Mountaineer and adventurer Katie Sarah says that if her adrenaline is up then she knows she’s put herself in danger.

“I tend to think that if I’m constantly getting an adrenaline rush then I’m probably putting myself in an uncomfortable position where I’m not doing something safely,” Sarah, who has climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents, said.

“I try to put myself in as few as those moments as possible.”

Rock climber and Ninja Warrior Raphaela Wiget said hanging off a vertical cliff face was her way of unwinding, and big wave surfers Josiah Schmucker and Tayla Hanak both spoke of the clarity that comes from making potentially life-changing decisions in a split second.

University of SA Adjunct Prof Professor Kevin Norton said in his years of working with top-level athletes in the field of sports science he’d observed certain personality traits.

“I’ve worked with world champions and Olympians, and you notice this sense of aggression, but it’s aggression within themselves,” Prof Norton said.

“They are people who are determined to set a high goal and beat it, and they hate losing, especially against themselves. I imagine that drive has some overlap into pursuits like big wave surfing and rock climbing.”

And while there’s an element of danger to extreme sports, there’s also a heightened level of beauty that can only be accessed by training hard enough to tackle that giant swell or dive in that submerged cave.

“Just imagine that you’re in a wonderful museum full of fantastic abstract sculptures, and you’re floating weightlessly through this museum with ever more wonderful exhibits as you make your way through,” cave diver Ken Smith told the Sunday Mail.

“That’s how I look at cave diving.”

TAYLA HANAK, BIG WAVE SURFER, 24

“The first time I paddled out at Waimea, I was 16 years old and on a 6’6” when everyone else was on a 10 foot board. One of the old guys out there said, ‘You WILL NOT catch a wave on that board’. Anyway, I did catch a wave … and got smashed. Luckily an Aussie guy leant me an eight footer and I could get some waves. I’ve been back to Hawaii a couple of times since then, and then I moved to the West Coast and started surfing big waves and that’s how I got an invite to (prestigious Hawaiian big wave contest) Queen of the Bay.

Pipeline is the scariest place I’ve ever surfed – the people, the vibe, and the wave itself. It’s so shallow. But I definitely want to get back to Hawaii and take part in the Queen of the Bay and I’d be keen to surf (intimidating big wave arena) Jaws.”

JOSIAH SCHMUCKER, BIG WAVE SURFER, 30

“I remember being 15 and dad pulled me out of school for the day because there were a couple of big wave surfers over from the east coast. It was my first time out at the local bombie (bombora, or offshore reef) and it was huge – 15 to 18 foot. I was just packing my dacks.

I got smashed on one wave and I was scared for my life. I told dad I wanted to go in and he said “nup, get back on the horse”. So I got another one, a really sick one, and from then on that’s what I wanted to do every day.

Those bigger waves, you can just feel that power and energy coming up through your legs. You’re going so fast, and the potential consequences are really high.

Surfing drives you to go to places that you would never have experienced. Australia has so much coastline, and I’m sure there are some guys out there still keeping some secrets, and probably some secrets that haven’t even been discovered yet.”

KATIE SARAH, MOUNTAINEER AND ADVENTURER, 53

“I was 36 or 37 when I started mountaineering. Some people are born into it and they have their parents taking them climbing or hiking, but I didn’t have that exposure.

I started rock climbing, and then I joined a group going to Bolivia to climb a mountain and that’s where it started.

On the tougher, more dangerous climbs there is some feeling of relief – although the summit is only half the journey. If I’m absolutely stuffed at the top of mountain then that’s not a good thing. And it’s not always the view, you can’t rely on that. The weather might come in, and you can’t always rely on that view from the top.

I think my greatest achievement as a mountaineer would be Denali (the highest peak in North America). That was myself and two friends with no porters on a very tough mountain.

KEN SMITH, CAVE DIVER, 68

“I was interested in caving as a student when I was at Flinders University in the early seventies. I was in the geology association and we did a lot of caving down at Naracoorte. Then I learned to dive in the mid seventies and in the early eighties I heard about the caves in Mt Gambier. I did a snorkel dive at Piccaninnie Ponds and I thought, ‘This is wonderful, I have to learn to be a cave diver’.

Cave diving is often portrayed as the most dangerous sport in the world, but I think that’s wrong. With the right training it’s relatively safe. We’re trained to ensure that we never run out of air and that there are guidelines so that we can find our way out.

It’s a very calming experience. The hard work is above the water when you’re dragging tanks around, but once you’re in the water you can really relax and just enjoy the experience.

RAPHAELA WIGET, ROCK CLIMBER, 26

“Most people that you might call adrenaline junkies can find life overwhelming sometimes. It can feel like there are a lot of stresses in life. Personally, I can overthink things and get too deep in my own thoughts, and that’s not always totally positive. So to have something like climbing, or any adventure sport, which is so engaging is really helpful. It just consumes every bit of you, and nothing else matters any more – it’s just you, and your body and what you’re doing with it.

Here in South Australia we have a place called Moonarie in the Flinders Ranges. It has epic walls, on par with anything in Australia. It’s remote though, so fitting a climb in there around work is pretty tricky. But there are so many adventure opportunities around Adelaide, we have so much so close to the city. We’re spoiled.

ANH TU, FREEDIVER, 44

“There are four disciplines that you can compete in - static, no fin, monofin and now bi-fin as well. The longest I’ve held my breath for in a competition is five minutes and 42 seconds. I think the average person, with a bit of training, could probably do two minutes. They would just have to learn the breathing techniques and how to relax. In the no fin category my best result is 112m.
In the pool we have a safety system where we always train with a buddy, and during a comp there are always coaches and safety divers following you. If anything happens they’ll make a judgment on whether you have to get out of the pool or if you’ve just pushed a bit past your limit.