Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overlaps with extreme sport. The two share the same main attraction, "adrenaline rush" caused by an element of risk, and differ mostly in the degree of engagement and professionalism.
Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with any sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Some board sports were marginalized in the past. However, many board sports are gaining mainstream recognition, and with this recognition, they have gotten wider broadcasting, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
Hood River County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,977. The county seat is Hood River. The county was established in 1908 and is named for the Hood River, a tributary of the Columbia River. Hood River County comprises the Hood River, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area. The Hood River Valley produces apples, pears, and cherries. Situated between Mount Hood and the Columbia River in the middle of the Columbia River Gorge, Hood River County is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, such as windsurfers, mountain-bikers, skiers, hikers, kayakers, and many more.
Hood River is a city and the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in Oregon where public consumption of alcohol on sidewalks or parks is totally unrestricted.
Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.
In Australian English, a billabong is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake, caused by a change in course by a river channel; but other types of small lakes, ponds, or waterholes are also called billabongs. The term is likely a borrowing from Wiradjuri, an Aboriginal Australian language of New South Wales.
Robert Kelly Slater is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time, and holds 56 Championship Tour victories. He won the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year four-times. Slater is also the oldest surfer still active on the World Surf League, winning his 8th Billabong Pipeline Masters title at age 49.
Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which experienced surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves which are at least 20 feet high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. Sizes of the board needed to successfully surf these waves vary by the size of the wave as well as the technique the surfer uses to reach the wave. A larger, longer board allows a rider to paddle fast enough to catch the wave and has the advantage of being more stable, but it also limits maneuverability and surfing speed.
Billabong International Limited is an Australian company focused on surfing, primarily a clothing retailer that also produces accessories, such as watches and backpacks, and skateboard and snowboard products under other brand names. Founded in 1973 by Gordon and Rena Merchant, the company first traded on the Australian Securities Exchange in August 2000. The name "billabong" is derived from the Wiradjuri word bilabaŋ that refers to a "creek that runs only during the rainy season". As of September 2013, Von Zipper and Element were two of the prominent brands that Billabong owns. Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel, Tigerlily, Sector 9, and RVCA were the company's other brands. In 2018, Billabong International Limited was acquired by Boardriders, Inc, owner of rival brand Quiksilver.
Patrick Shane Dorian, or "Shane", is an American surfer from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He spent 11 years touring on the World Championship Tour as a professional surfer. Dorian quit competition surfing in 2003 to focus on big waves. He is currently a big wave surfer and one of the best in the world at big wave riding.
Timberline Lodge ski area is the ski and snowboarding area of Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is one of a few ski areas in the United States with most of the skiable terrain below the main lodge. It is located on the south face of Mount Hood, about 60 miles (95 km) east of Portland, accessible via the Mount Hood Scenic Byway.
Nixon is an American watches, accessories and audio brand, founded in 1997 in Encinitas, California, United States. Focused on the youth lifestyle market. Currently sold in 80 countries worldwide, Nixon maintains stand-alone retail stores in Berkeley, California as well as Bondi & Melbourne, Australia and Kuta, Bali.
Teton Gravity Research (TGR) is an extreme sports media and apparel company based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The company was founded in 1996 by brothers Steve and Todd Jones, as well as friends Dirk Collins, Rick Armstrong, and Corey Gavitt. The group launched the company to create products that came from the perspective of athletes, showcased youth culture, and fostered the growth of high-risk action sports.
Northwave is a sporting equipment manufacturer founded in Montebelluna, Italy, by Gianni Piva and owned by the Piva family.
The Ski Channel was a Video On Demand Cable, Satellite and Telco television channel distributed on Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, Brighthouse Networks, Cablevision, RCN, AT&T U-Verse and Cox Communications. The technical term for a channel of this type is VODnet. It features mountain oriented sports, activity and lifestyle content and is devoted to year-round mountain activities such as skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, backpacking, climbing and other mountain sports. The channel launched on December 25, 2008. Tennis doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan are investors in the channel. It was founded by Steve Bellamy who also founded Tennis Channel.
Peter Line is an American professional snowboarder, snowboard industry entrepreneur, writer, photographer and designer. Line is regarded as one of the greatest influences in the history of snowboarding based on his broad contributions as a professional rider, industry entrepreneur, designer, and media contributor. Line is a six-time X Game medalist, one of few to gold medal in the Summer and Winter X Games, as well as a two-time US Open medalist and a World Snowboarding Championships gold medalist.
Eric Pollard is an American snow freeskier and film editor from Welches, Oregon, who lives in the Hood River region of Oregon. He was a professional skier for Line Skis for over 22 years and now designs skis and snowboards for Season. He has always challenged the status quo by innovating outerwear, accessories, and hard goods for FW Apparel, Anon Optics, Dakine, K2, Causwell, and Hest.
Adriano "Mineirinho" de Souza is a Brazilian professional surfer and also the 2015 WSL World Champion. He has been competing on the World Surf League Men's World Tour since 2005.
Hood River Valley is the river basin of Hood River in northern Oregon, U.S. It is bounded by the Columbia River to the north, Mount Hood to the south, the Cascade Range crest to the west and an apparently unnamed ridge system to the east which contains Hood River Mountain and Snyder Canyon. Mount Hood National Forest surrounds the Hood River Valley west, south, and east. It is entirely contained in Hood River County.
Ben Wilson is an Australian kitesurfer notable for holding the record for kitesurfing the largest wave ever captured on film; In 2011, Ben successfully kited Fiji’s most infamous wave, Cloudbreak at 35-foot. There have been many attempts by the next generation of kitesurfers including Nicolo Porcella and Jesse Richman to best this feat but as yet there has been no successful attempt.
