Rock Climbing Routes in Panama at "El Gunko" in Boquete

César Meléndez climbing a section of the Gunko Wall at Los Ladrillos in Boquete, Panama Today more than 35 different routes have been setup for bouldering and rock climbing at "El Gunko", "Maná" and "Paradiso" in Boquete. Under the motto of "redefining what's impossible", Rock Climbing started out in the district of Boquete, Panama with 5.3. and 5.5 routes that could easily be climbed by amateurs. After building up their skills and gaining more experience they have continued to push the level and now routes from 5.9 all the way up to 5.13a have been established (difficulty measured according to the Yosemite Decimal System). The highest wall is 13.10 meters tall and there is a very challenging route with a 4 meter roof. The highest wall for advanced climbers contains 70 meter multipitches.

The "Gunko de Boquete" is located in the Bajo Mono area known as "Los Ladrillos". It is only 10 minutes by car from downtown Boquete. To get to "El Gunko" take a left at the Y intersection at the end of Central Avenue (main street in Boquete), continue until you reach "El cruce de los Naranjos" which is another Y intersection or fork, take a left again, pass Los Naranjos Gym, reach the next Y intersection and take a right towards Bajo Mono. Los Ladrillos will be ahead to your left and pretty obvious (a huge natural climbing wall).

rock climbing


1. Face Climbing
Yaitu memanjat pada permukaan tebing dimana masih terdapat tonjolan atau rongga yang memadai sebagai pijakan kaki maupun pegangan tangan. Para pendaki pemula biasanya mempunytai kecenderungan untuk mempercayakan sebagian berat badannya pada pegangan tangan, dan menempatkan badanya rapat ke tebing. Ini adalah kebiasaan yang salah. Tangan manusia tidak bias digunakan untuk mempertahankan berat badan dibandingkan kaki, sehingga beban yang diberikan pada tangan akan cepat melelahkan untuk mempertahankan keseimbangan badan. Kecenderungan merapatkan berat badan ke tebing dapat mengakibatkan timbulnya momen gaya pada tumpuan kaki. Hal ini memberikan peluang untuk tergelincir.Konsentrasi berat di atas bidang yang sempit (tumpuan kaki) akan memberikan gaya gesekan dan kestabilan yang lebih baik.
2. Friction / Slab Climbing
Teknik ini semata-mata hanya mengandalkan gaya gesekan sebagai gaya penumpu. Ini dilakukan pada permukaan tebing yang tidak terlalu vertical, kekasaran permukaan cukup untuk menghasilkan gaya gesekan. Gaya gesekan terbesar diperoleh dengan membebani bidang gesek dengan bidang normal sebesar mungkin. Sol sepatu yang baik dan pembebanan maksimal diatas kaki akan memberikan gaya gesek yang baik.
3. Fissure Climbing
Teknik ini memanfaatkan celah yang dipergunakan oleh anggota badan yang seolah-olah berfungsi sebagai pasak. Dengan cara demikian, dan beberapa pengembangan, dikenal teknik-teknik berikut.
* Jamming, teknik memanjat dengan memanfaatkan celah yang tidak begitu besar. Jari-jari tangan, kaki, atau tangan dapat dimasukkan/diselipkan pada celah sehingga seolah-olah menyerupai pasak.
* Chimneying, teknik memanjat celah vertical yang cukup lebar (chomney). Badan masuk diantara celah, dan punggung di salah satu sisi tebing. Sebelah kaki menempel pada sisi tebing depan, dan sebelah lagi menempel ke belakang. Kedua tangan diletakkan menempel pula. Kedua tangan membantu mendororng keatas bersamaan dengan kedua kaki yang mendorong dan menahan berat badan.
* Bridging, teknik memanjat pada celah vertical yang cukup besar (gullies). Caranya dengan menggunakan kedua tangan dan kaki sebagai pegangan pada kedua celah tersebut. Posisi badan mengangkang, kaki sebagai tumpuan dibantu oleh tangan yang juga berfungsi sebagai penjaga keseimbangan.
* Lay Back, teknik memanjat pada celah vertical dengan menggunakan tangan dan kaki. Pada teknik ini jari tangan mengait tepi celah tersebut dengan punggung miring sedemikian rupa untuk menenpatkan kedua kaki pada tepi celah yang berlawanan. Tangan menarik kebelakang dan kaki mendorong kedepan dan kemudian bergerak naik ke atas silih berganti.
Pembagian Pendakian Berdasarkan Pemakaian Alat
Free Climbing
Sesuai dengan namanya, pada free climbing alat pengaman yang paling baik adalah diri sendiri. Namun keselamatan diri dapat ditingkatkan dengan adanya keterampilan yang diperoleh dari latihan yang baik dan mengikuti prosedur yang benar. Pada free climbing, peralatan berfungsi hanya sebagai pengaman bila jatuh. Dalam pelaksanaanya ia bergerak sambil memasang, jadi walaupun tanpa alat-alat tersebut ia masih mampu bergerak atau melanjutkan pendakian. Dalam pendakian tipe ini seorang pendaki diamankan oleh belayer.
Free Soloing
Merupakan bagian dari free climbing, tetapi sipendaki benar-benar melakukan dengan segala resiko yang siap dihadapinya sendiri.Dalam pergerakannya ia tidak memerlukan peralatan pengaman. Untuk melakukan free soloing climbing, seorang pendaki harus benar-benar mengetahui segala bentuk rintangan atau pergerakan pada rute yang dilalui. Bahkan kadang-kadang ia harus menghapalkan dahulu segala gerakan, baik itu tumpuan ataupun pegangan, sehingga biasanya orang akan melakukan free soloing climbing bila ia sudah pernah mendaki pada lintasan yang sama. Resiko yang dihadapi pendaki tipe ini sangat fatal sekali, sehingga hanya orang yang mampu dan benar-benar professional yang akan melakukannya.
Atrificial Climbing
Pemanjatan tebing dengan bantuan peralatan tambahan, seperti paku tebing, bor, stirrup, dll. Peralatan tersebut harus digunakan karena dalam pendakian sering sekali dihadapi medan yang kurang atau tidak sama sekali memberikan tumpuan atau peluang gerak yang memadai.
System Pendakian
1. Himalaya Sytle
Sistem pendakian yang biasanya dengan rute yang panjang sehingga untuk mencapai sasaran (puncak) diperlukan waktu yang lama. Sistem ini berkembang pada pendakian-pendakian ke Pegunungan Himalaya. Pendakian tipe ini biasanya terdiri atas beberapa kelompok dan tempat-tempat peristirahatan (base camp, fly camp). Sehingga dengan berhasilnya satu orang dari seluruh team, berarti pendakian itu sudah berhasil untuk seluruh team.
2. Alpine Style
Sistem ini banyak dikembangkan di pegunungan Eropa. Pendakian ini mempunyai tujuan bahwa semua pendaki harus sampai di puncak dan baru pendakian dianggap berhasil. Sistem pendakian ini umumnya lebih cepat karena para pendaki tidak perlu lagi kembali ke base camp (bila kemalaman bias membuat fly camp baru, dan esoknya dilanjutkan kembali).
Teknik Turun / Rappeling
Teknik ini digunakan untuk menuruni tebing. Dikategorikan sebagai teknik yang sepeuhnya bergantung dari peralatan. Prinsip rappelling adalah sebagai berikut :
1. Menggunakan tali rappel sebagai jalur lintasan dan tempat bergantung.
2. Menggunakan gaya berat badan dan gaya tolak kaki pada tebing sebagai pendorong gerak turun.
3. Menggunakan salah satu tangan untuk keseimbangan dan tangan lainnya untuk mengatur kecepatan.
Macam-macam dan Variasi Teknik Rappeling
1. Body Rappel
Menggunakan peralatan tali saja, yang dibelitkan sedemikian rupa pada badan. Pada teknik ini terjadi gesekan antara badan dengan tali sehingga bagian badan yang terkena gesekan akan terasa panas.
2. Brakebar Rappe
Menggunakan sling/tali tubuh, carabiner, tali, dan brakebar. Modifikasi lain dari brakebar adalah descender (figure of 8). Pemakaiannya hampir serupa, dimana gaya gesek diberikan pada descender atau brakebar.
3. Sling Rappel
Menggunakan sling/tali tubuh, carabiner, dan tali. Cara ini paling banyak dilakukan karena tidak memerlukan peralatan lain, dan dirasakan cukup aman. Jenis simpul yang digunakan adalah jenis Italian hitch.
4. Arm Rappel / Hesti
Menggunakan tali yang dibelitkan pada kedua tangan melewati bagian belakang badan. Dipergunakan untuk tebing yang tidak terlalu curam.
Dalam rapelling, usahakan posisi badan selalu tegak lurus pada tebing, dan jangan terlalu cepat turun. Usahakan mengurangi sesedikit mungkin benturan badan pada tebing dan gesekan antara tubuh dengan tali. Sebelum memulai turun, hendaknya :
1. Periksa dahulu anchornya.
2. Pastikan bahwa tidak ada simpul pada tali yang dipergunakan.
3. Sebelum sampai ke tepi tebing hendaknya tali sudah terpasang dan pastikan bahwa tali sampai ke bawah (ke tanah).
4. Usahakan melakukan pengamatan sewaktu turun, ke atas dan ke bawah, sehingga apabila ada batu atau tanah jatuh kita dapat menghindarkannya, selain itu juga dapat melihat lintasan yang ada.
5. Pastikan bahwa pakaian tidak akan tersangkut carabiner atau peralatan lainnya.
Peralatan Pendakian
1. Tali Pendakian
Fungsi utamanya dalam pendakian adalah sebagai pengaman apabila jatuh.Dianjurkan jenis-jenis tali yang dipakai hendaknya yang telah diuji oleh UIAA, suatu badan yang menguji kekuatan peralatan-peralatan pendakian. Panjang tali dalam pendakian dianjurkan sekitar 50 meter, yang memungkinkan leader dan belayer masih dapat berkomunikasi. Umumnya diameter tali yang dipakai adalah 10-11 mm, tapi sekarang ada yang berkekuatan sama, yang berdiameter 9.8 mm.
Ada dua macam tali pendakian yaitu :
* Static Rope, tali pendakian yang kelentirannya mencapai 2-5 % fari berat maksimum yang diberikan. Sifatnya kaku, umumnya berwarna putih atau hijau. Tali static digunakan untuk rappelling.
* Dynamic Rope, tali pendakian yang kelenturannya mencapai 5-15 % dari berat maksimum yang diberikan. Sifatnya lentur dan fleksibel. Biasanya berwarna mencolok (merah, jingga, ungu).
2. Carabiner
Adalah sebuah cincin yang berbentuk oval atau huruf D, dan mempunyai gate yang berfungsi seperni peniti. Ada 2 jenis carabiner :
* Carabiner Screw Gate (menggunakan kunci pengaman).
* Carabiner Non Screw Gate (tanpa kunci pengaman)
3. Sling
Sling biasanya dibuat dari tabular webbing, terdiri dari beberapa tipe. Fungsi sling antara lain :
- sebagai penghubung
- membuat natural point, dengan memanfaatkan pohon atau lubang di tebing.
- Mengurangi gaya gesek / memperpanjang point
- Mengurangi gerakan (yang menambah beban) pada chock atau piton yang terpasang.
4. Descender
Sebuah alat berbentuk angka delapan. Fungsinya sebagai pembantu menahan gesekan, sehingga dapat membantu pengereman. Biasa digunakan untuk membelay atau rappelling.
5. Ascender
Berbentuk semacam catut yang dapat menggigit apabila diberi beban dan membuka bila dinaikkan. Fungsi utamanya sebagai alat Bantu untuk naik pada tali.
6. Harnes / Tali Tubuh
Alat pengaman yang dapat menahan atau mengikat badan. Ada dua jenis hernas :
* Seat Harnes, menahan berat badan di pinggang dan paha.
* Body Harnes, menahan berat badan di dada, pinggang, punggung, dan paha.
Harnes ada yang dibuat dengan webbning atau tali, dan ada yang sudah langsung dirakit oleh pabrik.
7. Sepatu
Ada dua jenis sepatu yang digunakan dalam pemanjatan :
* Sepatu yang lentur dan fleksibel. Bagian bawah terbuat dari karet yang kuat. Kelenturannya menolong untuk pijakan-pijakan di celah-cleah.
* Sepatu yang tidak lentur/kaku pada bagian bawahnya. Misalnya combat boot. Cocok digunakan pada tebing yang banyak tonjolannya atau tangga-tangga kecil. Gaya tumpuan dapat tertahan oleh bagian depan sepatu.
8. Anchor (Jangkar)
Alat yang dapat dipakai sebagai penahan beban. Tali pendakian dimasukkan pada achor, sehingga pendaki dapat tertahan oleh anchor bila jatuh. Ada dua macam anchor, yaitu :
* Natural Anchor, bias merupakan pohon besar, lubang-lubang di tebing, tonjolan-tonjolan batuan, dan sebagainya.
* Artificial Anchor, anchor buatan yang ditempatkan dan diusahakan ada pada tebing oleh si pendaki. Contoh : chock, piton, bolt, dan lain-lain.
Prosedur Pendakian
Tahapan-tahapan dalam suatu pendakian hendaknya dimulai dari langkah-langkah sebagai berikut
1. Mengamati lintasan dan memikirkan teknik yang akan dipakai.
2. Menyiapkan perlengkapan yang diperlukan.
3. a. Untuk leader, perlengkapan teknis diatur sedemikian rupa, agar mudah untuk diambil / memilih dan tidak mengganggu gerakan. Tugas leader adalah membuka lintasan yang akan dilalui oleh dirinya sendiri dan pendaki berikutnya.
b. Untuk belayer, memasang anchor dan merapikan alat-alat (tali yang akan dipakai). Tugas belayer adalah membantu leader dalam pergerakan dan mengamankan leader bila jatug. Belayer harus selalu memperhatikan leader, baik aba-aba ataupun memperhatikan tali, jangan terlalu kencang dan jangan terlalu kendur.
4. Bila belayer dan leader sudah siap memulai pendakian, segera memberi aba-aba pendakian.
5. Bila leader telah sampai pada ketinggian 1 pitch (tali habis), ia harus memasang achor.
6. Leader yang sudah memasang anchor di atas selanjutnya berfungsi sebagai belayer, untuk mengamankan pendaki berikutnya.

A Wonderful Place for Rock Climbing - Yangshuo


The area around Guilin has distinctive Karst topography, while Yangshuo is the representative of the fancy Karst Mountains. Heavy rain has left the living rock a perfect surface for climbing. Yangshuo has about 300 climbing routes of different difficulty levels.
Some Famous Sites for Rock Climbing:
Yangshuo has numerous locations for rock climbing. The most famous crag is the Moon Hill, which was first climbed by American Todd Skinner in 1992. The other famous crags for rock climbing include the Moon Hill, the Panda Hill, the Middle Finger Hill, and the Golden Cat Cave, etc.

Yangshuo Moon Hill - a famous site for rock climbing
Yangshuo Moon Hill - A Famous Place for Rock Climbing in Yangshuo
Yangshuo Rock Climbing - Challenge One's Strength and Persistence
Yangshuo Rock Climbing - Challenge One's Strength and Persistence

the Routes of Rock Climbing:
Most routes are about 20 to 25 meters high, but some single pitches reach 40 meters in length. The grades are in both American and French and although most routes are in the 5a - 7a region, thanks to recent activity some routes even reach the 8c mark.

Rock climbing in the beautiful place
Rock climbing in the beautiful place
A rock climbing guide is helping the man to wear the equipments.
A rock climbing guide is helping the man to wear the equipments.

Equipment Supply for Rock Climbers:
For experienced rock climbers, it is easy for them to find a partner. For beginners and climbers without equipment, there are seven climbing clubs in Yangshuo that offer equipment rental, such as helmet, safety belt, shoes for rock climbing, and climbing guides, etc.

Yangshuo is a paradise for rock climbing due to its nature-endowed advantages. It is full of challenge. Under the unsurpassed beauty in Yangshuo, climbing the hills may add a high light to your tour.

Pantai Jonggring Saloko - Malang
















Rock Climbing in New York's Shawangunks



Photo: Rock climbing in New York's Shawangunk Mountains
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"After depositing myself about one-and-a-half pitches up on the 5.7 Cascading Crystal Kaleidoscope route of New York's Shawangunk Mountains, my heels were perched on a narrow blade of rock with my toes dangling in the air. I had been hoping to bump into preeminent Gunks guide Ivan Greene, who had been climbing above us. Then Ivan just  "dropped in" on us for this photo."
—Contributing Photographer Alex di Suvero

Adventurous Rock Climbing Sejati 27

















Climbing is an extremely trendy sport that attracts fans from around the globe. Rock climbing is an amazing experience that develops the capacity of the brain and body to function in harmony. It is an adventure for a lot of men and women who take pleasure in the challenge of such an intense out-of-doors and indoor sport. If true, rock climbing is one of the adventure sports with the fastest growth rate in the nation.

What kind of rock climbing equipment do you need?

Being outfitted with the appropriate type of gear is vital for climbing. The essential rock climbing equipment includes ropes, cords, webbing, carabiners, harnesses, belay devices, security, spring-loaded camming devices, sewn runners, helmets, headlamps, harnesses, and pulleys for example.

Will purchasing rock climbing equipment break the bank?

Climbing Equipment is the major outlay for a climber. But as a junior there is no necessity to get broke and fall for all those exquisite bits of gear you can get in the sports stores. If you're in the market for rock climbing equipment, you might want to try Rock Climbing Equipment for Sale for some fantastic deals on the stuff you need.

Learning the ropes

Definitely the foremost detail individuals think of when considering climbing equipment are climbing ropes. Ropes and other gear are usually used for protection alone. A climbing rope is commonly colorful and made of twisted fibers covered with a shielding mantle. A Rope can be dynamic or static, which refers to the degree of flexibility. Climbing ropes are contrary from other types of rope, mutually for their strength and capability to stretch when a climber falls.

Play it safe!

Two carbines that are held together by a loop of webbing are known as QuickDraw. They are used to attach the climbing rope to anchors. The rope is attached to the climber through a harness worn by the climber. A harness can be as simple as a piece of a rope loop or as complex as full body versions. A properly fitted seat harness will help to ensure that the climber is not seriously injured, although he or she is turned upside down in a fall.

Belaying refers to the effect of 'feed' the rope to a fellow climber. This allows the belayer controlling the rope so that a climber cannot fall very far, even when he slips completely off the face of the mountain. A belay device is a simple piece of metal that causes friction and helps control or stop the release of the rope.

Conclusion

Even though rock climbing is a fun recreation, at all times remember that it is a risky hobby. Rock climbing is not an inherently safe sport but appropriate safety precautions and expertise of gear can make it a rewarding and pleasurable action.


Rock Climbing




Rock Climbing berasal dari 2 kata yaitu Rock yang berarti keras, dan Climbing yang berarti panjatan, jadi rock climbing adalah suatu pekerjaan memanjat yang membutuhkan tenaga yang kuat, bersifat keras dan dilakukan di media panjat seperti tebing atau papan tebing buatan. 
Dahulu orang berpandangan bahwa rock climbing adalah pekerjaan yang tidak berguna dan membuang energi, karena biasanya dilakukan oleh seseorang untuk mencari sesuatu seperti kayu bakar dan lain-lain. Seiring perkembangan zaman, rock climbing menjadi salah satu kurikulum dalam disiplin ilmu militer, selain sebagai olah raga yang digemari oleh kalangan tua dan muda, karena disamping membutuhkan ketrampilan khusus, olah raga tersebut membutuhkan alat bantu yang sangat banyak dan harganya yang cukup mahal

rock climbing store


 
February 19th 2009 - Joshua rock climbing at a store. He loved it and made it to the top - about 2 stories high. He did an excellent job.

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kejurkab panjat tebing sleman 2009 di mayapala amikom yogyakarta (129)

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Extreme psychology: there may be more to high-risk sports than a “no fear” mantra, by Lindsey Konkel

climbing 
New York University, New York – Rich Gottlieb lumbers through his rock-climbing store, slightly favoring his right side. He’s dressed in a black sweat suit and a heavy pair of hiking boots. Dark circles under his eyes cast a weary shadow across his face. Gingerly, he touches his back, on the right side, just below the rib cage. “I got smashed up,” he says.
This story was previously published on New York University’s Scienceline.
Gottlieb, who’s been rock and ice climbing in the Adirondack Mountains of New York for 35 years, has taken his lumps. His most recent injury, a collapsed lung and a puncture wound the size of a bullet hole in his back, came after an ice-climbing fall. “I wasn’t in the moment,” he says. “I was talking to some people and just fell off.”
Psychologists might classify Rich Gottlieb as a sensation-seeker based on how he chooses to spend his free time, risking his life for a sport. To those who don’t participate in an extreme sport, putting one’s safety in danger for a leisure activity seems absurd, even crazy. Explanations in the scientific literature for sensation-seeking have been many and varied, from a pathological personality trait to a malfunctioning gene or a gender issue. But Gottlieb doesn’t fit the stereotype of a young, impulsive guy out for some cheap thrills and an adrenaline rush. At 57, he’s been honing his climbing skills for more than half his life, like an artist — practicing, pondering, and carefully planning each climb.
Gottlieb’s extreme sport experiences resonate with those of sports psychologist Eric Brymer at the University of Queensland in Australia. As the former Welsh national team’s free-style whitewater kayaking coach, Brymer came to realize that his athletes didn’t fit the mold of the self-destructive thrill-seeker described in the existing literature. He began asking extreme athletes about their experiences and found that the psychological stereotype was an over simplification: extreme sports participation can be a powerful, life-enhancing endeavor.
In the last thirty years, extreme sports participation in the United States alone has more than tripled. Brymer has found that partaking in high-risk sports may result in a number of benefits including not only increased courage, but also less obvious gifts such as humility and calmness. Classified by most psychologists as sensation-seekers, portrayed in the media as daredevils and marketed with mantras like “No fear” and “Go big,” it’s hard to imagine skydivers, BASE jumpers (athletes that parachute from stationary points like buildings or cliffs), or ice climbers as Zen-like. This, according to Brymer, is because most research into the psychology of extreme sports has lumped participation in dangerous sports with risky behaviors such as sex and drug addictions, while failing to inquire into the experiences of the athletes themselves.
The Sensation-Seeking, Extreme Sports Link
Since 1983, when Marvin Zuckerman, one of the modern fathers of sensation-seeking theory, reported that skydivers, hang-gliders and scuba divers were high up on the sensation-seeking behavior continuum along with gamblers and drug addicts, much of the research concerning extreme sports psychology has concentrated on this link — sensation-seeking as a negative personality trait. As defined by Zuckerman, sensation-seeking is the pursuit of novel and intense experiences without regard for physical, social, legal or financial risk. Indeed, scientists have discovered some similarities between the brains of drug users and high sensation-seeking athletes.
 
For instance, psychologist Ingmar Franken demonstrated in a 2006 study that a drug addict’s inability to experience joy or pleasure from everyday activities such as eating, exercise or social interaction when they aren’t getting high can also occur in individuals whose brains are used to being hyper-stimulated by the “natural high” of skydiving. Franken, of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, saw a higher instance of these withdrawal symptoms in skydivers who scored high on Zuckerman’s Sensation-Seeking Scale, a personality questionnaire aimed at helping researchers identify subjects who might be predisposed to taking big risks. Ecstasy-users and bungee-jumpers were compared in a 2004 study that aimed to view similarities in the way these two groups rationalize their risky behaviors. The study found that members of both circles justify participation by minimizing risk through practice and preparation and ignoring possible consequences such as brain damage, severe injury or death.
The connection between high sensation-seeking athletes and high sensation-seeking drug users comes down to brain chemistry, according to Michael Bardo, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky who studies the neurochemistry of sensation-seeking. Dopamine, a chemical associated with the brain’s pleasure reward system, seems to be the major player.
High sensation-seekers may be hyper-stimulated by novel experiences because their brains release more dopamine during these events than those of low sensation-seekers. “Everyone is wired to pay attention to things that are new in their environment,” says Bardo, “but it’s a matter of degree. People that are sensation-seekers tend to be more stimulated [by novelty].” The result of this dopamine flood is an intensely pleasurable experience that has the sensation-seeker coming back for more.
Adolescent males are the most likely subset of the population to partake in risky behaviors. This is because in adolescent males, the brain’s reward system develops long before the inhibitory system, which keeps impulsive, novelty-seeking behaviors in check. The inhibitory system doesn’t catch up with the rewards system until young men hit their early twenties. This leaves some young males who are genetically predisposed to high sensation-seeking susceptible to the lures of risky activities, like using drugs or jumping impulsively into a dangerous sport without thinking through the consequences first.