Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to follow the same instinct: to swim hard and to fight the cold water. But when people fight it, chances are that they lose. Cold water shock makes them gasp uncontrollably and breath in water. Then they drown.

A mix of pro and amateur surfers were invited to compete in Nixon’s surf contest, The Weird, on the North Shore of Hawaii. Riders were matched through a blind draw pairing with one of seven weird boards. The boards were a variety of different shapes and sizes and included everything from twin fins to asymmetrical boards. Not as crazy as a Flatscreen TV but still pretty weird.

Surfing wipeouts are inevitable and nine times out of ten they are hardly extraordinary, or even dangerous. Still there’s always the one time out of ten when things go south. And having a kite connected to you doesn’t probably stack the odds in your favor. Below are some points which may help to minimize the negative consequences of kitesurfing wipeouts.

As the winter season ends in the Urals and skiers and snowboarders are leaving the mountains, MTB riders are going to charge the slopes. On March 25th the Parallel Mountain Bike Slalom competition will be held at Gubakha Ski Resort (Perm region). The participants will compete in the mountain bike downhill dual slalom on a specially prepared track with various obstacles - snow, ice, soil and grass.

Anyone can take part. The main requirement for every rider is a helmet and winter tires. The fastest riders will win cash prizes and gifts from the competition's sponsors and organizers. The participation fees are 300 and 400 rubles for categories "amateurs" and "professionals", respectively.

WAVEFRONT.ru launches the Extreme Spots Database. The database isn’t limited only to water sports and can be used for other extreme sports as well.

The database is available for everyone and doesn’t require registration for searching and viewing the information. Registered users have access to additional options - they can add and edit spots, comment at spots pages, control their profiles and use the portal’s forums.

Some kitesurfing/surfing spots in Cyprus have already been added to the database and can serve as an example. Any contribution to the portal's development - comments, pointing out errors or inaccuracies, suggestions for improvements - would be most welcome!