Extreme sports and the meaning behind risk-taking

Lately I've been getting into extreme sports – vicariously, that is. Not in real life.

So, I found a video on Youtube about a mountain bike race called Megavalanche. And well, just look it up – in the start it is dozens of people simultaneously riding down (and a lot of them falling) a snowy slope, only god knows how fast.

While that is absolutely nuts, at the same time I thought it was absolutely amazing. While I've only cycled on steady roads, I could easily emphasize with riding down high speed with nothing covering you against the wind. It was quite captivating to watch and I was glued all the way to the end.

However, believe it or not, I found something else that leaves the previous seem like a bunch of kids playing in a sandbox: Alex Honnold who "free-soloed" an over 900 meter (3000 feet) tall cliff, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, meaning, climbed with no safety equipment. This whole year-long effort, starting from the preparations, was made into a documentary and the video below shows some of the process that went into it, like the consideration whether making such documentary is even ethical.

The documentary itself isn't on Youtube but purchasable on other platforms and rolling in cinemas right now. I might have to check it out, mind me being broke. Anyway, probably right after the documentary, that clip shows some of the best, literally palm sweating footage of the climb.

^{Words can hardly describe the level of his feat really.}

Now, a lot of people think this is madness – "what's the difference to make it with safety rope?" – but you know what, I get it.

You could say it is stupid to expose yourself to such risk, however, if you want to live a risk free life, you might as well stop flying on a plane, stop driving a car (which is actually more dangerous than planes), you might as well stop stepping outside your door to mitigate the risk of getting struck by a lightning out of a clear sky. Might as well stop eating, because the food is full of toxins.

Point is, there are risks with everything when you are trying to reach your limits and push your boundaries further, and this doesn't only concern extreme sports; start learning a new language, and you risk being ridiculed when you accidentally say something wrong; or go ask your crush out, and you risk getting rejected.

These risks are obviously much less than an actual death from just a single mistake, as was in Alex' case when he made the climb. However, what Alex did was the culmination of his whole life to this one point that he had dreamed and prepared for years: he practiced the El Capitan so extensively (with a rope) that he could memorize every single step from his memory like a choreography. He was (still is of course) an expert in his profession, knew the risks and made everything he could to successfully execute it.

"But still, why did he have to do it though?"

To feel alive, to have a feeling of accomplishment, whatever that is that drives us forward – sometimes there are just things you know you just "have to" do.

This all reminds me of the cycle through Norway that I had thought of wanting to make already before when I cycled in Finland last year. Though I might have to delay that because life, but it's certainly one of those things that I just want to do.