Utopi og ekstremsport

Extreme sports began in the 1980s. From then on it has developed both concerning the amount of disciplines and the number of participants, and today it even receives some public interest – many ordinary people have run a marathon. Man has always occupied himself with wondering about utopia and the kind of utopias that might be achievable. This is caused by existential concerns that force man to look beyond the given. Conditions associated with globalisation and the progress of science and technology in the twentieth century has been an offensive against the last century’s great utopias. At the same time, on the one hand increased demands have been imposed upon the individual to form his own life, and on the other hand expectations encourage him to choose this life within the range of conformity. The consequence is that man’s basic existential endeavour is blocked behind the conformed and hopeless. In this dilemma, extreme sport appears as a domain where the individual is given free rein to set their own goals and to pursue them uncompromisingly. In this way, disciplines of extreme sports can be perceived as small individual utopian projects.