HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED…?

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED…?

Zorbing

Zorbing - or sphereing - started in New Zealand in the mid-1990s. What’s it like? It’s like bungee jumping, it’s like floating, it’s like going on a roller coaster, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever done before! Imagine being inside a giant bouncy beach ball rolling down a steep hill at up to 50 km an hour. Two people are strapped into the two-metre sphere and pushed over the top of a hill. ‘I didn’t have a clue what was going on,’ says someone who has tried it. ‘I saw colours whizzing by – blue sky, green grass, blue sky, green grass - and I could hear myself laughing uncontrollably.’ Have you ever wondered what it’s like inside a washing machine? Well, try Hydro-Sphereing, where one person rolls down the hill in a sphere containing 30 litres of water!

Free running

This new sport – free running through the city, climbing walls, crossing roofs and jumping from building to building – started in Paris. It has become well known in Britain through the BBC advertising film called Rush Hour. Free-runner Paul Clifford says, ‘I’ve never tried anything like it before. It’s not about exercise – it’s about finding new ways to do things and new ways of looking at life’.

Kite surfing

Kite surfing started in France in the 1980s and has recently become very popular worldwide. You use a small surfboard and a large kite on 30-metre lines. The kite pulls you through the water and you can steer with the lines. You can just speed through the water, or you can do jumps as high as a house. Kirsty Jones, Women’s UK Kite Surfing Champion, took up the sport in 2001. ‘ I’ve never enjoyed myself so much,’ says Kirsty. ‘It’s much more fun than water-skiing behind a boat.’

Para skiing

Have you ever wanted to ski off a mountain and fly? If you like skiing and paragliding, then this is the sport for you, because it combines skiing and flying! The way to do it is to ski straight down the hill with the parachute wing behind you. Then let the parachute come up in the air behind you and whoosh! Suddenly you’re flying.