Six Extreme Sports You've Never Heard Of

Sure, BMX and heli-skiing are cool and all, but is it as cool as shark-parasailing? Okay, shark-parasailing isn't a real extreme sport, but these six sports are, and they're awesome. Check out these six extreme sports that you may not have ever heard of, and get out and try one this weekend.

1. Wingsuit Flying

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Ever wanted to fly without surgically implanting wings onto yourself? With a wingsuit (and substantial training so you don't meet your immediate death), you can do just that. Wingsuit flying is a relatively new extreme sport, in which you wear a large jumpsuit that essentially gives you wings. You then jump off a cliff or out of a plane and, well, fly! In the last few years, people have even started to develop jet-powered wingsuits, making an incredibly extreme sport even that much more extreme.

2. Quidditch

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Qudditch? Wait, not that game that Harry Potter plays, right? Seriously? Yes, my friends, Quidditch is real. And it's extreme. Quidditch is extreme in the fact that if you play it, you will get hit, and hit hard. It's basically the exact same game that's played on flying brooms, except on the ground. It's popular around college campuses, and there's even an International Quidditch Association. Try and wrap your head around that one.

3. Volcano Boarding

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Volcano boarding is pretty much exactly how it sounds; boarding down an active volcano. Using a specially designed wooden board, participants fly down active volcanos, typically reaching speeds reaching speeds of up to 50 MPH. It's popular on some of the world's larger volcanos, including Cerro Negro in Nicaragua. It's a sport that requires special equipment, including a specialized suit, skate shoes, and typically some sort of protective mask. But the thrill of flying down an active volcano is pretty awesome.

4. Zorbing

With a name like zorbing, it has to be fun and extreme, right? Zorbing is a fairly simple extreme sport where you roll down a hill in a giant ball. Really, it's that simple. The giant plastic ball is actually made up of two balls, so the rider is cushioned. Zorbers even now add water to the inside of the balls to add a really cool and fun sliding effect.

5. Chess Boxing

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Chess boxing. Yes, chess boxing. It combines the two similar sports of chess and boxing. Chess boxing isn't all that difficult to understand, as it's pretty much just chess and boxing. Participants alternate playing chess and punching each other each round, and the first one to either score a knockout or a checkmate is the victor. What makes it such an interesting sport is that, in order to compete competitively, participants must be both fantastic boxers and incredible chess players. Yes, it is real, it is very real.

6. Mountain Unicycling

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Just like many of these extreme sports, mountain unicycling is created by seemingly combining two things to make one extra difficult thing. In this case, it's combining hiking with unicycling. Mountain unicycling (often called MUni) involves essentially just unicycling on a mountain, which is hard. Very hard. You must avoid roots and rocks while pretty much ascending or descending a mountain. This sport typically requires a more sturdy unicycle than just your standard unicycle, so it can handle the terrain.