Extreme Surfing Cultures

Surfing has been around for centuries but lately the sport has been grouped with a collection of sports called extreme sports. James Cook, the explorer who found the Hawaiian Islands, noted in his journal in 1779 that he saw men swimming in the surf and using boards to make it to the beach.

What he witnesses was the sport of surfing. Known as the sport of kings it did not become listed with extreme sports until the late nineties.

As it was in the 1960's surfers have their own distinct fashion and culture. The extreme sports crowd has adopted this pseudo life style as their own and has included surfing into the ranks of snowboarding, bungee jumping, and base diving.

Surfing has been revolutionized in the last forty years. The old long boards are still used, but the younger, hipper surfer has a shorter board in which they can make sharper cuts and do more tricks while surfing.

Surfing would not be include in extreme sports if the old long board riders were still around their tricks of walking up and down the board and hanging ten would not be of the caliber of most extreme sports enthusiast's liking. The long boards are good for long, controlled rides but the shorter boards are for speed and maneuverings

The surfing culture and the extreme cultures are beginning to blend as one. Long hair is coming back and it seems that fashion is also a thing that is in common. Extreme sports gear and clothing is beginning to look like the surf clothing of the eighties. There are even sports clothing stores that carry both extreme sports clothing and surf clothing. To the naked eye a person would think that the clothes were the same, but it is the label or brand name that discerns the two fashion choices.

With the advent of extreme sports surfing and other board sports such as snowboarding, and wake boarding are become popular for a whole new generation. Surf contests have increased by 12% in the past five years. Advertisement revenue has increased almost 37%.

There is money in extreme sports and surfing is adding to the pot. National networks are airing surfing contests and specialty networks like the Extreme sports channel showcase surfing and skateboarding at there two most popular attractions. It seems by putting the word 'extreme' onto a sports name, it instantly increases the fan base.

You did not surf unless you lived on a beach until recently. Surf shops and apparel are now seen in inland malls and shopping centers. Name brands such as Hurley and Sunsplashed can be bought in states as land locked as Colorado or Kansas.

Water parks are adding surfing pools that will create up to six foot waves. Inland surfers have even begun to surf on the rapids of rivers. Surfing is popular rather you considerate an extreme sport or not. The surfing culture has drifted into the extreme sports culture or vise versa. The new extreme sports culture has adopted surfing and now it is a sport that is apart of a bigger entity.

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Author: Peter Charalambos


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