About Gary King
I’m a writer, speaker and lover of all things that raise the heartbeat and tickle the senses. If there is one thing that I’ve learnt from my years of extreme sport and adventure travel is that life is for living - not spectating.
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Welcome to Gary King's Extreme Sports Blog
Longest Tennis Match in History
by Gary King on 24-Jun-10 08:11
Extreme Tennis anybody?
Click on the picture for the story.
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Vote for Snowboarder Jamie Barrow to Win a Flight with British Airways
by Gary King on 21-Jun-10 12:44
British Airways is giving away flights in order to help Britons further their careers. Jamie Barrow is a young snowboarder who has been shortlisted, now all he needs is your vote in order to win.
Vote for him here
http://www.greatbritons.ba.com/users/20959
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Gary King Sky Diving out of a DC9 Jet
by Gary King on 18-Jun-10 12:48
They don't do things by halves in the States and here's a perfect example. Why leap out of a little plane like a Cessna when you can hurl yourself out of a DC9 jet? I had this pleasure when I attended the World Free Fall Convention at Rantoul in Illinois a few years back. This week long jamboree of sky diving madness sees people from all over the world come together to jump out of a bewildering array of flying machines from helicopters to hot air balloons.
The DC9 belongs to Perris Valley Dropzone, California and I must say it was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had. You get on like a normal commercial plane, you sit down, put your seat belt on and then everybody jumps out. The jet is doing something like 200 mph at exit (I think) so you kind of get sucked out and spewed into the air.
This video was shot by the wonderfully talented Dave Littlechild and if you're interested that's me at about 3.00min (green and red rig) being followed by Mr Littlechild himself.
I wouldn't want Ryanir to see this video because I'm sure it would give them ideas. Why pay all that landing tax when you can fling the passengers out above the city in question!
Filed under: Air Adventure Sky Diving
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X in the City Update June 2010
by Gary King on 15-Jun-10 09:47
X in the City is going to be an entirely new way to experience extreme and urban sports. Running for three days from October 22nd to 24th October 2010 at London's Excel it promises to showcase a whole host of activities in an innovative and exciting way. Watch this space or visit www.xinthecity.co.uk for more information.
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Jenson Button Gives the Inside Track on the Canadian GP
by Gary King on 11-Jun-10 09:55
In this exclusive interview, McLaren’s Jenson Button gives a behind the scenes preview of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.
With the Canadian GP being absent from the 2009 season, Jenson reveals why he is confident of a strong performance in Montreal now that it has returned to the F1 schedule while also giving his thoughts on receiving an MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace earlier this month.
Get behind the wheel with Jenson as he gives the 'Inside Track' ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
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Rotary International and a Polio Free World
by Gary King on 11-Jun-10 06:32
Following on from yesterday's blog about my talk to Loughborough Beacon Rotary Club I received an email from their president elect Bryan Woodward. Bryan had told me about Rotary International's twenty five year bid to eradicate polio throughout the world whilst we had dinner on Tuesday evening. However it wasn't until I came home and did a little research about the project that I realised how incredible the initiative has been. This is what Bryan said in his email;
'Your web-site report is very generous to Rotary and we much appreciate your comments as it is good publicity for our organisation. In case you did not pick up all the details, Rotary International has now raised around $800 million to eradicate polio throughout the world. This has been a 25-year program. In 1985, polio was endemic in well over 100 countries and there were many thousands of cases a year (I can't remember all the figures). Now, the disease is endemic in just four countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria, and there have been only a handfull of cases reported this year. It is a truly staggering achievement, done not by governments but orchestrated by Rotary in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO. Bill Gates has contributed $355 million and we have to match this with $200 million by 30 June 2012 - our Olympic Challenge!'
The video is from Rotary International's website and it gives a little more information about how they are striving to achieve a polio free world.
Filed under: AdventureComments (0)
Talk to Rotary Club of Loughborough Beacon
by Gary King on 10-Jun-10 13:54
I had the good fortune to give a talk to the Rotary Club of Loughborough Beacon on Tuesday 8th June at Longcliffe Golf Club in Leicestershire. First and foremost what a thoroughly inspiring bunch of individuals - these people have committed themselves to not only raising huge amounts of money for charity but also putting on trips and events for those in need.
Rotary International has over 1.2 million members selflessly carrying on this charitable work all over the globe. This worldwide band of Rotarians is in the process of raising several hundred millions of dollars to match a donation made by the Gates Foundation to eradicate polio. And they do it all in their spare time and are unpaid. A worthy cause indeed.
Then at local level there are a huge number of fund raising activities going on. At Loughborough Beacon there's everything from plant sales to 10K running races to get yet more funds in the coffers. Many thanks to Bryan Woodward for inviting me and to everybody else for listening to me.
If you're interested in getting involved then visit www.rotary.org which is brimming with information about this wonderful organisation.
Filed under: AdventureComments (1)
Pensioners Risking Life and Limb to Partake in Extreme Sports
by Gary King on 09-Jun-10 15:20
According to The Daily Telegraph silver surfers, skiers and mountaineers are making 20% of all action sport insurance claims even though they only make up 5 % of all policy holders. It seems that pensioners are shunning indoor bowls in favour of activities like diving, motorcycle touring and long distance cycling. Well as we like to say on this blog - Life's for Living, not spectating.
Filed under: Adventure
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Gee Atherton Wins Mountain Bike World Cup
by Gary King on 07-Jun-10 12:41
Gee Atherton in race mode. Pic by Sven Martin
British rider Gee Atherton took first place in the Men’s Downhill following a tremendous show of power and control as the world’s top mountain biking stars wowed huge crowds gathered at the Fort William Mountain Bike World Cup today.
Gee’s win marks his first at Fort William. Celebrating, he said: “I’m the most excited I’ve ever been about winning an event. It’s always been a massive goal of mine to win on home soil. The crowd played a huge role for me today. I shredded a huge amount of time from my final stage to take the win because I could hear them cheering me on.”
Gee’s sister Rachel Atherton also had an impressive weekend. Although she could not match her emphatic win from the last round out in Maribor (Slovenia) where she beat her nearest rival by an incredible 9. 73 seconds, she still came a very close second. She said she was disappointed but enjoyed the course: “I qualified fast but that meant there was lots of pressure for the final. I still really enjoy racing here - the track was rad!”
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180 Degrees South Documentary
by Gary King on 02-Jun-10 06:44
180° SOUTH is the story of one of the most unique and prolific environmentalists of our time -Yvon Chouinard. Rather than re-living Yvon's story through old photos and his life's work with pie charts, 180° SOUTH weaves Chouinard's tale through a modern day expedition. This expedition was inspired by the rumor of a legendary trip in 1968 and the proof that came with it when the lost cans of film that documented the trip were recently discovered. The old footage captures Chouinard and best friend Doug Tompkins in 1968 as they explore untouched mountain ranges and un-surfed coastline on a 5000 mile expedition from California to deep Patagonia. For the two men, the original '68 adventure still stands as "the trip of our lives."
A young American adventurer named Jeff Johnson happened upon the footage in 1990 and spent the next ten years of his life dreaming of following their footsteps south. In 2007, Jeff dropped everything to finally fulfill his dream. He set out to follow Chouinard's classic route on what became a six month traverse of North and South America. His hope is simply to find unclimbed mountains and un-ridden waves in the spirit of his heroes. However, as he travels, his eyes open up to the see environmental disasters that threaten these places as well as the human triumphs that are working to save them.
Filed under: AdventureComments (0)
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