Extreme Sports Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bungee jumping

The elasticised rope, or bungee, has to be carefully adjusted to stop you before you hit the ground, and make you bounce back up in the air. The jump is usually made from a fixed object, such as a bridge or a crane, but sometimes it is done from a moving object, such as a hot air balloon. Bungee jumping was developed as a sport in the 1980s, inspired by the vine jumping practiced in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu.

Answer: Hang gliding

Early models of hang gliders could only be launched from a hilltop, and glide fairly rapidly down to earth. The development of new construction materials means that modern hang gliders, if they are skilled in finding updrafts called thermals, can glide for several hours at a time, and travel for hundreds of kilometres. Getting home again is the next challenge.

Answer: Rock climbing

Rock climbing was once considered a type of mountaineering, used to get past steep places; now it is considered a sport in its own right. The climber uses hands and feet, and sometimes also pieces of equipment to make the task easier. It is made safer if one wears a harness that is attached by a rope to a secure point.

Answer: Skydiving

Skydivers often perform stunts during an initial period of free fall, before they open the parachute and make sure that their speed on landing is slow enough to be safe. Competitive skydiving may involve trying to land exactly on a small target area, or having a group create a certain series of formations as they fall.

Answer: Zorbing

A zorb is usually made of two plastic balls with an air cushion in between them, large enough for the rider to stand up inside. This protects the rider a bit from the shock of hitting the ground as they roll downhill. Depending on the design of the zorb, it may hold one, two or three riders at a time.

Answer: Freediving

Freedivers have to be very good at holding their breath! Traditional pearl divers had to do it for a living, but modern sports participants do it for the challenge. Sometimes freediving is combined with sports that are traditionally land-based, leading to games of underwater hockey, or various forms of underwater football. Competitive apnea is a form of freediving that involves trying to swim the longest distance, or reach the greatest depth, on a single breath.

Answer: White water rafting

In the places where the water of a river is moving very fast, and often around submerged rock obstacles, the water produces a white foam, so it is called white water. Riding a rubber raft through this water is much more difficult than just gliding downstream. Commercial white water rafting companies do not use the most dangerous stretches, and they make sure that all passengers are wearing life vests in case the raft capsizes.

Answer: BASE jumping

The word BASE is an acronym that summarises the four kinds of place from which a BASE jumper might jump: Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges) and Earth (cliff). Because the jump starts much closer to the ground than is the case when parachuting from an airplane, it is much more dangerous, as the parachute has less time to open and operate to slow the fall.

Answer: BMX

Bicycle motocross (BMX) was developed when bike riders used the tracks that had been developed for motocross, an offroad motorcycle competition. Special bicycles, called BMX bikes, were developed for use in the competitions. Races usually go for a single lap around a track with hills, jumps and snakelike curves to challenge riders as they try to control their bike at maximum speed.

Answer: Slacklining

Slacklining is a bit like tightrope walking, but the material that is stretched across the gap to be crossed is much more stretchy, and hangs loosely. This means that walking across it feels almost like walking on a trampoline, but without the broad expanse of a trampoline to catch you if you fall.