Extreme sports are here to stay-on the American sports scene. These sports run the gamut of shooting, skating, climbing, running, biking, as well as snow and water sports. According to SGMA International’s analysis of the current Superstudy® on Sports Participation, extreme sports can be enjoyed anywhere!

Most Popular Extreme Sports in the USA


(U.S. population; 6 years of age or older)

Sport

# of Participants
(participated at least once in 2002)
1. Inline skating

21,572,000
2. Skateboarding

12,997,000
3. Paintball

  8,679,000
4. Snowboarding

  7,691,000
5. Artificial Wall Climbing

  7,185,000
6. Mountain Biking

  6,719,000
7. Trail Running

  5,625,000
8. BMX Bicycling

  3,885,000
9. Wakeboarding

  3,142,000
10. Roller Hockey

  2,875,000
11. Mountain/Rock Climbing

  2,089,000
12. Boardsailing/Windsurfing

     496,000

This information has been abstracted from the Superstudy® on Sports Participation conducted by American Sports Data, Inc., which monitors more than 100 sports and fitness activities.

Following are some more interesting facts contained in the ‘frequent participation data.

  • Nearly 7 million of the 21.6 million inline skaters are frequent participants (25+days/year).
  • The South is the home of 49% of all frequent paintball participants.
  • The average number of years that artificial wall climbers have participated in this activity is two.
  • Since 1990, participation in snowboarding has increased by 263%.
  • The average age of a frequent mountain biker is 30.
  • Nearly half of all wakeboarders are between the ages of 12 and 24.
  • Roller hockey has more than 70% of its participants from the 12 – 24 age group.