Welcome to Maxx Sports Guides
Skydiving Parachute Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Parachute Games and Sports Range from the Innocent to the Extreme
from: Maxx Sports GuidesParachutes are still used for military purposes, but civilians are increasingly using them for recreation -- primarily extreme sports and children's games.
Extreme sports provide thrills for adrenaline junkies and the curious who have enough guts to try them.
However, there are different variations of parachute sports and games today. Parachute sports are also included in the Olympics, with many events being held for enthusiasts and competitors.
Parachutes are also included in X games, an event that hosts extreme sports, including skateboarding and snowboarding.
Parachute Games: Mild to Extreme
Different variations of parachute games have been designed for children. These games usually foster cooperation rather than competition. They include: parashuffle, paraswap, parasight, paraseek, paraball, lucky 7, round the plughole, and shoe shuffle.
Adults tend to take their sports to a more extreme level. People often engage in extreme sports for excitement; they also like to do something different than their usual daily routine.
Many sites are available to engage in parachute sports. Resorts offer parasailing. You can also join skydiving clubs and take training. You can choose to make tandem jumps or take a skydiving course.
Safe and milder forms of parachute sports are paragliding and parasailing. The former is a competitive sport, the latter is recreational.
A paraglider is a free flying type of aircraft used in paragliding. A person positions himself horizontally on a metal bar below a swept-back wing, launches the device by foot from a high cliff and glides smoothly and silently through the air before landing.
Paragliding involves some degree of risk but it's not as dangerous as some other extreme sports.
In parasailing a person is towed behind a boat while attached to a parasail. This device resembles a parachute, but has a thick air-filled cover bent in a gentle concave shape.
A variation of an extreme sport is speed skydiving. Unlike the conventional method, speed skydiving entails a skydiver jumping from an aircraft at 13,000 feet above the ground.
The skydiver accelerates vertically in a head first position into a predetermined measuring zone, which starts from 8,850 feet up to 5,570 feet. Altimeters are attached to participants during their jump to measure their average speed as they go through the measuring zone.
Skysurfing, as the name suggests, uses a board similar to a snowboard. The board is attached to the skydiver's feet, and enables him or her to do different stunts. Skydivers can land with the board still on their feet and slide on the ground. Or, the skydiver can kick the board off before landing.
Skysurfing can be very dangerous and only experienced skydivers should engage in such a sport.
BASE Jumping Dangerous
BASE jumping involves jumping off of fixed objects. BASE is an acronym for Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs).
This is highly dangerous because if the parachute isn't deployed at the right moment the jumper will die. Base jumpers need to have sharp reflexes because they don't have enough altitude to free fall. They need to deploy their parachutes at the right moment. If their parachute opens too late, this may lead to a bad landing that can cause grave injuries.
Base jumpers should also be skilled in parachute packing. They need to make sure that their parachute will deploy correctly and control their canopies for a harmless landing.
Parachute sports can be exciting but they do involve an element of risk. If you're interested it's best to apply for a skydiving course and learn the basics.
Skydiving Parachute News