If you fancy scaring the pants off yourself and your mates, book your advance ticket for a fright night at a theme park. It is such a fantastic thrill going on the rollercoasters during the day, and even more of an adrenalin rush in the dark at night.

October brings you theme park fright nights and scarefests. Most require advance bookings, even if you are a season ticket holder. Towards the end of the month and into November, you will also get fireworks displays as well.

UK Theme Park Halloween Fright Nights

• Alton Towers Scarefest – 19th October to 3rd November.  Book online now for 40% discount tickets – For real terror this Halloween, look no further than the Alton Towers Resort Scarefest! Be confronted by live terror as a chilling combination of indoor and outdoor scare attractions ensure those willing to be frightened this Halloween don’t leave feeling scared – they’ll leave terrified! Book online now and get 40% off.
• Thorpe Park Fright Night – 11th October – 3rd November.  40% discount off tickets. Fright Nights is back and even more terrifying than ever, transforming THORPE PARK into a world of twisted insanity!Only the brave will escape THORPE PARK Penitentiary as
  Fright Nights transform the nation’s Thrill Capital into a dark and twisted prison facility, where society’s most disturbed and dangerous prisoners have broken out and taken control.Take on THE SWARM for the first time in the dark, as you take a death-defying flight for your life on the UK’s first winged rollercoaster and brave all five terrifying live action horror mazes.Dare to Face Your Fears on the ultimate test as SAW – The Ride comes alive! And for the ultimate horror experience brave the terrifying live action horror mazes The Curse, Se7en, The Asylum, and Hellgate.

  If that’s not enough for you, experience exhilarating rides in the dark and take on the ‘Unholy Trinity’ of Stealth, Colossus and Nemesis Inferno in the pitch black of night until 10pm.

  Due to the extreme popularity of this event, Fright Nights is STRICTLY ADVANCE BOOK ONLY.
  LIMITED TIME ONLY: Grab your tickets now for just £24* – that’s over 40% saving!!

• Chessington Halloween Hocus Pocus – 25th October – 3rd November, 10am – 8pmThe whole family can enjoy spooky entertainment this Halloween as wicked witches and naughty Goblins take over the Park! Plus a mythical Fiery Faun will be weaving enchanting tales of his homeland using magic and fire to delight the younger members of your family. With rides in the dark and the chance to get up close and personal with the Zoo’s spiders, snakes and glow-in-the-dark scorpions there’s so much fun to be had it’s scary!

U.S. Theme Park Halloween Fright Nights

• Disneyland (Anaheim): Halloween Time with Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Halloween Screams fireworks show. 14th October – 31st October
• Magic Kingdom (Orlando, Fla.): Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with Boo-to-You parade and Happy HalloWishes fireworks show. September through to November
• Universal Studios Hollywood: Halloween Horror Nights with scare zones, live shows and haunted mazes, including the “Saw” maze. Oct. 2 to Oct 31.
• Universal Studios Florida (Orlando): Halloween Horror Nights with scare zones, live shows and haunted mazes, including the “Wolfman” maze. Oct. 1 to Oct 31.
• Six Flags: Fright Fest with mazes, scare zones, nighttime rides and shows at the chain’s amusement parks across the United States including Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia) and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, Calif.). Weekends through Nov. 1.
• SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld Orlando: Halloween Spooktacular with animal shows and trick-or-treating for children. Weekends through Nov. 1.
• Legoland (Carlsbad, Calif.): Brick-or-Treat with live shows and trick-or-treating for children. Saturdays in October.
• Knott’s Berry Farm (Buena Park): Halloween Haunt with 13 haunted mazes, four scare zones and seven shows. Wednesdays through Sundays through Oct. 31.
• Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio): HalloWeekends with haunted houses, five scare zones and eight shows. Weekends through Nov. 1.
• Kings Dominion (Doswell, Va.): Halloween Haunt with nine haunted mazes, five scare zones and four shows. Weekends through Oct. 31.
• Kings Island (Cincinnati, Ohio): Halloween Haunt with 13 haunted attractions. Thursdays through Sundays through Oct. 31.
• Carowinds (Charlotte, N.C.): Scarowinds with haunted rides, mazes and scare zones. Weekends through Oct. 31.
• Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (Florida): Howl-O-Scream with seven haunted houses, four scare zones and two shows. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through Oct. 31.
• Busch Gardens Williamsburg (Virginia): Howl-O-Scream with six haunted mazes, seven scare zones and six shows. Weekends through Nov. 1.
• SeaWorld San Antonio: Howl-O-Scream with haunted attractions, shows and scare zones. Weekends through Oct. 31 (and Oct. 12).
• Hersheypark (Hershey, Pa.): Hersheypark in the Dark with rethemed rides and live shows. Weekends through Oct. 31.
• Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.): National Gospel and Harvest Celebration with gospel music and harvest foods and crafts. Oct. 2 to Oct 31.
• Kennywood (West Mifflin, Pa.): Phantom Fright Nights with six haunted attractions and four scare zones. Friday and Saturday nights in October.
• Darien Lake (Darien Center, N.Y.): FrightFest with a haunted house and tram tour. Weekends through Oct. 18.
• Queen Mary Dark Harbor, Long Beach, California Queen Mary Dark Harbor celebrates Halloween all month long at the Queen Mary in Long Beach as the annual scare-fest takes on a horrifying new dimension. Join us for 15 fright-filled nights of mazes and madness, food and cocktails, and live bands.

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Paintball is a sport that combines strategy, teamwork and skill into an exciting action packed day. It is usually played outside in woodland areas or fields.

Players are supplied with a special marking paintball gun that fires biodegradable paintballs. The paintballs are propelled by compressed air making them very accurate up to a range of 60 metres. And yes, you get to shoot them at the other team!

You do not have to be super fit to play paintball; all you need is the ability to have fun and a sense of humour. Paintball is an exciting outdoor leisure activity, suitable for both sexes from the age of 12 upwards. It is ideal for birthday parties and groups from youth clubs or a bunch of school or college friends.

Paintballing Tips

On arrival at a paintball site you will be given full instructions and tuition, including a full safety briefing. At all times you will be totally supervised by experienced marshals who will accompany you throughout the day explaining everything you need to know about the paintball games and keeping you safe.

You will need to be quick thinking and resourceful as you attempt, with the rest of your team, to outwit the opposing team. During the day you will be set an exciting variety of objectives and missions, all designed to test your abilities in a friendly atmosphere.

Playing in a range of purpose built game zones, with names like The Alamo or Chemical Alley, combining man made structures with natural cover. You might be tasked with attacking then defending a fort or bridge, protecting a convoy of vehicles, ambushing your opponents or capturing and recovering a flag.

If you manage to hit a member of the opposition with a paintball they are eliminated from that round of the game, and the same goes for you. So you need to have your wits about you and work out the best time to make a move, or dive for cover and keep your head down!

After each game you hand in your paintball guns for checking and cleaning and return to your base for the day in the ‘Safe Zone’ where you can wipe of the paint (unless you’ve cunningly avoided being hit), re-load, grab some refreshment or stay for lunch and discuss your team tactics for the afternoon missions – having learnt from your mistakes in the morning!

Paintball is one of the fastest growing sports in Europe with over a million players last year. It can be an addictive adrenalin rush, so you might find yourself becoming a regular player and joining in competitive tournaments around the country.

Does Paintball Hurt?

Yes it does. A lot! It usually hurts as much as if someone flicks you hard on bare skin with their fingers. The rules are that you should not shoot close up, but in the heat of the battle you will usually get some vicious opponent who will get you. One game I went to, quite a few people left with large blood blisters and welts where the paintballs had damaged the skin.

However, if you find play strategically and work well with your team, you can usually come out with just a few slight bruises or none at all.

If you want to get some some protection from bruises, then there is a great selection of padded compression tops and trousers available in black or camo.

You can buy 500 rounds of paintball rounds for under $20 on Amazon.

What to Wear for Paintballing?

Wear old clothes. You should be given full overalls to wear when going paintballing, with a neck protector, head cover and full face mask. If you don’t like the idea of getting hit by a high velocity ball of paint, you might want to wear some thick clothing underneath for padding, but be aware that once you move about, you get quite hot. You are usually not allowed to run about (trip hazards), but the adrenalin usually makes you feel hotter.

Places to go Paintballing

There are paintball venues all over the country. Whichever one you choose, check whether they provide all the safety gear, such as full face masks, neck protectors, and overalls. Paintball is a real adrenalin sport that gets the blood and paint pumping.

Paintball Gear

One of the easiest places to buy paintball gear is from Amazon.com. Here are the recommended paintball essentials on Amazon.

The post Winning Paintball Tips appeared first on Active Outdoors.

You can give the gift of amazing days out doing unforgettable activities ranging from spa pamper sessions to thrill seekers’ delights such as driving experiences or flying an aeroplane. My wife is happy, because she can buy me a wonderful present, and I am ecstatic because I get to try out all sorts of brilliant experiences. And it’s not all about me; there are plenty of gifts for her that I can buy as well.

With so much on offer to choose from, I have collated a list of the entire selection of activity gifts available, all sorted into categories for you. I have written about what the experience days are like, and what you need to know before booking.

What are Experience Days?

Experience days are exactly what they say. Rather than buy someone a physical gift they unwrap, you can choose from a huge range of activities and experiences that you can buy. You go to an experience days website such as Red Letter Days and browse through the experience days on offer. When you buy one, your loved one will receive a pack in the post all nicely gift wrapped that gives details of what the experience day is and how to book the day and location that suits them.

Where to get Experience Days

There are a number of experience days companies online. The way they work is that they do all the hard work of making deals with activity providers and then collate them all together so that you can pick and choose which one you want. You then buy an experience day gift voucher. When someone receives an experience day voucher, all they have to do is to go to the company’s website, enter the voucher code, and choose what day and location they want. Experience days vouchers are usually valid for an entire year after purchase, so if you want to give the gift of hot air ballooning for Christmas, your loved one can activate the voucher in the summer when they want to go. Easy.

Each gift experience company has a slightly different selection of experience days on offer. What I do is to choose the experience day that I want, check that the company does it in the location I want and at the best price, and then buy.

My preferred experience day provider is Red Letter Days. Browse the massive selection of activity gifts and you will definitely find an experience day gift voucher that is perfect for the one you love.

The post Valentine’s Day Gift Experiences for the Outdoorsy Boyfriend appeared first on Active Outdoors.

Skills – Strength: 4, Balance: 7, Flexibility: 1, Agility: 5, Coordination: 6
Time needed: travelling time + 1 hour, Cost to try: £30 for two flights

Ever wanted to go skydiving but didn’t like the idea of jumping out of a plane. Indoor skydiving may be the answer. You don’t need a parachute in this ultimate freefall experience. You can go indoor skydiving and feel the exhilaration of unlimited freefall without even boarding a plane or leaving the building.

Indoor skydiving from Red Letter Days

The Indoor Skydiving Experience

Indoor Skydiving involves being in a vertical windtunnel, and floating on a powerful updraft of air. The walls of the indoor skydiving chamber are transparent, so that others can watch you while you have a most uplifting experience!

All flyers visiting iFly receive induction training in a pre-flight room from highly qualified instructors. Flyers are taken on a step by step programme, explaining how the wind tunnel works and how to get the most out of their flight. All flyers are provided with the latest equipment including flying suits, goggles and helmets.

After your initial instruction, you then get to watch the previous group in the wind tunnel. You will get an idea of what is involved. Then it’s your turn. You go into a side chamber that is next to the wind tunnel. The instructor then goes into the indoor skydiving wind tunnel and invites you in. You step into the tunnel and feel the blast of air from the fan beneath you under a rigid mesh floor. The instructor helps you into the flying position and you float on a cushion of high velocity air. You can try moving forward and backward, up and down. The instructor is right by your side the whole time. Once you have flown for a bit, at the end of your session the instructor will take you on an amazing flight right up to the top of the tunnel and back down again. What a rush!

iFly Indoor Skydiving

The iFly wind tunnel is at the Xscape Leisure and Entertainment Centre in Milton Keynes. The vertical wind tunnel enables people of all ages to feel the adrenalin of freefall in a controlled, safe environment. In the purpose built tunnel you’ll be able to perform a series of freefall manoeuvres in an airstream of up to 150mph.

The Tunnel

The impressive structure has been designed and built specifically for indoor skydiving and bodyflying. The tunnel employs state of the art technology which accurately controls the environment inside the tunnel. The four high performance 250HP fans generate controlled airflow and a windspeed of up to 150mph, replicating the conditions that skydivers thrive on. The indoor flight chamber has a diameter of 12 feet and is 35 feet high providing enough room for up to four experienced people to fly together.

The Indoor Skydiving Flyers

Not just for adrenalin junkies, the major appeal of iFly is that anyone can have a go. From first time thrill seekers to more experienced skydivers wanting to perfect their technique or those wanting to try something different, the iFly wind tunnel is for everyone. In fact children from the age of 5 enjoy and excel in the wind tunnel.

The advantage of the wind tunnel is that it combines the heart pumping elements of an extreme sport but in a controlled and safe environment. Unlike other extreme sports iFly doesn’t require any previous experience or sporting ability and people can be flying within minutes of arriving.

To prove to friends that you have actually flown, the iFly tunnel has cameras enabling DVD recordings and pictures to be taken while in-flight.

The Expertise

The finest instructors in the country make up the ‘Aircrew’. Prior to coaching in the tunnel, all instructors receive rigorous training lasting four weeks and are qualified by experts at the International Bodyflight Association in USA. The training is carried out at SkyVenture, the manufacturers of the iFly facility and operators of SkyVenture in Orlando, Florida. The Aircrew maximise the enjoyment of flights, give flyers confidence and help them to develop new skills whilst in the flight chamber.

Prices

The iFly experience starts at just £34.99 for the Kix-start package (off-peak) which lasts an hour and includes two flights. (The equivalent of three skydives all at once!). You can Book indoor skydiving with Red Letter Days

The post Indoor Skydiving appeared first on Active Outdoors.

Gliding experience gifts from Red Letter Days

Skills – Strength: 1, Balance: 5, Flexibility: 1, Agility: 1, Coordination: 6
Time needed: travelling time + 1 hour, Cost to try: £60

Gliding is, quite simply, the most fun you will ever have in the air!

A glider is like a small aeroplane, with one important difference – it has no engine. Glider pilots use the sky’s own energy to stay airborne and, by reading the sky and following the weather, pilots are able to achieve feats that non-glider pilots find hard to believe. The world distance record for a glider flight is over 3000km (that’s further than London to Moscow!) and even in this country, where the weather isn’t quite so good, flights of over 1100km have been recorded. Modern gliders fly at speeds of up to 250kmph and can reach heights well in excess of 30,000ft.

(c) www.whiteplanes.com

You are allowed to fly solo at 16 and most clubs will allow you to start training when you are around 14 or 15. Many young pilots do this and go solo on their 16th birthday each year. Once you have gone solo, you can start to really go places – flying cross country, taking part in racing competitions, getting into glider aerobatics, or just pushing yourself to go further, higher or faster than ever before.

The UK has a great record in international competitions and three out of the last four world junior champions have been British. There is a great junior scene (because you can’t go solo until you are 16, you are classed as a junior in gliding terms until you are 25!) with dedicated competitions, events, parties etc.

Glider pilots come from all walks of life and it is one sport where males and females can (and do!) compete on an equal basis. Many people think it has to be an expensive sport – wrong! Club members can take a half hour flight typically for as little as £15-£20 and most clubs offer young members flying at further reduced rates.

There are about 100 gliding clubs spread throughout the UK, including a good number of university clubs. You can find a complete listing along with further details about the sport at www.gliding.co.uk. For now though, here’s a bit more information:

Gliders

Gliders come in many shapes and sizes. They can also be cheap or expensive! Fortunately, you don”t need to buy your own glider – all clubs have two-seaters for instructional purposes, and most also have single-seaters which you move onto once you go solo. You never have to buy your own glider, but if you do, you can keep the cost down by joining a syndicate. Like cars, a glider can cost from a couple of thousand pounds through to a lot!

Launching

In order to launch, you need a little assistance. There are a couple of main ways of launching. The aerotow launch is very docile, and involves being pulled up by a light aircraft with a strong rope in between. When the glider gets to the required height, the glider releases the cable, and the glider is free! Winch launching is probably the most common. This involves being attached to a winch with a long reel of wire. When the wire gets pulled in, the glider gets the speed to fly into the air like a kite. When you are almost overhead the winch, again you can release the cable.

Staying Up

Once you are airborne, how do you stay up? Well, this depends on finding air that is rising. There are three forms of this “lift” that help us stay up – thermals, ridge (or hill) lift and wave. If you want to know more about these, have a look at the Soaring section on the BGA web site – www.gliding.co.uk

Going Places

Now you know you can stay up (given the right conditions!), you can use this to go places or go “cross-country”. Normally, this involves using one, or even all three forms of lift to get height, and then using this height to go forward to the next point on our task (or to the next area of lift). A typical task may be a 300 kilometre triangle, with the aim to get back to where you started. It is in this way that you can race – very simply, a task is set and the fastest person round it is the winner!

Aerobatics

We’ve all seen powered aircraft do aerobatics, but how does a glider do them? Well, very simply, in very much the same way. Gliders are just as strong and just as manoeuvrable as most powered aircraft, but with one difference – no engine! This means that an aerobatic flight normally involves taking a high aerotow and then using the height energy to perform the moves. To get the speed to perform these aerial feats, rather than using power, you turn your height into speed. Gliders may be slightly limited in what they can perform without an engine, but the gap is small, and they are silent and graceful in the execution.

Just Gliding!

(c) www.whiteplanes.com

Places to go Gliding

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The ‘Newest’ board sport?

You might think that sandboarding to be the newest board sports. In a way it is new and still not widely known. But, sandboarding is not so “new” as the word might seem. Some sources say ancient Egyptians were sliding down golden dunes of sand on planks of hardened pottery and wood. If this is true it’s easy to wonder about the slopes of the pyramids, how crazy of a ride down would that be!!

What is Sandboarding?

Sandboarding is basically snowboarding or surfing on sand dunes. Sandboarding was influenced by surfing but because the slopes don’t move, like surfing, sandboarding is probably closer to snow boarding. Through the 60’s sandboarding began to gain popularity through surfers and skateboarders who found that riding the dunes was not only challenging but was also alot of fun. Most any type of boarder would pick up this ‘new’ sport in a short time and have a lifetime of fun with it!

In the beginning sandboards were slow and didn’t perform very well on different types of sand or terrain. Improvements were needed if sandboarding was to hold its own. As the development of snowboards evolved so too did sandboards. “The similarities between the two sports allowed us to use their research. You might say that sandboards were developed by all the best snowboard designers in a way.” claims board master, Pete Pilcic. “By keeping up with the current technology on snow and stuff we were able to bring the ride of a sandboard to the same level without spending all the dollars.”

While snowboards certainly influenced the sandboard’s design other details needed to be worked out. The base surfaces used on snowboards were excellent for snow but on sand didn’t get the job done. Improvements had to come to bring sandboard speeds up. One big improvement came in the form of a familiar surface material most commonly known by it’s brand name, “Formica”. Specially formulated waxes pushed acceleration to the next level. New materials were developed that glided even better! Now sandboards would streak to the bottom of even medium sized dunes at speeds that would scare their riders! We call it success.

Technology lends a hand

Through the amazing growth of the INTERNET sandboarders found each other for the first time from all over the world. It turns out there were several thousand sandboarders out there who were making boards and carving dunes completely unknown to each other and thinking they were the only ones doing this crazy sport! Magazine, newspaper and television recognized the potential of sandboard and soon, sandboarding was popping up in major publications, television commercials, boards and accessories were advertised, web sites multiplied and events leaped to life. It seemed the world was now ready for sandboarding!

Body Sandboarding

Just like bodyboarding where you lie down on your board, body sandboarding is becoming hugely popular across sand dunes all over the world. You need a long flexible piece of hardboard to lie down on. You need to make sure that you keep the front edge lifted upwards or else you will hit the sand hard and stop pretty quick. Well, your sandboard will.

Sandboarding vs Snowboarding

The international organization for sandboarding, ( Dune Rider International ) notes much of the growing interest is because of the easy crossover making the sport appealing to boarders of all types. If you are snowboarding, skating or surfing now you’ll have little trouble picking up sandboarding and sand is very easy on the body when you fall. It is considered the best way to learn snowboarding because of the controlled speeds and slower starts.

If you want to know how sandboarding compares with snowboarding, it is pretty similar.  The main difference is that there is more inertia on the turns.  But if you want to straightline, then there is plenty of speed to be had.

If you don’t have access to sand dunes, you can always try mountain boarding.  This uses a board with four big tyres similar to offroad skateboarding.

Find out more about Sandboarding

If sandboarding grabs your attention, you can read lots more with Sandboard Magazine. You can also keep up to date at the Sand Master Park Facebook Page.

If you fancy having a go at sandboarding, get yourself to Sand Master Park in Florence, Oregon. If you want to find out more about sandboarding, visit Sand Master Park

The post Sandboarding appeared first on Active Outdoors.

Skills – Strength: 1, Balance: 1, Flexibility: 1, Agility: 1, Coordination: 1
Time needed: travelling time + 1 hour, Cost to try Zorbing: £49

What is Zorbing?

Originally from New Zealand Zorbing® is the experience of rolling down a hill in a large inflatable globe at a dedicated ZORB® site. The Zorb is a gigantic inflatable pvc ball standing about three metres in height, which contains another smaller ball that is suspended into position by thousand nylon strands of varying colours. You go inside a ZORB® globe and roll you down a hill, wet or dry (which ever tickles your fancy!). There are two types of ZORB® globes available – the harness, or ZORBIT (dry) variety; and the non-harness, or ZYDRO (wet) variety. What’s more, you can choose to roll down one of the track variations for a completely unique experience.

The Different Types of Zorbing Tracks

The Straight Grassy Half Pipe Zorbing Track

The most common Zorbing track is the grassy half pipe. The Zorb is held in place at the top of a hill while you climb inside. Once you are safely strapped into your harness, or sliding free in a puddle of water, the Zorb is pushed down the hill.

The big grass banks on either side of the track keep the Zorb rolling in a straight line until it stops at the bottom. Some tracks have bumps in them, which makes the Zorb bounce up and down like you are inside a gigantic bouncy ball. In fact you are inside a gigantic inflatable ball.

The S Curve Zorbing Track

To make your Zorbing experience a whole lot more interesting, some tracks are curved like the S bends in a river. This makes you twist and turn as you roll down the hill, rather than just rolling head over heels. Totally disorientating, but great fun. Not to be tried straight after lunch.

Open Space Zorbing

There are some places that use wide open countryside for Zorbing. The advantage is that you get a much much longer ride and go faster. It is not quite the extreme Zorbing where Jackie Chan used a gigantic inflatable ball in the film Operation Condor to roll down a mountain to escape the enemy.

Zorbing on Water

You can go in a large inflatable ball and walk on water. Similar to Waterwalkerz, the inflatable ball or tube floats on the water in a swimming pool or lake. Center Parks often have this available.

Zorbing on the Flat

Zorbing on flat ground is often done at outdoor events. You can hire Zorbs for public or corporate events. The ball is moved around by people pushing them around. A bit of fun, but nothing compared to Zorbing down a big hill.

Zorb Bowling Alley

For some extreme Zorbing fun, Zorb have created gigantic human bowling alleys. The Zorb is used to roll down a hill and knock over enormous inflatable skittles. Absolutely hilarious fun.

So What is Sphering?

SphereMania® was established in 1998 by Robert Price. SphereMania® was the first company in the UK to offer ‘Hill-Rolling’ to customers, and today offers Sphereing® across the UK through 14 franchisees.

SphereMania® offers 3 different activities: Harness Sphereing®; Aqua Sphereing® and Eclipse Sphereing®. Harness Sphereing® was the original, and remains the main activity offered. Two riders are harnessed into the Sphere and roll down the hill at speeds of up to 30mph.

Air Sphereing can be experienced where Spheremania use their spheres in vertical indoor skydiving wind tunnels. This works in the same way that you can get a ping pong ball to hover above a hair dryer, trapped in the column of air. A weird sensation, but not as exhilarating as rolling down a hill.

Eclipse Sphereing® is the newest and most extreme ride to emerge from SphereMania®. It is derived from the Harness Sphere, but the inside of the ball can be closed off; so customers hurtle down the hill in total pitch black darkness.

Official Zorb and Sphereing have strict safety regimes to ensure your safety whilst you are zorbing or sphereing. There are other places to go if you want to go hill rolling, such as the Devil’s Dyke near Brighton in Sussex.

Bubble Football

A variation on zorbing is bubble football. You wear a smaller version of a zorb as a protective bubble around your entire body and bash into each other playing football. It makes tackling a whole lot more fun.

Where can I go Zorbing, Sphering or Hill Rolling

If you want to go zorbing or sphering in the UK, Zorbing with Red Letter Days offers aqua zorbing, harness zorbing and eclipse zorbing.

The post Zorbing, Sphering and Hill Rolling appeared first on Active Outdoors.

In its simplest form, to make a rope swing, you get a piece of rope and tie it to the branch of a tree. To get the best from it though, here are a few tips on making the best rope swings.

Is your rope swing strong enough?

Choosing the right place to tie your rope swing to

You don’t want the rope swing breaking on you. It seriously hurts when you land on your backside. You create quite a few expletives; and that’s if you’re not in too much pain to get up.

Make sure that the branch you are going to tie your rope swing to is strong enough. A good branch should be thick enough, have signs of green leaves growing on it, and no sign of dead bits or fungus. You will want a branch that is at least 30cm in diameter. That way, there is a good chance of it holding the heavier grown ups who will no doubt intrude on your fun.

You will also have to consider the location of the branch.  Is it high enough to get a good swing?  Will you be able to get the rope over the branch without it getting tangled up in other branches?  Is the path that the rope swing takes clear of obstructions?

You don’t have to tie your rope swing to a tree branch. You could tie it to the metal supports under a footbridge or bridge over a river. Or if you have the right climbing gear, you can anchor it into the rock of a big natural arch. Only do this if you are an experienced climber and know how to anchor ropes.
If you can find a branch over a river, then you can swing out and jump into the water. Make sure the water is deep enough to land in though. Oh yeah, and make sure you can swim.

The Best Rope for a Rope Swing

There are several different ropes that you can use for a tire swing. The best rope for a rope swing will need to:

• Be Durable – It has to last in all weathers without fraying or rotting
• It has to be thick enough to hold onto – thin ropes are harder to hold on tight to when swinging, so you need at least 3/4 inch (20mm) width rope.  If you are using a proper swing seat that is attached by both ends, you can get away with using rope that is thicker than 14mm.  However, this is a guide from my personal experience.
• Be Strong – the rope you choose for your tire swing has to support the weight of at least one adult.  Always allow for extra weight because you will get multiple adults trying to swing on it at once.  When buying rope, check the breaking strain.  Always allow 2 or 3 times the maximum expected load.  It needs to hold at least 300kg.
• It has to hold a knot – Some polypropylene ropes do not grip and the knots can slip

Any decision you make for your rope swing design is taken at your own risk.

Types of Rope

Manila Natural Rope that is 20mm in diameter can be bought by the metre from Amazon or hardware stores for less than £2 per metre. Natural or hemp ropes are the best ropes for rope swings. It is durable and doesn’t deteriorate in UV light.
Climbing ropes are designed to take the weight of someone, and may be a good option. They do cost money though, and don’t last well rubbing back and forth on a tree branch.

Make sure that the rope you use for your rope swing is long enough to go over the tree branch, be tied up, and have enough length for you to reach it. I have seen loads of rope swings where the bottom of the rope is nowhere near the ground and you have to climb on something or jump to reach it. The rope becomes shorter if you are going to tie a stick to the bottom as a seat.

Another good thing to use as a rope swing is a 20m heavy duty towing belt, or the thick straps used on lorries for holding goods down. These are flat, but designed to be very strong pulling 7 tonnes, and withstand wear and tear.

Tying your rope swing to a tree branch

Anyone good with knots? One way to tie your rope swing to a tree branch is to tie a loop in the end of the rope, pass the rope over the branch and back through the loop in the rope. When you pull the rope, it tightens itself onto the branch. This is also a good method if you cannot climb the tree to attach your rope swing. To make it easier to get the rope over the branch, you can use a weight attached to a long piece of string and throw it over, keeping hold of the end of the string. Then tie the other end of the string to the rope and pull it over the branch. Put the end of the rope through the loop and tighten. You are good to go.

Using a bank for your launch point

Rather than having to be pushed on your rope swing, or have to run to get a good first swing, you can use a bank to get the height. If you can find a tree where the branch is over a lower point in the ground and there is a bank or raised bit of ground where you can start your swing from, then this gives you a nice big swing.

Check that the end of the rope reaches the bank so that you can get on, whilst also making sure it will not hit the ground when in motion. If you do this right, this means that you can use a longer piece of rope and get a bigger swing. The longer the rope, the further you swing and more exhilarating it is. Just watch the YouTube video of the world’s best rope swing ever to get the idea. They are starting off from the top of a cliff and swinging down under a rock arch.

How to make it easy to hold onto the rope swing when swinging

The simplest way is to use a foot loop. Tie a non-slip loop knot at the bottom of the rope. You put your foot in the loop, hold on further up and swing. You can also put a stick through the loop and sit on it. This can be tricky for some people, as you have to balance on the stick. You can also tie a tyre to the rope and make a tyre swing.

If you want to be really different, you can cut the tyre and make a tyre horse rope swing.

You can buy rope and seats for rope swings from Amazon.

Rope swings, rope and seats from Amazon.com

Rope swing rope, seats and ladders from Amazon.co.uk

Make Your Own Zip Line Aerial Runway

Amazon now has some great zip line ropes and pulleys so that your can make your own zip line. The 100′ Night Riderz Series Zipline Kit includes 100 feet of cable, and includes everything you need to get the zipline up and running. It even has 50 multicolored LED lights on the seat, rope and trolley so you can have fun using it in the dark!

If you want to try some big rope swings and ziplines, have a look at what Go Ape ropes courses offer.

The post How to Make the Best Rope Swing in the World appeared first on Active Outdoors.

The Most Popular Outdoor Recreational Activities

Every year the Outdoor Foundation in the US and Sport England in the UK publish a list of the most popular outdoor activities.
According to the Outdoor Foundation, about half the U.S. population participated in outdoor recreation at least once in 2018, including hunting, hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing among many more outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the report highlights an alarming trend that just under half the U.S. population does not participate in outdoor recreation at all.

The most popular outdoor activities are:

1. Running, jogging and trail running;
2. Hiking and walking for fitness;
3. Camping and RV Camping;
4. Road biking, mountain biking and BMX;
5. Freshwater, saltwater and fly fishing;
6. Golf;
7. Wildlife watching;
8. Netball and basketball;
9. Tennis and Table Tennis;
10. Soccer;

Most participants preferred to find adventure less than one mile from their homes.

The top 10 list remains fairly consistent year on year.  There are however a few variations as new sports and activities develop and become popular for a while. Follow the blog to find out new trends and more great ways to try out new activities and get active outdoors.

Outdoor Activities Environment Picker

Use the images below to jump to the section in the outdoor activities list with the environment for you.

Outdoor Recreational Activities and Hobbies for Adults

Outdoor recreational activities are ways in which you can spend your leisure time outdoors being physically active, creative, relaxing, having fun or being social.  Explore the huge range of exciting outdoor activities and some of the best adventure sports in the list below.

The most popular ideas for outdoor summer activities include:

• outdoor activities to do on the weekend with friends,
• outdoor activities for couples,
• bucket list of summer activities for boyfriend and girlfriend.

What are the Different Types of Outdoor Activities?

To help you choose which outdoor recreational activities and hobbies suit your needs right now, I have rated them under five categories:

• Relaxing outdoor activities to just unwind and take things easy or to improve your sense of well being.
• Fun outdoor activities that are a perfect for shared experiences where it’s all about fun and friends.
• Outdoor physical challenges that provide adventure and challenge for an adrenaline buzz or for personal development.
• Extreme outdoor activities for thrill seekers that give a serious adrenaline rush and require great skill
• Outdoor sports activities that need a few friends to join in and are competitive

Land Activities

This vast list of outdoor land activities provides inspiration for fitness, downhill fun, relaxing creative hobbies, personal challenges, new skills to learn and outdoor recreational activities that will leave you with a huge smile.

•  4×4 driving experience
•  Activity Holidays for adults and families
•  Adventure Races
•  Air rifle and air pistol shooting
•  Airsoft
•  American Football
•  Animal Parks, Wildlife Parks and Zoos
•  Archery
•  Assault courses and Obstacle course races
•  Athletics
•  Backyard Sleepovers
•  Badminton
•  Baseball and Softball
•  Basketball
•  Baton Twirling
•  Battle Reenactments
•  Beach Activities
•  Beachcombing
•  Bicycle Polo
•  Bird watching holidays
•  BMX biking
•  Boccia
•  Bootcamps for fitness
•  Bouldering
•  Bowls
•  Brushboarding
•  Bubble Football
•  Bushcraft and survival courses
•  Camel trekking holidays
•  Camogie
•  Camping
•  Canyoning and Canyoneering
•  Capoeira
•  Carnivals
•  Carriage driving
•  Cave biking underground
•  Caving and potholing
•  Cheerleading
•  Chinese Martial Arts
•  Circus Skills
•  Clay Pigeon Shooting
•  Climbing courses and climbing holidays
•  Concerts, Festivals and Gigs
•  Conkers
•  Cookout
•  Crazy Golf and Mini Golf, Pitch and Putt
•  Cricket
•  Croquet
•  Cycling fitness training
•  Dance, Street Dance
•  Den Building and Bivouacs
•  Digger and JCB driving
•  Dodgeball
•  Dog Scootering
•  Drag Racing
•  Driving Experience Days
•  Duathlon
•  Eclipse Sphering and Eclipse Zorbing
•  Equestrian (horse Riding, eventing, racing, dressage, cross country)
•  Exercise and fitness
•  Exploring holidays
•  Fencing
•  Fives (rugby)
•  Floorball
•  Folk Dancing
•  Footbags
•  Football and Soccer
•  Free Running and Parkour
•  Fruit Picking
•  Fun fairs
•  Futsal
•  Gaelic Football
•  Gap Year Travelling
•  Gardening
•  Geocaching
•  Gladiator Training
•  Goalball
•  Go Ape forest high wire adventures ropes courses
•  Go Karting
•  Golf Holidays
•  Grass skiing
•  Grass sledging
•  Grass karting
•  Greyhound Racing
•  Grow Your Own Vegetables
•  Grouse Shooting
•  Gymnastics
•  Handball
•  Harness Racing
•  Hiking holidays
•  Hockey
•  Horse Boarding
•  Horse Racing
•  Horse Riding
•  Hurling
•  Jogging and running
•  Jousting
•  Kite Boarding
•  Kite Buggying
•  Korfball
•  Lacrosse
•  Landboarding
•  Land Sailing and Land Yachting
•  Landscape painting holidays and art holidays
•  Laser Clay Shooting
•  Laser Tag
•  Lawn Mower Racing
•  Live Action Role Playing Games
•  Llama trekking
•  Marathon Running
•  Minimoto
•  Modern Pentathlon
•  Monster Truck Driving Experience
•  Motorcycling, Motocross and dirt biking
•  Motor Sports
•  Mountain Bikes
•  Mountain Boarding
•  Mountaineering
•  Mud Racing
•  Multi Use Games Areas and playgrounds for adults
•  Nascar
•  Netball
•  Open Air Theatre
•  Orienteering
•  Outdoor Movie theatres and cinemas
•  Outdoor Photography
•  Paintballing
•  Parks – Chess, Ping Pong, picnics, football, sunbathing…
•  Pentathlon
•  Petanque
•  Picnics
•  Piggy Back Fights
•  Pogo, extreme pogo and pogopalooza
•  Pony Trekking Holidays
•  Polo
•  Polocrosse
•  Quad Biking
•  Rally Driving Experience
•  Rambling
•  Remote Control Cars
•  Rock Climbing
•  Roller Coasters and Theme Parks
•  Roller Skating and Roller Blading
•  Roller Hockey, Puck Hockey
•  Rope Swings
•  Rounders
•  Rugby and Tag Rugby
•  Quoits
•  Safari Holidays
•  Sandboarding
•  Scavenger Hunts
•  Scooter Freestyle
•  Segway Offroading
•  Shinty
•  Shooting (air, clay, crossbow, pistol, rifle, longbow, compound bow)
•  Show Jumping
•  Skateboarding
•  Skeet Shooting
•  Skid Pan Experience Days
•  Skipping
•  Sightseeing
•  Slacklining
•  Soap Box Kart racing or Extreme Gravity Racing
•  Softball
•  Soft Martial Arts – Tai Chi, Chi Kung
•  Speedway
•  Sphering
•  Steam Train driving experience
•  Stock Car Racing and Demolition Derby
•  Stoolball
•  Street Hockey
•  Street Improvisation and Drama
•  Street Luge and Downhill Skateboarding and Downhill Skating
•  Table Tennis
•  Tag Rugby
•  Tank Driving Experience
•  Team Building Outdoor Activities
•  Tennis Holidays
•  Throw and Catch an American mini football, frisbee or frisbee golf
•  Tractor Pulling
•  Trail Running
•  Trampolining
•  Treasure Hunting and Metal Detectors
•  Tree Climbing
•  Treehouses
•  Triathlon Events
•  Tug of War
•  Ultimate Frisbee
•  Unicycling
•  Via Ferrata
•  Volleyball
•  Walking Holidays
•  Walk the dog
•  Wash the car
•  Watch the sunrise or sunset
•  Water Fights
•  Wildlife Conservation
•  Wildlife watching holidays
•  Yoga
•  Young Drivers – Car racing for teenagers, and driving experiences for 11 year olds and over
•  Zorbing

Water Activities

These outdoor water activities provide wet and wild inspiration in, on or under water.

•  Argo Cats
•  Banana rides
•  Blackwater rafting
•  Boating, Pedalos and Punts
•  Body Boarding
•  Bore Surfing
•  Bridge Jumping
•  Canoeing
•  Cave Diving
•  Coasteering
•  Crabbing
•  Diving (swimming)
•  Dragon Boat Racing
•  Exploring Rock Pools
•  Fishing Trips
•  Flyboard, waterjet powered hover board
•  Free Diving
•  Hovercraft Experience
•  Hydrospeeding and Riverboarding
•  Jet Skiing
•  Kayaking
•  Kitesurfing
•  Kneeboarding
•  Model Boats
•  Motor Cruising Holidays
•  Narrow boat holidays
•  Octopush Underwater hockey
•  Pond Dipping
•  Pooh Sticks, paper boats, duck races and dam building
•  Powerboating Courses
•  Raft Building
•  Rib Riding
•  River Bugging
•  Rowing
•  Sailing
•  Scuba Diving
•  Sea Kayaking
•  Skim Boarding
•  Snorkeling
•  Stand up paddle boarding
•  Surfing
•  Surf Life Saving
•  Swimming
•  Swimming with dolphins
•  Tall Ship Holidays
•  Tombstoning
• Waboba
•  Wakeboarding
•  Water Jet Pack Flying
•  Water Parks and flumes
•  Water Polo
•  Water Skiing
•  WaterWalkerz water sphering
•  Waveskiing
•  Whale Watching Holidays
•  Whitewater Rafting Trips
•  Wild Swimming
•  Windsurfing
•  Yacht Charters
•  Yachting
•  Zap Cat Racing

 Air Activities

This list of outdoor air activities includes birds, planes, flying toys and some seriously exhilarating aerial experiences.

•  Aeroplane flying and aerobatics experiences
•  Air Sphering
•  Astronomy
•  BASE Jumping
•  Bungee Jumping
•  Falconry experience days
•  Gliding lessons
•  Gyrocopter flying
•  Hang Gliding experience
•  Helicopter Flights
•  Hot Air Balloon Rides
•  Indoor Skydiving
•  Kites and Power Kites
•  Microlights
•  Model airplanes, helicopters and multirotors (drones)
•  Model Rockets
•  Paragliding and Paramotoring
•  Parascending
•  SCAD – Suspended Catch Air Device
•  Skydiving
•  Wing Walking

Winter Activities

This list of outdoor winter activities is all about being cool on the on snow and ice.  Most are adrenaline sports.

•  Airboarding
•  Biathlon
•  Bob Rafting
•  Bobsleigh
•  Curling
•  Dog Sledding Holidays
•  Heliskiing and Heliboarding
•  Ice Climbing
•  Ice Diving
•  Ice Hockey
•  Ice Karting
•  Ice Racing and Ice Driving
•  Ice Skating
•  Luge
•  Skeleton Bob
•  Skiing
•  Skiing Holidays
•  Skijoring with dogs, horses or a 4×4
•  Sledges and toboggans
•  Snowball fights, snowmen and free fun winter activities for teenagers
•  Snowblading
•  Snowboarding
•  Snowbombing
•  Snowcat Piste Basher Driving
•  Snow Kiting
•  Snowmobiling
•  Snow Rafting
•  Snow Shoeing
•  Snow Tubing and Doughnutting
•  Winter Olympics

Follow the blog to find out new trends and great ways to try out more outdoor activities examples and get Active Outdoors.

The post Outdoor Recreational Activities List appeared first on Active Outdoors.

What is Mountain Boarding?

Mountain Board Design

A mountain board is like a skateboard, but the deck is like that of a longboard, being larger and wider. The mountain board has shocks designed to take the impact of the terrain. This is helped by the wheels which have inflatable tyres.

The style of mountain board riding depends on the wheel size. Smaller mountain board wheels are the best choice for freestyle riding and jumping. Larger wheels are more useful to the downhill mountain board rider; enabling the rider to go faster with more stability when travelling at speed.

Some mountain boards have bindings, similar to those on snowboards. The bindings are designed to hold the rider and mountain board together while allowing room to move your feet.

Mountain Board Riding Styles

The two main styles of mountain board riding are downhill and freestyle.

Downhill mountain boarding is done on a variety of terrain, from ski resorts, when the snow has melted away, to downhill mountain bike courses. Mountain board racing is usually either slalom where two riders weave between poles, boarder cross, which is a category of racing that is similar to BMX courses with berms and jumps, or timed one man downhill.

Freestyle mountain board riding consists of ramp jumping; performing tricks which can be rotations (180, 360 and more degree turns), inverted tricks (back flips, front flips), board grabs (tail grab and nose grab) and one foot variations (or even no foot variations like supermans).

Some mountain board riders use a power kite to provide traction. This is known as kite landboarding. The power kite can provide enough pull to get some air and perform tricks. Experienced mountain board riders tend to prefer large kites and small boards to maximize their airtime.

There is a yearly mountain boarding championship ran by the ATBA-UK, and has stages held at mountain boarding centres throughout the country. There are also a number of one off events including a tournament at the Isle of Wight Air Festival.

There are a number of publicly accessible places to go mountain boarding, as well as a number of dedicated mountain boarding centres. Mountain boarding centres will hire equipment, as well as having connections with the kite boarding suppliers.

Ivyleaf Mountain Boarding Centre

Ivyleaf Mountain Boarding Centre has been open near Bude in Cornwall since 2004 and is getting bigger each year. The mountain board course at Ivyleaf is ideal for both beginners and experts alike, with jumps and rails of varying difficulties depending upon your mountain board experience. If you”re only just starting out in mountain boarding, the on-site instructors can give you all of the training you need to get you on your feet and off down the slopes – simply book a lesson prior to your visit and they will do the rest. All of the instructors hold the ATB Instructors” Certificate and are fully trained in first-aid.

• A teaching area designed for beginners which is safely secluded
• A beginners track with berms and a jump to ease you in
• A large practice area for carving
• Freestyle track
• A new and improved Boarder-X track that has doubled in size
• Slope style track
• Railjam
• Foam Pit to practice more difficult tricks.
• In the office they stock magazines, stickers, clothing and refreshments

Other Board Sports

• Kite Surfing
• Surfing
• Wind Surfing
• Snow Boarding
• Skateboarding
• Street Luge

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