Every year, people get seriously injured in Extreme sports. Some of them even die. But, do you think this prevents other athletes to perform next time?

Think again. But, then what is it that drives some to take extreme risks while the rest just prefer to stay away?

Lester Keller, a coach, and sports-psychology coordinator says that not everyone has the psychological makeup to do extremely well in dangerous pursuits.

"It takes a certain kind of person," Keller says.
Most of us limit our appetite for tremendous risk and, as a result, our capability to do well in dangerous situations.

But, some people have a much higher tolerance.
"The high element of risk makes you feel alive, tests what you are made of and how far you can take yourself," Rahlves says.

"I'm not looking for danger. I'm in it for the challenge, my heart thumping as I finish, the feeling of being alive," he said. "I definitely get scared on some of the courses. It just makes me fight more. That's when I do best."

Read has experience of climbing over 40 years. He says he no longer pushes to the extremes as he once did.
 
"I can remember when I was getting into situations where I thought that at any moment I could be killed," he told National Geographic News. "I'm not particularly religious, but I would say, Oh God, don't let me be killed here. I'll never do this again."

Shane Murphy at Western Connecticut State University has worked with athletes. He gives this statement.

"I've worked with groups climbing Everest, including one group without oxygen. To me that just seems like the height of risk. But took every precaution they could think of. They weren't going out there to get hurt."

Murphy said the viewpoint of extreme athletes is very diverse from our own. "We look at a risky situation and know that if we were in [that situation] we would be out of control," he said. "But from the [athletes'] perspective, they have a lot of control.”

The above cited quotations, thus, make it clear that it is the psychological makeup of a person that decides whether or not he can do well in extreme sports.

As is said, fear is in the brain! If a person overcomes it, extreme sports are a thrilling experience. If this fear persists in the brain, extreme sports seem to be no less than a suicidal act.