The use of parachutes for military purposes has been long gone. Although the military can still use it for their own tactics, they are popularly known for extreme sports and children’s games. The use of parachutes has changed along its development. They can now be used by ordinary civilians for recreation.
Most of the time, they are used in extreme sports. A thrill opted for adrenaline junkies and curious people who have enough guts. Sky diving is not the extreme sport. There are different variations of parachute sports and games nowadays.
Parachute sports are also included in the Olympics. There are many events held for enthusiasts and competitors. They are also included in X games, an event that hosts extreme sports including skateboarding and snowboarding.
Parachute games, from mild to extreme
There are many parachute games for children. Different variations have been made and usually involve children that foster cooperation rather than competition. This includes parashuffle, paraswap, parasight, paraseek, paraball, lucky 7, round the plughole, and shoe shuffle.
Adults tend to take things into a more extreme level. People often engage in extreme sports for excitement and to be able do something different than the usual routine of everyday living. There are many sites to engage in parachute sports. Resorts offer parasailing. There are also skydiving clubs that you can join to undergo training. You can choose to make tandem jumps or get a skydiving course.
Safe and milder forms of parachute sports are paragliding and parasailing. The first one is a competitive sport while the latter is recreational. A paraglider is a free flying type of aircraft that is launched by foot. Parasailing is wherein a person is towed behind a boat while being attached to a parasail. Paragliding does involve some degree of risk but not as dangerous as the following sports.
An extreme sport variant is the speed skydiving. Unlike the conventional method these one entails a skydiver to jump from an aircraft 13,000 feet above ground. The skydiver accelerates vertically in a head first position into a predetermined measuring zone. The measuring zone begins 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 on the other hand, as the name suggest uses a board similar to that of a snowboard. The board, which is attached to the skydiver’s feet, enables him or her to do different stunts. Skydivers can land while the board are still on and slide on the ground or kick it off before landing. Skysuring can be very dangerous and only experienced skydivers engage in such sport.
BASE (Buildings, Antennas, Spans [bridges], and Earth [cliffs]) jumping involves jumping off of fixed objects. This is very dangerous because if the parachute is not 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 because if it’s too late may lead to a bad landing that can cause grave injuries. They should also be skilled in parachute packing to make sure that it will deploy correctly and in controlling their canopies for a harmless landing.
Parachute sports can be exciting but it does involve a lot of risk. If you are interested it’s best to start with the basic and apply for a skydiving course.
