Which extreme sport makes you feel like your adrenaline is pumping nonstop, and every muscle in your body tenses up as if to prepare for death? If you’re not sure, then it’s probably because there are so many contenders.
Plenty of sports seem just as adventurous and risky as others on paper, but one statistician has done the math to find out which one takes the cake.
Base Jumping
Base jumping is statistically the most dangerous extreme sport. In a study of the 100 most recent relevant reports, out of 144 base jumpers studied, 41 died, and 39 were injured. The average age for these people is 31 years old, ranging from 18 to 64 years old. This represents one in every three participants dying or getting seriously hurt during their career as a base jumper.
This high rate of fatalities and injuries makes base jumping more than twice as deadly per participant compared to skydiving, with nearly identical exit altitudes but much larger numbers.
Swimming
Extreme sports are thrilling and exciting in a way that few traditional sports like baseball and football can match. But which extreme sport is statistically the most dangerous? Swimming. While people often think of skiing or skydiving as the riskiest activities to pursue, there are more than three times as many deaths each year from drowning than fatalities are resulting from all other high-risk recreational activities combined.
The reason for this discrepancy comes down to experience and preparation. While more experienced and well-prepared skiers may take out an avalanche transceiver, a friend with them on the mountain, and get CPR certification before setting off for their local ski hill, most swimmers go swimming without even thinking about personal safety or drowning prevention techniques. These numbers aren’t just alarming; they’re tragic.
Cycling
There are many extreme sports that people take part in to get adrenaline. From skydiving, bungee jumping, and even parachuting to more obscure things like swimming with dolphins or hunting wild animals. However, the most dangerous of all is cycling! It might not be as flashy, but it’s a challenging sport that puts your life at risk every single time you leave the house to ride.
Running
running may not seem extremely dangerous, but the number of people injured or killed each year while running is much higher than the number of people who die while scuba diving.
Running is extremely popular and practiced worldwide by millions of people every day, but several factors make it much more dangerous than other sports such as hiking or walking.
In addition to the many fatalities that occur each year from running accidents, there are also multiple injuries reported on an annual basis which can affect runners for life. These injuries include but aren’t limited to broken bones and torn ligaments or tendons in their knees, ankles, or hips.
Skydiving
Skydiving is the world’s most dangerous extreme sport, with a death rate of one in 55,000. It has been estimated that over 200 skydiving fatalities occur annually. The most common cause of injury and death is a hard landing on the head or neck, known as “getting in and out.”
Due to safety concerns, some locations such as Orlando stopped allowing jumping from aircraft while others only allow experienced jumpers with special certification who have jumped at that location before.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the top three most dangerous sports are all considered to be extreme or action sports. The first is base jumping, which has a one in 120 chance of being fatal due to the number of jumps made each year and their inherent danger. Next is swimming, with an average of about one death every three years. Finally, skydiving has a fatality rate of about one in 11,000 jumps. Each year, there are approximately 120 million skydives worldwide, with an average of 125 deaths annually.
