The Extremists

The sport of skydiving has several unique disciplines and a 31 year old french man by the name of Patrick de Gordon excels at them all. Drag boats; these top fuel drag boats have 4000 horsepower and travel the 1/4 mile in less than 6 seconds while reaching speeds of 200 mph.

Dominique Perret, is known to many as the foremost free radical skier in the world. He seeks the unskiable and physically attacks each new obstacle that sets before him. Free climbing is highlighted through three of the sports top climbers; Todd Skinner, John Bachar, and Dan Osman. They make climbing sheer rock faces look easy, but it's not!

This contest brings together the best big wave surfers in the world taking on the huge winter waves of Waimea bay in Hawaii. The ultimate challenge to man and his two-wheel machine. The goal here is to crawl, scratch and claw to the top of the famous widow maker mountain. Meet the coast guard men whose job involves facing huge waves which break over shifting sandbars.

Bull riding is one of the most exciting events today. Putting a 155 lb man against a 2000 lb animal with a much faster reaction time. Pascal Budin lives in the French alps and uses various physical disciplines such as; mountain biking, trail running, and grass skiing to train for his main sport which is speed skiing.

Damon Bradshaw, the beast from the east, will astound you with his motorcycle riding ability. Chris has been living in Hawaii for much of his life, devoting his time to sail boarding, and surfing the island's large waves. Marianne Maire is one of the finest aerobatics pilots, period

Hell-fighters of Kuwait are the men who fight oil rig fires around the world. The sacred monkey river of rapids and waterfalls, carves its way through the wild jungles of mexico. Idita sport is a 200 mile cross country competition that takes place in the wild, and winter, of the frozen Alaskan outback.

We'll see rodeo clowns in action, and the brutal position they sometimes find themselves in when trying to save a fallen cowboy. Bruno Gouvy was one of the real pioneers of the entire extremist movement. Bruno was a man who set his sights on a goal, achieved it, and then moved on to something more grueling and radical.

We go to the home of this now worldwide craze of bungee jumping, which takes place in queens town, New Zealand. Scott Schmidt is a high flying extreme skier and one of the most gutsiest cliff jumpers in the ski world. The Fletchers are a San Clemente family of surfers and jet skiers who have taken these sports to new limits.

Dan Merkle is an individual who places the body on the line everyday in effort to position himself for that impossible shot. Richard Branson set the record for the fastest transatlantic boat crossing, became the first person to cross the Atlantic, and the pacific, in a hot air balloon. Branson brushed with death on each of these occasions.

Kitty Calhoun is a young lady capable of challenging vertical ice formations where most men would never dare to climb. Only a few select wave warriors have been able to combine the strong and furious talent of wind surfing off the north shore of Maui. Franz Weber will learn what it takes to combine raw strength and courage.

Mal Wolfe traveled to the depths of the ocean for over 20 years. He takes his team, and IMAX camera crew, right into the jaws of the great white shark. Trans global solo sailing requires a state of the art, computerized, sailing yacht, designed for one task only, a 27,000 mile race.

Iron man Stewart attacks 1000 miles of Baja terrain and stadium course racing, in this super charged off road vehicle. Mark Welman is a park ranger who was paralyzed in a climbing accident that has never slowed him down. In this segment, mark climbs the sheer rock face of half dome in Yosemite National Park, cross country skis, and bathes white water rapids in a kayak.

Florent Carmin, european barefoot champion, show us new ways of barefoot skiing. These new ways are behind a helicopter in Tahiti. Didier Lafond is the favorite cinematographer of the top extremists like Patrick de Gordon, Dominique Peret, and Bruno Gouvy, who all congregate in Chamonix, France for skydiving, free radical skiing, base jumping, aerobatics, and the new sport of sky surfing.

Psycho-anthropologist/explorer/cinematographer; Lawrence Blair has spent 15 years of his life exploring, living with, and filming native people of Indonesia. Dave Cullinan is the top downhill mountain bike rider around. He talks about what makes him the best at this sport.

Avalanche patrol features the ski patrols of squaw valley USA and mammoth mountain. They explain the dangers of their job. Only a select few wave warriors have been able to combine strong and furious talent off the north shore of Maui, and the ability to ride the biggest swells known to mankind. The La Carrera road race consists of over 1000 miles of the worst roads conceivable.

Smoke jumpers are fire fighters and front line troops who jump out of low flying air crafts. They have the initial attack mission of parachuting into burning forests. Larry Rosler has been riding motorcycles for 35 years and is an 8 time Baja 500 champion. Reno air races features David Price, who is top in his class. He flies his P-51 mustang at speeds that can reach up to 500 mph.

Meet Wendal Suckow and Robert Pipkins. They are the up and coming sliders for the u.s. luge team. Lugers slide down a track only a few inches off the ice at speeds up to 90 mph. Al Giddings is considered to be the foremost underwater cinematographer in the world. Anna Dalva is a woman who has earned respect in a male dominated sport. This respect was earned through competing and winning.

Shovel racing evolved from plain, off the shelf scoop shovels, to sleek aerodynamic sleds, that can reach speeds of 80 mph. Dan Osman shows us why he is fast becoming a legend in the climbing world. He is known for his free climbing and free soloing abilities. The only reason these men and women come to the Bonneville salt flats is for speed, to set the land speed record.

Meet the coast guard men whose job involves facing huge waves breaking over shifting sandbars in the attempt of saving distressed ships. Damon Bradshaw, the beast from the east, will astound you with his motorcycle riding ability, as he and the rest of the super cross tour race over a man made obstacle course.

Test pilots - this segment features the courageous pilots who test the u.s. armed forces airplanes, from cargo to the high-tech fighter jets. Terry Cook excels at many sports and he loves a good stunt. While extreme skiing, he performs full layouts off cliffs. His hang gliding loops are only one of the crazy maneuvers he performs when flying.

Only a select few men and women are capable of pushing the "sound barrier of skiing". The ultimate goal is terminal velocity on skis. It takes raw strength and courage, as well as a understanding of physics in an effort to push the envelope of human speed to over 140 mph. Bull riding is one of the most exciting events today, pitting the best in the sport today against a 2,000 pound animal.

Super bikes are the fastest street bikes racing the tracks today, and the hottest newcomer is 19 year old Colin Edwards ii. We take a look at sky diving from a sky divers point of view, literally, through tom sanders. Tom is considered the premier aerial photographer. Rollerblading; this segment features Chris Edwards, a guy who will try practically anything on roller blades.

Chris Spelius started kayaking when he was young, and as of today has taken on the wildest rivers in the world, including the futaleufu in Chile. It is the meanest river in south america. Ricky Johnson was on top of the motocross circuit when he decided that he needed a new challenge. This new challenge he chose was stadium off road racing and he has excelled