Adventure Sport, why do we do it?

After my first paddle through the Rock Gardens of the Waimakiriri I was asked why people commit to events like the Coast to Coast.  I answered badly at the time, and have since organised my thoughts.  There are an infinite number of reasons why, but hopefully some of these will feel familiar.
 
Environment
There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.  Sir Rannulph Fiennes
A key difference between adventure sport and traditional sports is where the action happens. For the purpose of consistency and equity, almost all the Olympic sports are conducted within the strictly defined and controlled locations of field, track or stadium. Whereas events like the Coast to Coast occur in a largely unmodified and uncontrolled natural environment. This shifts the focus from reading other human opponents to understanding the nature of natural forces. This can profoundly affect our understanding of the relationship between ourselves and the environment. As elite climber David Dornian puts it, ‘Terrain is the truest adversary of all, and in the end of everything it’s the terrain that’s still standing, unbeaten.’ Often it’s not a case of conquering the environment by share force, but learning its features to facilitate our passage. To move at speed through the difficult terrain, one must understand the terrain.
 
Experience
The only source of knowledge is experience. Albert Einstein
For the adventure athlete it’s not enough to simply look at the landscape.  The full experience can only be had by moving through the landscape.  Feeling with your hands, feet and skin. The slipperiness of rocks underwater, dryness of the air at altitude, the rain, sun, wind, heat, cold.  The landscape is viewed differently when the interaction is accentuated by strenuous effort, and more intensely lived when a little blood is added to the sweat. There is a vivid recollection of the stream crossing where cramp set in, and the crystal clear relief of the check-point at Goat Pass. No camera is needed, or able, to create such high definition memories.
 
Flow
Not to sound too deep or weird, but I think that the times when you really appreciate surfing are the times you're really sort of becoming one with nature. Kelly Slater
A phycologist with a very long name, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, has been studying the phenomena of flow or ‘being in the zone’ for a very long time, decades in fact. He describes it as an intense focus on the present moment, action and awareness become one, there is a complete absence of self-consciousness, and you have total control over the situation.  One’s sense of time is altered (hours become seconds or seconds stretch for an eternity) and the experience itself is intrinsically rewarding. Flow occurs when the task at hand is entirely engrossing and the athlete has sufficient skills and confidence to succeed in the task. Flow is the payoff for all those hours or training and rising to the challenge with focus and commitment. There are no problems when you are in the flow, nothing else matters, it is truly living in the moment and as near as you can come to the secular spiritual experience.
 
Challenge
If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space. Anonymous
Recent research indicates that the idea of risk as a motivating factor for participation in adventure sport is overstated.  Yes there are ‘adrenaline junkies’, but they don’t have a ‘death wish’. More accurately, it is the management of risk, knowing the limits, and being prepared to succeed in challenging circumstances, that drives most adventure athletes. We accept fear as part of the equation, and through proper planning and preparation (thank you My Gurney) of skills, fitness and equipment, the risks and associated fears are overcome. Knowing your limits, and then extending your limits to new levels, that’s where the accomplishment lies.
 
Connection
Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than people who are most content. Bob Dylan in Brownsville Girl
Normally it takes years to really get to know someone, but running together through rivers and over mountains appears to have the same affect in hours.  Perhaps it’s the shared experience of hours of training, committing time and money, and being ribbed by friends and family that creates a shared bond. There is no question that adventure sporters are a tribe, recognised by kayak cradles and bike racks. If you see a JKK atop a Subaru at the supermarket, then you go and say ‘hi’, it’s a rule.  If you have paid your dues - crossing the Southern Alps will do it - then you belong. And it’s a pretty special club.
 
Identity
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. Vince Lombardi
The skills required to successfully negotiate such environments create a form a respect among participants and supporters referred to by sports psychologists as ‘embodied capital’. It’s not material capital like a Ferrari, nor is it cultural capital like speaking five languages, but it’s real and takes just as much work to attain.  Perfecting a kayak roll, or mastering a black run at Redwoods, contributes to your sense of self-worth. It gives you the confidence to ask someone out or present your ideas at a business meeting. Adventure sport separates you from the couch-crowd, and is an integral part of who you are.
 
Existentialism
What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger Friedrich Nietzsche
We can’t always trust Nietzsche, sometimes what doesn’t kill you will leave you pretty badly damaged. But there are some existentialist ideas that adventure sporters seem to be intuitively living by. First, that pain is necessary for transformation and should be embraced. Second, that we should liberate ourselves from the safety conscious conformity of modern society. Third, that courage, strength and audacity are needed to free ourselves from being one of the herd. Fourth, to live authentically we must dance with life, play and create as children.  So next time you find yourself upside down in rapids, you’re not being crazy, you’re being existentialist.