LIVE+TO+TELL+THE+TALE

A) VOCABULARY EXTREME SPORTS []  []  [|https://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=2744470#]  []

B) VIDEO: [|Nikon - WHY] from [|Corey Rich] on [|Vimeo] . media type="vimeo" key="34666308" height="281" width="500"

** Nikon Why TRANSCRIPT ** Dane Jackson, kayaker: I think I learned how to kayak long before I’ve learned how to talk and walk, that’s for sure… Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: I’m not sure I agree with the quote that it’s all about the journey, because for me it’s all about the competitive aspect, I’m a racer and I love to win. Alex Honnold, solo climber: “I wouldn’t say that I try to prove something to people. Or that I’m trying to prove something to myself really… But I’m sure there’s a little bit of both. Dane Jackson, kayaker: When I was growing up and we lived in an R.V. and we were always parked by a river ‘cause we would just go, wherever my Dad wanted to kayak. I was born directly in the sport of kayaking. Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: I specialize in long distance mountain biking. What it means is that I ride my bike for a really long time and a 10 hour race would be a short race for me. A race or event where I get to sleep in my own bed that night is a sprint…” Alex Honnold, solo climber: Basically, soloing is just rock climbing without a rope, without protection. It’s basically the most distilled type of climbing. I think the beauty of soloing is so simple, you just go by yourself, put your shoes in your track bag and you climb it. Dane Jackson, kayaker: In my world the only constant thing is that there is no constant. When I’m at a rapid or water fall I may pick my line but it’s never the same, it’s always changing. Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: I grew up with suffering skill, my nickname is ‘The queen of pain’. I cannot put my head down, turn the voices inside my head off. It takes hours and days, it kind of strip away all the exterior that kind of find out who you are. Alex Honnold, solo climber: Yeah, there’s no real ritual, seriously for someone, I just put on my shoes, I chalk up and I rock climb. Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: For me, the definition of ‘the zone’ is when you don’t feel the burning of your legs, you don’t hear your heart race, you’re basically just on autopilot, and everything seems easy. Alex Honnold, solo climber: When all of the movement just feels so crisp and precise and perfect. You don’t feel pain in your fingers as much you could really like torque super hard. I mean, you just feel stronger a lot of time. Dane Jackson, kayaker: Whenever I’m coming up the lip of a big waterfall, everything else just goes blank and I just focus on what I need to do. Alex Honnold, solo climber: It’s a big question ask why I solo. Then part of it is the challenge like the fact that it’s hard, the fact that it demands a lot from you. And part of it it’s just the simplicity of soloing is really appealing too, it’s just you, and the route, and climbing. I don’t think there are that many things in life that require the 100% focus that you get out of soloing. You know, it’s kind of like the most pure form of climbing. Dane Jackson, kayaker: One of the main reasons that I kayak is just the awe of finding new beautiful places. It’s a feeling of being somewhere new nobody else has ever been or you’ve never been, and just the beauty of what’s happening around you. I kayak because it allows me to do what I want to do. I’m always afraid at some point, without the fear it wouldn’t be the same. Overcoming the fear is what really makes kayaking amazing. Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: If people ask me why I do this over and over again, the best thing I come up is because I have to, I don’t know how to live my life any other way. I do this because I love it and I’m inspired by the places that I go, I feel it’s the need to explore and to be somewhere new, see what’s around the next corner. Alex Honnold, solo climber: Yeah, I guess every once in a while you have those moments when you say it’s really magical, this is awesome, you know. Dane Jackson, kayaker: Without kayaking, I don’t know where my life would be, definitely it wouldn’t be the same, it just drives my life. Rebecca Rush, mountain biker: Tapping in on who I am as a person is something I need to do on a regular basis because you never really get to that place on a normal life, and that’s the point when it’s perfect, it’s nirvana.

=C) A VIDEO: [|127 hours: Extreme situations] =

** 127 hours **is a film by Daniel Boyle which depicts the real-life experience of a mountaineer who got trapped while canyoneering. Starred by James Franco, the film shows the climber's efforts to save himself.

__ Self-study activity __: Watch this ** The New York Times ** interview with Aron Ralston, the protagonist of the event in real life, and answer the questions below about it. The video is part of a ** British Red Cross ** lesson. media type="vimeo" key="15390767" height="363" width="640" When did the events take place? How dangerous was the trip? What mistake did Aron Ralston make? A boulder (=large rock) trapped Aron’s arm, how much of his arm got trapped? What did Aron use his digital camera for? How long was Aron trapped? How did Aron manage to free himself?

You can also watch film maker Daniel Boyle discussing Aron's ordeal on this other **British Red Cross ** video. The full transcript, courtesy of the **British Red Cross **, is also below. media type="vimeo" key="15361734" height="363" width="640"

A solo hike begun in Blue John Canyon in Utah of April 2003 presented minimal risks, save for one nearly fatal decision. As I went out there I made a choice, not only to be by myself – but I didn't tell anyone where I was going. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Alone in a remote part of the canyon, the boulder he was climbing became loose. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The boulder ricocheted between the walls and it ensnared my right hand and then settled between the walls again so that I became trapped. My arm was crushed flat for about the last eight to nine inches. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We always make choices of what we want in our life. So for some reason I wanted that experience. What would I do if I were in a situation where my life was on the line? Oh? You really wanted to know? Well here, you're going to find out, Aron. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Remarkably he documented the hours and days that followed using his digital camera. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I spent six days there trapped until finally I had an epiphany of how I could get myself free by first breaking the bones in my arm and then using the knife that I had to cut through the soft tissues and extract myself.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Weirdly enough this guy took a camera with him. He had a video camera with him. And he left a series of video messages every day – he was trapped there for six days. He's never shown them to anyone. His mum's seen them, a couple of friends, they're in a bank vault. He did show them to us and Franco and it's weird watching them. Because he makes them every day at the same time and leaves this message. And he thinks he's going to die, you can see. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And the really weird thing, and we couldn't do this because we didn't want to do CG [computer graphics], it's the only way you could do it, is when he runs out of water which he does after about three days. There's a gap then to him leaving the next message but there's no gap in the tape because it just jumps you know it's just like because he turns it on and off. But the difference in him it's like "wawwh" [gestures]. When you've been without water it's not like weight loss, you know like taking out the calories or carbohydrates or anything like that. It's actually like a weird shrinking of the human spirit. He just vanishes in a way.