See also: Canyoning

See also: Horse riding

See also: Rock climbing

See also: Wilderness backpacking

See also: Air sport

Air sport includes skydiving, paragliding, hang gliding, and hot air ballooning. See also general aviation.

See also: Downhill snowsports

Downhill snowsports, include alpine skiing, snowboarding and Telemark skiing. Ski resorts around the world attract millions of travellers yearly.

See also: Cross country skiing

Cross country skiing can be used as a mean to travel easily in thick snow in the wilderness or as an alternative pastime on ski resorts. It can allow quite easy access to places which seem untouched by man. The skis are different from those used in downhill skiing.

Snowkiting is "winter's newest extreme sport", requiring only the wind, a snowkite, skies or snowboard, and an attitude for fun. The sport has endless possibilities, such as backcountry skiing without a ski lift or resort - your snowkite will pull you uphill and downhill at varying speeds. Snowkites can accelerate up to 50 MPH. The lifting power of the wind will allow you to jump to distances of up to 100 feet.

When snowkiting in the backcountry be aware of avalanche danger! Always snowkite in groups, wear an avalanche beacon, dress warm, and never exceed your limits.

Snowkiting is popular in Central Utah, a region of the United States of America.

Snowmobiling is a sport involving riding over snow on a motorized vehicle. It is popular throughout the western United States of America as well as in Canada and Alaska.

• Ice skating
• Telemark skiing

See also: Hiking

Hiking can either be done as day hikes, as wilderness backpacking or as hiking along long hiking routes leading through both towns and countryside and possibly wilderness, such as the E11 hiking trail from Netherlands to Poland or the pilgrimage route Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela.

See also: Orienteering

Orienteering is another popular outdoor sport. It involves using a map and terrain navigation skills to follow a course in the least time. The sport has an international following, world championships, and training programs, and takes place in beautiful and interesting locations. Orienteering meets hosted by the top clubs draw thousands of participants from around the world.

Orienteering skills are needed (and can be enjoyed) also without competitive elements, especially when tracking in the backcountry.

Destinations: New Mexico (near Santa Fe).

Closely related to orienteering are rogaining and adventure racing.

See also orienteering.

See also: Running

Running is both an activity undertaken by casual joggers wanting to stay in shape during their travels, and also by those who seek out marathons and other competitions around the world. Travel companies offer packages for those travelling abroad for races that focus on the specific needs of the runner.

The Marathon distance is pursued around the world.

Geocaching is a treasure-hunting game that involves the internet, GPS map co-ordinates and travel. Players report their treasure hunt activities on-line to gain credits for their finds. Many of the players place caches (treasures) in spots they are quite fond of. So hunting them down will quite often lead to exciting adventures in lesser known locations.

One object of the game is to carry treasure from one cache to the next. Some of the treasures have identification information, so their travels can be tracked on-line. To play the game you will need a GPS receiver (or a map and the orienteering skills to use it), the cache description (make a printout) and about 1 hour spare (more for a difficult cache).

Related to geocaching is the Degree Confluence Project where people contribute photographs of the planet at points of intersection of lines of longitude and latitude. Most of the easy ones are done - but if you are hearing way off the beaten track this may be for you.

See also: Golf

Golf is a game that is variously considered a pastime, recreation, sport, profession, religion or an obsession. To some the game is more an opportunity for relaxation than sport, and many travelers roam the world looking for unique and famous golf courses on which to hone their skill. Green fees might be cheaper in low-income countries. You should check in advance what is required to play at some of these courses.

While boardgames, card games and video games are not always considered to be sports, contests and public events are usually organized in a similar manner. See Go, chess, xiangqi, shogi, gambling and hacker tourism. Besides the "traditional" board and card games that date to before the industrial age, there is now a plethora of newer board games with the US and Germany particularly known for their own styles of games, Germany being known for more cooperative games and the US for more competitive and "warlike" games.