Author: Joel Runyon

  • 7 Adventure Sites that Will Get your Heart Pumping

    adventure sites

    Dear Nerve Rush Reader: You can’t get enough.

    You read the blog. You subscribe to our email. You follow us on Twitter. You like us on Facebook. You circle us on Google. You pin us on Pinterest (okay, maybe not that last one), but you want more.

    While we try our best around here to be the ONE and only place you’ll ever need for your gut-wrenching adventure fix, we know that we’re just one of the many places where you can quench your adrenaline thirst. We firmly believe in friendly competition and are big fans of a few other sites around the web that impress and inspire us to keep adventuring. It’s just plain selfish for us to keep them to ourselves, so we thought we’d share some of our favorites with you to help you stay adventurous.

    The Adventurists – TheAdventurists.com

    The Adventurists are an incredible group of people. Whether their facilitating a horse race across Mongolia, a 1500km adventure through Siberia, or a 3-wheeled motorbike adventure across Peru, they’re up to some amazing things. Focused on doing things throughout the world, they come up with some of the most ridiculous adventures in the world and raise massive buckets of cash for charities in the process. In their words, “We figure since we are rather fond of adventuring in the world we should do our bit to look after it.” We couldn’t agree more. Check out the adventurists and start adventuring all over the world.

    –> Visit the Adventurists

    The Adrenalist – TheAdrenalist.com

    The Adrenalist has Bear Grylls’s face all over it, so you know it has to be pretty good. Sponsored by Degree for Men, The Adrenalist features adventure, speed, extreme sports and gadgets for the adventure seeker. There’s a ton of video content here, there’s bound to be something up your alley. Whether or not you’re a fan of Degree, you gotta love Bear and the hardcore adrenaline-focused videos, so it’s definitely worth your time to check it out.

    –> Visit the Adrenalist

    Infinity List – InfinityList.com

    No, it’s not quite the Impossible List but the Infinity List provides daily updates for the best cinematic sports videos around. Very similar to what we offer up around here, the Inifinity List is beautifully laid out and has some exclusive content that blows our mind. If you check it out, it’s very easy to get lost in the content and spend hours upon hours drooling at the incredible stunts and extreme sports that make you want to get off your computer, climb a high building and base jump off of it. The infinity list will give you just that, an infinity list of incredible activities to put on your bucket list. Check it.

    –> Visit the Infinity List

    Pure Outside – PureOutside.com

    Created by Nerve Rush friend and reader Ross Cullicut, Pure Outside is all about helping the human-powered adventures out there get out to the cool places they want to see and help save the places they love. Featuring trails, websites, films and adventures, Ross has lined up a bunch of great outdoor activities to help you experience the human powered adventures all available thanks to the pure outside.

    –> Visit Pure Outside

    Epic Thrills – EpicThrills.com

    EpicThrills is an exclusive club of travelers with an insatiable thirst for new life experiences.  Focused on travel adventures, Epic Thrills provides outlets for your inner adventures.Whether its running with the bulls in Spain, laying in a hammock in the Amazon, or jumping out a helicopter in Alaska, Epic Thrills aims to make adventures more accessible and affordable so you can see everything the world and the many adventures it has to offer.

    –> Visit Epic Thrills

    Reddit Adrenaline Porn – Reddit.com/r/AdrenalinePorn/

    Something a little different for our last site is Reddit’s Adrenaline Porn sub-reddit. Not really as much of a website as it is a forum, it’s constantly changing . While sometimes hard to dig through for the very best content, Adrenaline Porn has all sorts of content that’s updated by the hour. If you need to feed your addiction, Adrenaline Porn is definitely something you need to pay attention to.

    –> Visit Reddit Adrenaline Porn

    Who Would You Add To This List?

    Did we miss anyone? Who would you add to the list? Who runs your favorite site? There’s always more room for adventure and adrenaline. Let us know in the comments!

  • 21 Underwater Photography Shots From The Azul Ocean That Will Blow Your Mind

    21 Underwater Photography Shots From The Azul Ocean That Will Blow Your Mind

    A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to interview Arthur Koch from The Azul Ocean and find out a little behind his underwater photography magic. He even shared some of his favorite photos ever with us. But, we decided that wasn't enough.

    We asked Arthur if he'd come back and share a few more with us. So Arthur who is not only a great underwater photographer, but al

    l-around-good-guy, enthusiastically agreed. In fact, he not only shared one or two more, but 21 great photographs. So we've written enough, it's time to highlight what you clicked through for.

    21 Underwater Photography Shots From The Azul Ocean That Will Blow Your Mind

    **
    For more of Arthur's work, visit the Azul Ocean.

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  • The Gnarliest Teahupoo Wave Ride Ever

    The Gnarliest Teahupoo Wave Ride Ever

    We interrupt your regularly scheduled adrenaline rush schedule to bring you this selection of awesomeness because sometimes there are videos that are just too good to wait for a Monday or Friday posting.

    At the Billabong Pro event in Teahupoo, on the southwest coast of Tahiti in the French Polynesia, the waves were some of the most gut-wrenching in history.

    The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water. That couldn’t keep these guys out of the water. Check out the waves here and the crazy footage, thanks to Chris Bryan. Wow. Just wow.

  • The Evolution of Kitesurfing

    The Evolution of Kitesurfing

    old-kitesurfing

    We at Nerve Rush HQ are big fans of Kitesurfing. Whether you're learning how to kitesurf or a kitesurfing world record holder, we think kitesurfing has a ton of adventure to add to your love of extreme sports.

    But how did it all start anyways? Who came up with the great idea to strap a board to their feet, throw a kite in the air and hope the wind was blowing strong enough to keep them from drowning. Well, today we'll be diving in a little deeper to how kitesurfing came to be and where it started with a new series entitled The Evolution of Sport.

    Today's first installment, The Evolution of Kitesurfing is brought to you by Nerve Rush friend and adventurist historian (we literally just made up this title) Thom Wolfe. Take it away Thom.

    The Evolution of KiteSurfing

    Origins

    Kitesurfing is a relatively new sport/activity that finds its origin in several different areas. Kites have been around for over 2,500 years, first being used by the Chinese as communication devices. Physical evidence of surfing has been found in Peru dating back as far as 1500-2000 years ago. The design origins of kitesurfing come from traction kites. These kites were used on land to propel a vehicle or person that basically doubled the power of the wind by its design. However, the invention of kitesurfing would hinge on the ability to launch and re-launch the kite directly in the water, something a traction kite cannot accomplish.

    kitesurfing

    Development

    The first forms of kite surfing appeared in the 1980s and were referred to as “kite-skiing” and “flysurfing”. Cory Roese

    ler developed his Kiteski system with a framed kite, a reel bar, and water skis. You can sort of think of this as water skiing, but instead of being pulled by a boat you are pulled by a kite. This was the first commercially available kitesurfing product released in 1986.

    The Legaignoux brothers, Bruno and Dominique were the first to patent a curved wing inflatable kite referred to as the Flysurfer or Wipika system , which is the basic design used in modern kite surfing. These inflatable kites began development about the same time as the Kiteski system, but took 15 years to develop into a commercially available product being released in 1997.

    kitesurfing

    Modern Day

    Today, throughout the world there are hundreds of thousands of kite surfing enthusiasts. The first World Cup of Kite Surfing was held in 1998 in Hawaii. Now there are numerous kitesurfing competitions throughout the world on the local, regional, national, and international levels. Many countries and regions now have their kitesurfing associations with the International Kiteboarding Association being the global governing body.

    kitesurfing

    —

    If you're interested in lending your expertise to thousands of Nerve Rush readers a month, let us know. Any and all guest post inquiries can be directed to Joel and Alan at our contact form. Stay adventurous out there!

    [Photo credit 1, 2, 3, 4.]

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  • Interview With Arthur Koch

    Interview With Arthur Koch

    I was scouring the interwebs the other day when I followed a link to The Azul Ocean and was instantly impressed. Focused on scuba diving and brilliant underwater photography, I discovered the creator was a man named Arthur Koch, with over 15 years in diving and underwater photography. I knew I had to talk to him so I tracked him down and he was gracious enough to answer a few questions. Here we go!

    —

    So, underwater photography. How does one fall into such a cool hobby?

    I started diving in 1995, about a year later I picked in an Ikelite housing for the old Kodak disposable cameras.  My initial idea was to bring pictures home to remember my dives and to show friends and family.  Since then it has become a serious hobby and passion, I work regularly to improve my images by taking chases with different Underwater Photography Professionals, diving and shooting with friends who challenge me to improve.

    What kind of equipment do you use for underwater photography?? How much does underwater photography cost?

    I currently use Nikon D300 bodies, various lenses, Seacam Silver Underwater Housing and Ikelite strobes. I have over $20,000 USD invested in underwater camera equipment.  It’s not uncommon for me to jump in the water holding $13,000 in a camera set-up.

    You've traveled to 41 countries. What were some of your favorite to photograph?

    You know, they are all great!  Anytime you’re not in an office or factory and outside in nature, this is what it’s all about! (Nerve Rush note: we couldn't agree more!)

    1. Love the good old USA; North Carolina for it’s big animal action-the Sand Tiger Sharks; Florida for the diversity of fish life (they have done a great job of building a sustainable reef system) and Hawaii, they got it all, small, medium and large!
    2. Bonaire, Netherland Antilles’, in the southern Caribbean, awesome shore diving and great macro (small stuff).
    3. Solomon Islands in the Coral Sea, great macro, sharks, manta rays and schooling barracudas.

    What are 3 of the best photographs you've ever taken?

    This is a very difficult question…even with being my own worst critic…so many “speak” to me for different reasons.  With that in mind, my favorites change every day, but here are today’s picks.

     2008 NC – Sand Tiger Shark, Odontaspis tautus, USCG Spar Wreck IV

                                                 Diving off the NC coast is some of the best in the world; I just love the NC Sand Tiger Sharks!  This image was captured as she was heading to the surface to get a gulp of air for buoyancy.  B&W illustrates the textures; fine details of shapes and curves that bring her to life and highlights’ her natural beauty. 

    <a href="http://alan.mystagingwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2010-Key-Largo-French-Angelfish-with-Southern-Stingray

    .jpg”>

    2010 Key Largo – French Angelfish with Southern Stingray

    While diving a coral reef you often see nature gracefully orchestrating a concert of her beauty.  This image captures the natural beauty of a French Angelfish, the turquoise water of a swim through, the precise moment a Southern Stingray decides to swim away, all captured in slow motion that just grabs you!

    2011 Wakatobi – Red Whip Coral with the eye of a Mimic Filefish (Paraluteres prionuris) 

    This image is of a Mimic Filefish hiding in a growth of Red Whip Coral.  I spent the better part of 2 dives studying the fish’s behavior, potential photo opportunities and camera settings.  On the 3rd dive I captured about 10 images at different angles; the contrast of the yellow eye, red of the whip coral, the black background and the fish silhouette dramatically highlight the reefs delicate and often hidden magnificence.  This image marks turning point in my understanding of how to capture the oceans splendor and not just documenting its beauty.

    What new projects do you have on the table for 2012?

    I plan on exhibiting at 6 Art Festivals in Florida, South and North Carolina and Virginia. I’m leading an underwater photography trip aboard the Caribbean Explorer II in May to Saba N.A. and St Kitts.  I will also be attending Stephen Frinks Digital Masters Underwater Photography course in Bonaire, N.A. during July. In between, I'll be diving off Florida and the North Carolina coast. Please check Facebook for details and sign up for The Azul Ocean newsletter of other details and promotions that I'll be running in the near future.

    Where can Nerve Rush readers find more of you?

    You can find me all around the web. Here's a few good links to start:

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    Massive thanks from the Nerve Rush crew to Arthur. We look forward to seeing much, much more of you and your work here at Nerve Rush in the near future.

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  • Insane WiSBASE / Wingsuit BASE Jumping / Proximity Flying

    Insane WiSBASE / Wingsuit BASE Jumping / Proximity Flying

    Having seen the majority of WiSBASE (wingsuit BASE jumping) and proximity flying clips out there, it’s safe to say that this is one of the most well done. Big shout out to the guys with enough balls to do this. Dear WiSBASE jumpers — not sure how much longer you’ll be alive, so please, make some more movies while you’re still flying strong. Thanks. Sincerely, Nerve Rush HQ.

  • Stylish Longboarding

    Stylish Longboarding

    Four strangers–Dustin Hampton, Alex Tongue, Ethan Cochard, Alex Limbach–having never skated together before, show us what longboarding is all about. Cheers to the camera man, who killed a pair of shoes in his follow shots, and to the stabilization software he must have used to get such fluid shots.

  • Evan van der Spuy (Mountain Biker) Taken Out by African Buck

    Evan van der Spuy (Mountain Biker) Taken Out by African Buck

    Yikes. If you haven’t seen this clip already (it was ALL over the Internet superhighway a few weeks ago), check it out here. Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa gets taken out by a Red Hardebeest during the Time Freight Express MTB race at Albert Falls Dam. This folks, is why you wear a helmet. Shot with a GoPro camera.

  • First GoPro HD Camera in Space: 80,000 Feet

    First GoPro HD Camera in Space: 80,000 Feet

    This is pretty incredible, and certainly Nerve Rush worthy. San Francisco-based engineers and designers built a balloon and contraption that held 2 GoPro HD HERO cameras. Launched from the California coast near Davenport (and landing 70 miles away in Crows Landing), the balloon made it up to 80,000 feet. Wild.

  • GoPro HD HERO: Backdoor Surfing Session with Sunny Garcia and Kalani Robb

    GoPro HD HERO: Backdoor Surfing Session with Sunny Garcia and Kalani Robb

    Featuring one of my favorite tracks from RJD2, this clip showcases Sunny Garcia and Kalani Robb, two professional surfers testing out the GoPro HD HERO camera at Backdoor and Pipeline.