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4 • Touchline • Issue 16
xtreme sports continue to ratchet up in popularity
around the world, but New Zealand has always
been at their forefront. Whether you wish to
plunge, fall, bounce or spurt, New Zealand will find
a way to make your eyeballs pop and your adrenaline spike.
There are a few reasons why New Zealand is the hub of world
extreme sports. The climate is temperate so you can actually
be outside without fear of death by freezing, yet it is cold
enough that there is access to the ice and snow that facilitate
going fast.
The country is not densely populated, meaning that you can get
away from urban centres easily, and out into the countryside.
For this is the primary reason for New Zealand’s extreme sport
culture. This Pacific island group seems to have been allotted
an unfair amount of beauty, as sweeping mountains give way
to lush and secret valleys. Lying on the edge of a tectonic plate
might have the disadvantage of leading to the odd earthquake,
but the pay off is ever growing mountains and thermal springs.
Then there is the X factor, which is the New Zealand character.
Normally a friendly and laid back sort, some fire lights behind
a Kiwi’s eye when presented with a steep drop or boiling rapid.
Perhaps it is the Maori heritage, or maybe the pioneer spirit
of the white settlers: but there is something wild in the New
Zealand soul, something which compels them to push the
boundaries.
E
BY TIMOTHY MOTTRAM
Zorbing
NEWZEALAND:
THE HOME OF
EXTREME
SPORTS