Fred Grzybowski is the world’s premier extreme pogo artist.

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Able to clear eight foot of air on his stick, Fred holds the world record for the number of consecutive back-flips, which stands at nine.

Believed to be the first to combine height, back and front flips, Fred is acknowledged to be the Tony Hawks of the pogo-world.

Using heavy duty rubber bands to provide extra lift, Fred uses a “Flybar’ pogo stick, which was created by SBI Enterprises.

Capable of launching a 250-pound man five feet in the air, 5 feet 8 inch, 140 pound Fred obviously gets far more out of it.

Nine year old student Rohan Ajit Kokane from Belgaum in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka set a new world record when he performed the longest blindfolded limbo skate under 4 cars, clearing a height of 6.75 inches!

Rolling around like two playmates Costa Rican fisherman Chito and giant male crocodile Pocho are the unlikeliest of friends.

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Known as the Crocodile Man, 52-year-old Chito swims, plays and even feeds the five metre long crocodile in the 100 metre squared lake close to his home.

Chito rescued the 980 pound crocodile 20 years ago after finding him close to death in a nearby lake.

Shot in the head by farmers after eating cows, Chito nursed the reptile back to health.

After 10 years of bonding, Chito began to play with Pocho.

Today tourists travel from all over the world to see the unusual spectacle.

© Barcroft USA

Spanning across the Californian skyline in pretty pink, 181 female skydivers from 31 different countries set a new women’s formation record.

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Jumping from 17,000ft from nine separate planes, the skydive brought some of the worlds best know divers together.

Making eight practice jumps up until last Friday (25/09/09), the team of 181 free-falling ladies took six attempts to nail it on Saturday.

© Barcroft USA

Finally holding formation for 3.8 seconds, at 1.30pm the group set the world record for women’s formation skydiving.

Raising money for breast cancer at the same time, they managed to net over £562,000.

“I butchered the word ‘thank you’ in 20 different languages after the jump,” says Mallory Lewis, co-founder of charity, Jump for the Cause.

© Barcroft USA

“It was one hundred and four degrees in the Californian sun that day and we were happy to get this record done and approved.”

The record has been recognised by the Federal Aviation Authority in the US and the participants hailed from as far and wide as Russia to Venezuela.

© Barcroft USA

Some of the jumpers were breast cancer survivors themselves or have known people who have suffered from the illness.

Previous skydiving events in 1999, 2002 and 2005 raised a combined total of over £620,000 and broke the previous world records with 119 women in 1999, 131 women in 2002 and 151 in 2005.

© Barcroft USA

“The dedication and passion these women bring to this event is inspiring,” said Lewis. “All national and religious differences have been put aside to fight the common enemy, breast cancer!”

Words by James Nye

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

Flying over a car using only his pogo stick, this is Fred Grzybowski, the world’s premier extreme pogo artist.

For full story and pictures:

Able to clear eight foot of air on his stick, Fred is set on bringing to the world of pogo the same glamour that skateboarding and snowboarding enjoy.

Pogoing since he was eight years old, Fred holds the world record for the number of consecutive back-flips, which stands at nine.

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

“I am so keen to push the pogo stick out there as a recognised extreme activity,” says Fred, 20 from Los Angeles.

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

“The technology behind the sticks has improved dramatically in the past decade, so now we are able to make those heights and jumps.”

Believed to be the first to combine height, back and front flips, Fred is acknowledged to be the Tony Hawks of the pogo-world.

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

Using heavy duty rubber bands to provide extra lift, Fred uses a “Flybar’ pogo stick, which was created by SBI Enterprises.

Capable of launching a 250-pound man five feet in the air, 5 feet 8 inch, and 140 pound Fred obviously gets fat more out of it.

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

“I have a few scars from my pogoing,” says Fred.

“There is one along my elbow and a smaller, rounder one on my stomach.

“I have also split my lip so badly that it needed 30 stitches to repair it.”

© Austin Hargrave / Barcroft Media

Fred and his pogo stick are in demand.

“I was on film pogoing in the film Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and I hope to do more television and films,” explains Fred.

Words by James Nye

© Barcroft Media

Iceman Wim Hof has broken his own record for standing in a vat of freezing water.

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The Dutch daredevil, who has an incredible talent for being able to withstand cold, was submerged up to his shoulders in -20oC water for one hour 43 mins.

He smashed his previous record by one minute and vowed: “Next time I’ll break the record again by another minute.”

Wim, 48, became known as “The Ice Man” after spending the last 20 years testing his talent in the most extreme conditions from scaling mountain tops wearing nothing but a pair of shorts to swimming under sheets of ice in the north pole.

The latest attempt was shown live on American chat show Regis and Kelly in New York.

© Barcroft Media

Wim, who says his keeps his ‘core temperature’ at 37oC by the power of his mind, admitted: “There were times when I thought I might not break the record.

“My mind diverted somewhere else and I had a horrible feeling of cold.

“Then I had to make my mind focused again. It would take about a minute to get my core temperature back up again.”

After smashing his record, Wim was whisked off for a hot shower to help himself acclimatise to normal temperatures.

“The most dangerous part is afterwards because that’s when you can suffer shock,” he said.

“While I am in the water I keep my veins and all my arteries closed so the cold on the outside does not reach my inner core temperature.

“But when you get out of the water the veins open again and you can get cold. I take a shower to help my body to adjust.”

His attempt was officially recognised by the Guinness Book of Records and he was handed a new certificate.

© Barcroft Media

Wim discovered his unusual talent over 20 years ago during a stroll in the park in his native Holland.

“I had a stroll like this in the park with somebody and I saw the ice and I thought, what would happen if I go in there,” revealed the Dutchman.

“I was really attracted to it. I went in, got rid of my clothes. Thirty seconds I was in and a tremendous good feeling when I came out and since then, I repeated it every day.”

It was the moment that Hof knew that his body was different somehow. He was able to withstand fatally freezing temperatures.

Hof began a lifelong quest to see just how far his abilities would take him.

In 2000, dressed only in a swimsuit, he dived under the ice at the North Pole and earned a Guinness World Record for the longest amount of time swimming under 60 metres under the ice.

In 2002 Wim travelled 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle to run a half-marathon in his bare feet.

© Henny Boogart / Barcroft Media

In the same year, Wim completed four additional half marathons as he travelled across Europe.

Whilst many scientists around the world find Wim’s ability an anomaly, Wim says it is merely a case of mind over matter.

Practising an ancient Himalayan meditation called “Tummo,” or Inner Fire, Wim is able to generate inner heat.

Wim now travels the world teaching the technique through his record attempts, lectures and talks.

Words by Jack Fletcher

© Barcroft Media

Danger man Heinz Zak could churn the strongest stomach with his mind-blistering highline balancing act.

For full story and pictures:

In jaw-dropping shows of bravery, the hyper-focused extreme climber casts a stunning image as he calmly tiptoes across a tiny inch-wide strip of material thousands of feet up on his highline.

Closer to ground – on his slackline – these breathtaking pictures show him hovering just a few feet from the surfaces of crisp alpine lakes that perfectly mirror his image.

Slacklining, and it’s more dangerous form of highlining thousands of feet up, differ from traditional tight-rope walking in that walkers teeter along a loosely anchored strip.

© Barcroft Media

For the past eight years, Austrian Heinz has toured the world looking for the perfect spots to do what he loves best.

Today he is regarded as a pioneer who led the sport’s development and currently booming growth in Europe.

But defying anyone who thinks he’s just another stuntman looking for the next rush, the 51-year-old, from Scharnitz, ironically says it’s all about finding peace and “losing himself”.

“What I do is not about adrenaline,” he said. “Walking a highline is my way. It’s just what I do.

“When I am up there I completely lose myself. If you think about anything else it could mean death. You have to be in the moment completely, thinking only about the next step. When I’m doing that, I find my inner self.”

© Barcroft Media

Daring Heinz’s romance with line walking began in the early 80’s on a climbing expedition to Yosemite National Park, California, USA. He and some friends discovered a slackline and started to practice

Since that first moment his love of line-walking has grown – along with his confidence – to knee-shaking new heights between peaks in some of the world’s most breathtaking climbing spots.

And even just a few feet from the ground, the sturdy pioneer has reached new limits by precariously tip-toeing across lengths never before achieved.

He walked what many believe is the longest slackline ever – an astonishing 173 metres last year in Austria .

© Barcroft Media

At the hairier end of the scale – on the highline – he also made history as the first European to complete a walk at Lost Arrow in Yosemite, a place that makes legends in his sport and Heinz’s highest ever. Unbelievably he perched over a chasm the same height as England’s highest peak, Skafell Pike, at a gusty 3000ft up.

To achieve these miracles at such dizzying altitude, Heinz puts all his faith in equipment that includes the two-millimetre thick polyester line.

“One problem is that when it is taught and taking my weight, the slightest snag on a rock could break the line,” he said.

Thankfully for girlfriend Bettina, 35, a camerawoman, a separate safety line is installed running parallel to the main strip and is attached to Heinz by a harness – just in case the unthinkable happens.

Super-fit Heinz stays in perfect shape but it’s days of mental preparation he values the most.

Like a bob-sleigh pilot who must know every twist and turn on his track to avoid death, Heinz runs through each attempt repeatedly in his mind before stepping out.

“When I attempt a walk at the edge of my limits I just have to think it through over and over before I I go up,” he said.

“You have to see yourself taking each step and reaching the end.”

© Barcroft Media

Heinz’s passion for strolling through danger on a narrow strip of fabric has taken him through Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, America and Italy.

After years of experience and dealing with torturous preparatory mind games, Heinz eventually redesigned the highline set-up after realising the equipment he used was far to dangerous.

Over-tightness in both lines meant they were too vulnerable to snapping and lacked an all-important slackness that acts as a shock-absorber if he tumbles off.

With trust in his new ‘loose’ system, Heinz has now truly overcome his original fears.

“I realise how stupid I was with the early designs now and how close I had been to dying. I went back to my training, found a different approach and now I am not scared any more.”

Words by Liam Miller

Danger man Heinz Zak could churn the strongest stomach with his mind
blistering highline balancing act.

For full story and pictures:

In jaw-dropping shows of bravery, the hyper-focused extreme climber
casts a stunning image as he calmly tiptoes across a tiny inch-wide
strip of material thousands of feet up on his highline.

Closer to ground – on his slackline – these breathtaking pictures show
him hovering just a few feet from the surfaces of crisp alpine lakes
that perfectly mirror his image.

Slacklining, and it’s more dangerous form of highlining thousands of
feet up, differ from traditional tight-rope walking in that walkers
teeter along a loosely anchored strip.

For the past eight years Austrian Heinz has toured the world looking
for the perfect spots to do what he loves best. Today he is regarded
as a pioneer who led the sport’s development and currently booming
growth in Europe.

But defying anyone who thinks he’s just another stuntman looking for
the next rush, the 51-year-old, from Scharnitz, ironically says it’s
all about finding peace and “losing himself”.

“What I do is not about adrenaline,” he said. “Walking a highline is
my way; it’s just what I do.

“When I am up there I completely lose myself. If you think about
anything else it could mean death. You have to be in the moment
completely, thinking only about the next step. When I’m doing that, I
find my inner self.”

Daring Heinz’s romance with line walking began in the early 80s on a
climbing expedition to Yosemite National Park, California, USA. He and
some friends discovered a slackline and started to practice.

Since that first moment his love of line-walking has grown – along
with his confidence – to knee-shaking new heights between peaks in
some of the world’s most breathtaking climbing spots.

And even just a few feet from the ground, the sturdy pioneer has
reached new limits by precariously tip-toeing across lengths never
before achieved.

He walked what many believe is the longest slackline ever – an
astonishing 173 metres last year in Austria .

At the hairier end of the scale – on the highline – he also made
history as the first European to complete a walk at Lost Arrow in
Yosemite, a place that makes legends in his sport and Heinz’s highest
ever. Unbelievably he perched over a chasm the same height as
England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike, at a gusty 3000ft up.

To achieve these miracles at such dizzying altitude, Heinz puts all
his faith in equipment that includes the two-millimetre thick
polyester line.

“One problem is that when it is taught and taking my weight, the
slightest snag on a rock could break the line,” he said. Thankfully
for girlfriend Bettina, 35, a camerawoman, a separate safety line is
installed running parallel to the main strip and is attached to Heinze
by a harness – just in case the unthinkable happens.

Super-fit Heinz stays in perfect shape but it’s days of mental
preparation he values the most.

Like a bob-sleigh pilot who must know every twist and turn on his
track to avoid death, Heinz runs through each attempt repeatedly in
his mind before stepping out.

“When I attempt a walk at the edge of my limits I just have to think
it through over and over before I I go up,” he said.

“You have to see yourself taking each step and reaching the end.”

Heinz’s passion for strolling through danger on a narrow strip of
fabric has taken him through Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, America
and Italy.

After years of experience and dealing with torturous preparatory mind
games, Heinz eventually redesigned the highline set-up after realising
the equipment he used was far to dangerous.

Over-tightness in both lines meant they were too vulnerable to
snapping and lacked an all-important slackness that acts as a shock-
absorber if he tumbles off. With trust in his new ‘loose’ system,
Heinz has now truly overcome his original fears.

“I realise how stupid I was with the early designs now and how close I
had been to dying. I went back to my training, found a different
approach and now I am not scared any more.”

Words by Liam Miller

One slip and it is all over for extreme artist Eskil Ronningsbakken as
he pushes the boundaries of strength and concentration with his
incredible balancing feats.

Traveling the world to precariously perch himself on the edge of
Norwegian fjord cliff-tops and walking a tightrope between two hot-air
balloons, Eskil’s skill is truly on a knife edge.

For full story and pictures:

Describing himself as an ‘educated balancing performer’, 29-year Eskil
has been honing his achingly difficult abilities since the age of five
which have taken him through circus troupes and round the globe.

Seeing his balancing acts as expressions of art and not stunts,
Norwegian Eskil is currently working with a group of 50 like-minded
performers in Nairobi in Kenya, focusing on his more intimate work
with chairs and bicycles.

“A stunt is something you see in movies, often done with mattresses
safety lines or nets,” says Eskil.

“What I do, is draw a picture with vulnerable human beings and their
bodies, in the surrounding of mother earth.

“That’s the balance between life and death, and that is where life is.”

Regardless of his philosophy, Eskil has performed and produced feats
of endurance that seem to be super-human.

In March of 2007, he managed to balance on a single ice cube that
measured 60cm by 35cm, supported on each end only by two ropes and
suspended almost 1000ft above a glacier in Dovrefjell National Park,
Norway.

In the same year in Norway, he positioned himself upside down and did
a handstand on a trapeze bar placed under a hot air balloon.

“I have performed professionally for almost 14 years now, so it’s hard
to compare one piece to another,” says Eskil about his globe trotting
antics.

“Biking upside down on a wire 1000 m above the Norwegian Fjords in
fresh biting wind still stays as one of the most exiting moments of
life.

Seeing an Indian yogi on television serenely balancing inspired the
younger Eskil to devote his life to his precise art.

“Living in the countryside of Norway was filled with inspiration,”
says Eskil about the trees and mountains of his homeland.

“My mother would be screaming at me to come down all the time, but my
dad would be saying, ‘Wait a minute, let me take a picture first!’

“I know it sounds crazy, but you learn a lot from that kind of play -
you learn to respect the height and danger.”

Literally running away when he was 18 to join the circus, Eskil finely
perfected his craft under the expert tutelage of Peter Jakob, a
trainer with the Moscow State Circus.

Honing his natural talents over the past 11 years, Eskil has now
reached a level of athletic excellence mixed with spiritual calm.

However, Eskil is acutely aware of the risks he takes with his
balancing.

“I feel fear, of course I do, we are humans and we have a natural
sense of self-preservation,” says Eskil.

“However, I must control that before I undertake any new project
because that would lead to lethal mistakes.

“If I ever find myself totally fearless then that is when I will stop
what I am doing.”

Next on Eskil’s list is a performance he feels will literally top the
lot.

“I would dream of balancing on the top of the Burj in Dubai, the
tallest building in the world.”

Words by James Nye

Racing down an active volcano on a surfboard may sound like madness
but for thrill-seeking sports fanatics, ‘Volcano Boarding’ is the only
way to get your kicks.

Here at the foothills of Nicaragua’s Cerro Negro mountain, adrenaline
junkies, travellers and the insanely curious climb the 726 metres to
enjoy the latest sporting craze.

Full story, video and pictures:

Surfers, dressed in protective jump suits, knee-pads and helmets, can
reach speeds of up to 80 km/h (50mph) on their specially-constructed
plywood boards.

Phillip Southan, owner and manager of Bigfoot Hostel and Green
Pathways Tours, says the unique trip is a world first.

“We started offering this trip on 2005 and its has become so popular,”
says the 26-year-old from Barbados.

“This is a unique tour as nowhere else in the world can you board down
an active volcano.

“What we offer is a tour for everyone with absolutely no experience
necessary. One of the greatest attractions of the tour is that you get
a bit of everything.

“Nicaraguan rural culture, hiking, amazing views, walking in an active
volcano and then of course the high adrenaline boarding down the
volcano.”

Despite only starting the unique tour four years ago, ‘Volcano
Boarding’ has attracted over 10,000 participants.

“This is the fourth year and to date we have taken over 10,000 people
on this tour,” says Phillip.

“It is a 45 minute hike of easy to moderate difficulty.

“Once you complete the 45-minutes around the back of the volcano to
its summit, surfers can enjoy the amazing views and the experience
being close to an active volcano.

“After a training session its a 500 metre descent down the volcano.”

Standing at 726 metres, Cerro Negro is Central America’s youngest
volcano.

Born in April 1850 it has been one of the most active volcanoes in
Nicaragua, last erupting 1999 – the 20th time in its history.

Yet despite its unstable reputation, Phillip insists that all safety
precautions are taken and considered.

“The volcano is very active,” admits Phillip.

“When you are on top you will have the opportunity to walk in to the
crater up close with a smoking volcano.

“But the biggest risk is the risk is getting some scratches if you
fall off.

“Many years of experience has taken this tour to a level where it is
safe but still fun and for some people a little scary.

“We are always working on ways to continue improving it for the future.”