival
The Basant festival, traditionally held annually in early February, is a Sufi tradition in northwestern Pakistan and the world’s largest kite festival. And it is not whimsical fun as it might sound. The kite strings are usually coated with powdered glass or strands of razor wire, and people compete to cut the strings of other kites.
The problem is that it’s not only string they’re cutting – low flying kites are responsible for so many deaths each year that the Pakistani government has repeatedly tried to enforce a ban on the festival. In 2009 alone eleven people were killed. Bikers face the greatest danger, although the metal kite strings also commonly slice through power lines, electrocuting the kite holder.
5| Shockfighting
MMA is probably one of the most injury-filled “normal” sports around. The sport pits two fighters against each other in a boxing ring, with the slight variant that each fighters’ gloves contain a high voltage stun gun. In other words, they’re punching each other with 3,000,000 volt shock tasers. shockfighting is “banned in all 50 states and the rest of the civilized world.” as per the also blocked website.
4| The Green River Narrows Kayak Race
White water kayaking can in general be pretty dangerous. The Green River Narrows, class V, is referred to as a “steep creek” section of the Green River near Asheville, NC, United States. Over a distance of about half a mile the river drops about 250 feet (76 meters )in elevation, providing plenty of rapids along the way, including the famous “Gorilla,” an 18 foot (5.5 meters) waterfall immediately followed by another 10 foot (3 meters) fall that is responsible for most of the deaths in the race.
3| The World Sauna Championship
First introduced in 1999, the World Sauna Championship takes place in Heinola, Finland, and involves sitting in a sauna in tremendous heat, with the winner being the last person who can walk unassisted out of the room. The temperature starts at 230 fahrenheit (110 C degrees ), and participants often suffer third degree burns and dehydration.
2| The Angola Prison Rodeo
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a 5,000 inmate capacity prison sprawls across 18,000 acres and is historically the home to some of the most violent prisoners in the United States. And it is home to an inmate rodeo. The highlight of the show is Convict Poker: Four inmates are placed around a poker table in the center of the arena. The last person sitting at the table is the winner, while an enraged bull attacking them the entire time. Other notable events include bull riding, Guts & Glory (in which inmates try to grab a poker chip off a raging bull), and Wild Cow Milking (you can probably figure that one out).
1| The World Base Race
In 2008, Paul Fortun took this extreme sport and turned it into a biannual race. Twice a year, the World BASE Race sees participants leap head first off a 1,300 meter (4265 ft) high platform in a head to head battle to see who can reach the ground first.
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