Dumbing down the sport

It seems for every cool extreme sport, there is a less cool, less challenging counterpart. For skiing and snowboarding, it’s snowblading. For skateboarding, one used to argue it was rollerblading, but now, I think the obvious answer would be the Razor Scooter. So with white water rafting truly tipping the scale on badassness, is tubing the new less aggressive, less intense, poor man’s version?

A simple Google search will show that extreme tubing is becoming a real thing. While many prefer to hang on to a rope while being pulled behind a boat, river tubing is spreading like wildfire. The sport itself involves a pair of legs, a river running at a desired velocity of the tuber and a heavily inflated tire tub that a person sits on. While some choose to tube as more of lazy, laid back activity, more and more rivers with high class rapids are seeing tubers coming darting down, along side rafts and solo canoes.

Though tubing may not be the next Olympic sport, one can’t deny the fact it is boosting in popularity. Along with becoming ubiquitous in the states, many foreign countries are adopting the current trend. For those in Asia, the town of Bukit Lawang on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, is becoming a hot bed for the sport. Locals and travelers alike can both be seen bombing down the river in the town, which used to only be ridden by rafts. Along with Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia have also adopted the trend.

For the purists in the canoeing and rafting world, tubing maybe considered the red headed stepchild of water sport activities. Though its popularity may never reach the same level of the other sports, and it may be somewhat looked down upon in rafting and canoeing circles, the fact is it’s becoming more widespread, and more popular by the day.

Photo courtesy of Travel Blogs