Extreme Sports

2010 is already a great year for sporting events with Scotland, England, Wales, Italy, France and Ireland battling it out in the Six Nations Rugby as well as the Winter Olympics having just kicked off in Vancouver. However there is a whole host of other events to look forward to this year with the main event for most going to be the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Here are the most prestigious events taking place in 2010.
Six Nations Rugby: February 6th – March 26th
Attracts millions of viewers, like the world cup it draws in many people who wouldn’t normally watch rugby. Each team plays each other once, if they win they are awarded two points, a draw gets them one point and zilch for losing. The winner is simplicity the one with the most number of points. Taking place in Paris’s Stade de France, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Dublin’s Croke Park, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield and in London’s Twickenham. These locations offer an impressive setting to take clients; they will certainly remember the hospitality given to them.
Vancouver Winter Olympics: February 12th – 28th
Figure Skating, bobsleigh, Ice Hockey and Snowboarding will be the highlights among the 86 sporting events taking place. Tickets are still available if you would like to see the events live, the major events will be televised for the rest of the world.
The Grand National: April 8th – 10th
A huge attraction in the UK, the Grand National is one of the most famous steeplechases in the world today. The event will attract around 600 million viewers every year. The four-and-a-half miles are a thrilling watch with jumps, tumbles and then a sprint to the finish line. It a thrilling and unique event and would certainly stay with a client should you organise a hospitality package for them at the event.
UEFA Champions League Final: May 22nd
No one knows which of the 76 teams will be battling it out in the final showdown in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium however it will certainly be one to watch and an event to warm up to before the World Cup.
These are the major sporting events taking place at the beginning of 2010 with corporate hospitality packages being offered from organisers such as the hospitality group, THG . 2010 is a great year to take clients to an event they are going to remember.

Snow skiing is one of the most popular winter sports in the world. Millions of people hit the slopes every year for fresh air and fun, and a large percentage of them are beginners. This is a fun sport, but it is equipment-oriented. Without the proper ski gear it can be frustrating, discouraging, and even dangerous.

This article will help guide you in selecting the best equipment for your level and style of skiing. Skis are the single most important piece of ski equipment. Choosing the right pair of skis will help you get the most enjoyment out of your skiing time.

Your Skill Level

The most important factor in choosing a pair of skis is your skiing ability. Beginners and intermediate level skiers need skis that can be easily maneuvered, while experts require more specialized skis. When choosing a pair of skis, the variables include materials, type, length, shape, and stiffness.

Materials Used In Skis

Skis were originally made of wood, but very little wood is used in modern skis. The most common materials used today are aluminum and fiberglass. Other more exotic materials like Kevlar, carbon, titanium, and boron fibers are also used.

Skis are frequently made from a variety of materials to provide various degrees of flexibility and strength in the different sections of the ski. The core of the ski can be made of foam, wood or some other material. The tops and sides are usually made of aluminum and fiberglass. The base of the ski is a synthetic polyethylene, with edges of steel.

Type Of Skiing  Read more...

Like most sports, the best way to learn to surf is to do it. Learning to surf is a fantastic way to have a lot of fun, learn something new and get in some great exercise. Undoubtedly one of the best places in the world to learn to surf is Australia. The surf culture is so deeply rooted in Australia that coupled with the extensive coastline means that practically anywhere you go in Australia you will be able to find a good cheap surf school to get you through the basics and to the fun part within a few hours.

Now is the time you have been waiting for, jumping up and riding on the surf board. Buying a Surf board: Your first board can really be the breaking point when it comes to whether you will pick up the sport or quit in frustration, many of us see the pros riding on their slick 6ft short boards slamming the lip and making it look like not only a hell of a lot of fun but also a real easy thing to do. It isn’t, Taj Burrows the current world number 2 surfer claimed that surfing was without a doubt the most difficult sport to progress in period. Unless you choose the right equipment to match your level you are just adding to the difficulty. Your first surfboard should be a big buoyant soft-top fun board. Reasons, well first they are very stable so standing up will be possible within one or two attempts, they are soft so you won’t slash open your flesh with the fin, or crack open your skull on the first wipeout, they are cheap and lastly they are very easy to paddle and generate speed on, which is one of the most fundamentally important part to surfing!  Read more...

Surfing History:

During Captain Cook’s third expedition to the Pacific on his trusty ships the HMS Discovery and the Resolution, he made the first European visit to the tropical islands of Hawaii. During his second trip to Hawaii one of his ships were stolen by the local Polynesians. He made an unsuccessful attempt at kidnapping one of the high chiefs in order to force the return of his boat and was killed by the tribe.

Lieutenant James King was then put in charge of the Discovery and was given the responsibility of finishing James Cook’s journal entries. It was during a return voyage to Hawaii that James king wrote two full pages describing the Hawaiian’s honored pastime of wave surfing:

But a diversion the most common is upon the Water, where there is a very great Sea, and surf breaking on the Shore. The Men sometimes 20 or 30 go without the Swell of the Surf, & lay themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about their Size and breadth, they keep their legs close on top of it, & their Arms are us’d to guide the plank, thye wait the time of the greatest Swell that sets on Shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top, it sends them in with a most astonishing Velocity, & the great art is to guide the plan so as always to keep it in a proper direction on the top of the Swell, & as it alters its direct. If the Swell drives him close to the rocks before he is overtaken by its break, he is much prais’d.

Thus the world slowly began to learn about what would soon become one of the most popular and most widely practiced sports in the world.  Read more...

While Poker has the WSOP, surfing has its own prestigious ongoing tournament called the ASP. Poker has dozens of seasoned pros that continue to dominate tournaments such as Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chang, David Pham and Juan Carlos Mortensen while surfing boasts its own slew of living legends that continue to dominate surf contests such as Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning. Getting to these tournaments for anybody is no easy feat and the competition for the contestants is always fierce. Part II will explore the similarities of these tournaments and the various strategies these gladiators must undertake in order to be true champions.

ASP

The Association of Surfing Professionals, most commonly referred to as the ASP, is widely regarded as the most prestigious surfing circuit in the world. Although many of the surf contests run by the ASP end up being battled out in sloppy three foot waves, they also score some of the most perfect and challenging waves in the world. When the conditions all come together spectators are given the treat of watching the absolute best surfers on the planet battle it out in some of the most incredible and dangerous waves the ocean has to offer.

The ASP began its road to creation in 1960s when structured competitions in surfing were just barely making their mark on the surfing world. During this decade surfers were competing purely because they were crazy about the sport and wanted to prove themselves to their peers. There were no sponsors and most definitely no surfing industry. In the early 1970s more and more structured competitions with monetary compensation began to emerge, and by the mid-1970s events started popping up all over the world. The loose agglomeration of tournaments was strung together in 1976 in what proved to be the embryonic stages of the ASP, and the rest is just history.  Read more...