The Origin of Outdoor Sports
Hangzhou, China, December 24, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The origin of outdoor sports
At altitude of 3000-4000 meters, there is a kind of beautiful flowers swaying on the Alps near the snow line, which named Mountain Rose. The story goes, in the 18th century, when a local young man who wants to win his dream lover’s heart, he must bravely climb on the mountain with taking any risks before he picked off the rose for the beloved girl. This romantic custom turned out to become a popular climbing sport.
On the 8th Aug.1786, doctor M.G Paccard and crystals collector Jacques Balmat who all were from Chamonix valley of the Savoy region, at this time part of the Duchy of Savoy ,completed the first ascent of Mont Blanc. 《Encyclopedia Britannica》 regards this was the very beginning of Modern mountaineering.
The development of outdoor sports
From then on, besides the missionaries who tramping over mountains, natural scientists, entrepreneurs sprang up after Industrial Revolution, participated in this exciting and stimulating sport. In 1857, the first outdoor sport club was founded in German. The club greatly promoted the development of mountaineering. During 1855 to 1865, over 20 mountains higher than 4000 meters of the Alps were conquered
During World War II, United Kingdom Special Forces made the initial utility of natural barriers and rope nets for training, during which Rock Climbing, Mountaineering, Camping came into being. This was the first systematical utility of outdoor activity.
After the World War II, with the economic growth, outdoor activity broke through the scope of military affairs and survival. It became a new way of life style seeking for leisure, entertainment and improving the qualities of life. Meanwhile, the contents of outdoor activity changed a lot. Some extreme sports full of adventure, were absorbed into outdoor sport, including Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, River trekking, Canyoning, Drifting, Caving, Skiing, Mountain bike and Skate etc.. In 1989, after the first Wild Exploration Challenge in New Zealand, various outdoor activities and competitions were held all over the world. Many big Challenges are held in Europe annually. In United States, the number of outdoor activities participants ranks the third place among total number of all kinds of sports participants
With the popularization of outdoor sports and the increasing participants, outdoor industry grew very fast over the world. Nowadays, the so-called outdoor sport is inclining to the direction of health and leisure entertainment. Running, Road Cycling, Bird watching, fishing, Driving travel, outdoor Party, RV camping etc., were all absorbed into outdoor field. The new concept of Pan-Outdoor sports came into being.
Outdoor sports became a big business with tremendous scale, including products and services.
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