At this point I think Niranjan is posting just to get a reaction. He wants a solid dictionary definition for something that exists to defy definition and to give people a sense of freedom. By trying to tie it down in the way he is it is like trying to turn adventure sports into any other highly codified sports that are played on pitches and courts. Competition exists in these sports... but the sports exist without competition. Sports like Tennis, Soccer, Track athletics etc all exist for competition to be better then someone else. Adventure sports tend to be about the adventure... the competition in general is with yourself.
If you really believe what you are typing Niranjan I think you need to sit down and reappraise things. All sports no matter what contain risks, when you participate in these sports as an adult you accept the risk. Ultra marathons are not without risk as you think. In some respects I do not see the risks too different from mountain biking. The speeds are slower but you are in the same terrin, you risk falling when running on rough terrain, a fall could mean anything from a simple graze, to a twisted ankle, to a broken bone or worse. If you think these risks don't exist when you do any sport then you are deluding yourself.
I could go on, but hopefully you get the picture. No sport is without risk. I don't mean to scare you, but you seem to have blinkers on that Ultra endurance running is without risk and other sports have heavy danger. If you do any sport you should be aware of the risks and what you can do to reduce them. No sport is 100% safe. NONE!!!
While I appreciate your comment on the prose, I'm a bit disappointed by your comment on the content. I'll let it go, but when I read a comment like this against what I actually described in my original reply, it reminds me of why I very rarely enter into forum debates and discussions. Online debates just aren't my cup of tea.
The point wasn't to compare how I run downhill with anyone else. Since that door is opened though, some walk technical downhill terrain in ultras and seem to delicately choose each landing spot. I'm a fairly fast descender, running technical parts aggressively and making gains in the field on the downs (to make up for getting passed on the climbs). Others are even faster and dance across boulders at a pace I can't sustain or risk level that I won't tolerate. The point is that when I run an aggressive mountain descent it creates a feeling in me that is dramatic, uncertain, and exhilarating -- and that's what adventure is to me . Others may get that walking a hiking trail -- some may not even experience it hammering a tricky 1,000 meter trail descent in first place. The drama and overall sense of adventure is indeed personal and that's what I love about it.
Things that are irrelevant to my passion and enjoyment of adventure sport: definitions, society, authorities, and sports bodies. I don't even care what it's called or if there's even a formal competition involved -- I just love being out there and doing it. That said, I'm not knocking you for searching for definitions or classifications if it's important to you. I just can't relate as I believe we have completely different paradigms on the topic.
As I said in one of my earlier posts; Tandem paragliding, for me, was quite an adventure. For more active sports people it may be considered quite tame.
If you challenge your own personal barriers, that can be an adventure.
For anyone that wants to see some extreme sports action live in Zurich freestyle.ch is on this weekend.
They build a huge snow ramp, freestyle motoX ramp, and a half pipe and have competitions in Skiing, Snowboarding, Skateboard and freestyle MotoX with some of the best athletes in the world all weekend.
For me, adventure sports are different from traditional sports such as rugby, football and tennis in so much as the location has to be the great outdoors and you are there in it, part of it:-
Taking in the views
Breathing in the air
Feeling hot
Feeling cold
Feeling exhilarated
Sometimes feeling scared
Sometimes feeling a fantastic sense of calmness or wellbeing
Feeling that you couldn't take another step or turn the pedals one more revolution. Knowing that you have to.
For me it's that 'good to be alive feeling' that you just don't get anywhere else.
Indoor climbing walls aren't it - climbing rock, ice or mixed is.
Running around the neighbourhood isn't it - running trails in the mountains is.
If you really believe in what you write, i.e. ultra-running and wingsuit jumping are even remotely comparable, fall in the same category of risk-benefit ratio
Surely you don't believe I can be that naive, do you? I mean, my choice of the first race this season, Zugspitze Extremeberglauf, which had two deaths last year and arguably the most infamous race in Germany, surely I wouldn't be able to participate without reading the website
Of course, every lay person would also know anything in excess can injure, that includes ultra-running; for that matter even extreme laying on the bed can cause bed sores.
What one needs to understand, and that is where I expect specialists in the field to speak up, is the risk vs benefits while choosing a sport. Given the varying terrain, "trail" ultra-running does not cause much RSI as does say an asphalt half marathon or typing on the keyboard 8 hours a day. Given the numerous health benefits, I believe it is worth the risks. Same goes for other saner sports like MTBing and biking and swimming and whatever. Why do you think the mean age of ultra-running participants is 40+ years, so many people run and bike in the Alps well into their 50s and 60s?
But anyway this thread has become too unweildy, I take my part of the blame for some provocative words etc; sorry it didn't turn out as useful or clear as I intended it to be but some people have given useful views on what constitutes adventure.
With this I am exiting this thread. Looking forward to the next big debate