As a touch of information to those of you who are new to the thought of extreme sports: competing in an extreme sport isn’t about having a some kind of death wish or enjoying getting hurt, or even a desire to take crazy and outlandish chances. Extreme sports competition is all about challenging yourself to beat the odds, no matter what. It’s about achieving a level of focus and determination, which results in accomplishments you had previously doubted yourself capable of. Several sports “officially” qualify as adventure racing. We’ll take a look at some of them.

Many of these races can be quite long and involve training as rigorous as marathon or triathlon training and in fact many of the athletes cross-train in other sports. Adventure races often have an element where navigation is a stand-alone event, but even where it’s not it’s still an important component in every event. Navigation is all about your ability to read a topographical map, use a compass, and find a target location before your competitors. Again, this is similar to paddling in that it’s many competitors’ weakest skill.

The next is Hiking or Scrambling which is held on any and every terrain and in any kind of weather. These competitions often start with a run from an easy starting point to and through tricky terrain which requires hiking and scrambling. FYI: scrambling is climbing difficult terrain without ropes and using only your hands for balance. You can’t grab things to pull yourself up. We’ve all paddled a canoe, rowboat, or kayak, but it’s usually across a pool, a gentle lake or a calm bay. Adventure racers paddle in all water and weather conditions. Being good at paddling in all conditions is a huge advantage in adventure racing because for many adventure racers it’s their weakest event.

Many races will include a climbing or rappelling element. This is an important event to practice so you can stay safe and be fast. You need to buy lightweight climbing gear and only bring what is absolutely necessary so you don’t weigh yourself down needlessly.

Most people think that for a mountain bike race you should get rid of the extra weight like the headlight. This is a bad idea in the world of adventure racing because there’s a good chance you’ll be racing at night. A good idea is to employ a powerful lightweight headlamp with high and low settings. Tip: everyone on your team should have the same bike so you can swap parts when necessary, which can be often.