A few weeks ago during a trip to Maine, I was sitting outside a backcountry hut in Baxter State Park, talking to some hikers. I was there to attempt to climb Mt. Katahdin (spoiler alert-I made it. See photo.) and we were comparing route tips and other adventure stories.
Somehow we got on the topic of fly boarding, one of my very favorite outdoor adventure activities. (For those of you that are not familiar, fly boarding consists of hooking a platform with a water spout on its underside up to a jet ski, then using the spout to push the platform up into the air above the water so you can fly around like Tony Stark. See link for video and better description.)
One of the other hikers raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Is it safe?”
I took a short pause to consider. “I mean, pretty safe.”
We looked at each other and burst out laughing, maybe partially considering the fact that moments before he had been detailing how he thought he could do a solo, single day loop on the 30-mile Pemi Trail in New Hampshire if he started and ended in the dark, and went before bear season pushed into full swing.
We decided that flyboarding was a Tier 3 activity.
Tier 1 activities are comfortable, normal things to do. You go to work, you drive your car-basically as long as you don’t suffer from agoraphobia or a social anxiety-driven mindset, standard Tier 1 should not be a problem.
Tier 2 activities are a little more out there. Hiking in the woods, traveling to countries where you don’t speak the language. A blind date. In Tier 2 you are exposing yourself to small, unnecessary moments of discomfort.
Tier 3 is where it starts to get tense. You go skydiving. Flyboarding. Backpacking on foreign soil. You start a job you’re not totally sure you’re qualified to do.
I haven’t mapped out every level of this scale, but I imagine for me, it would go up to about level 20, with the outer reaches reserved for people like Elon Musk, Alex Hannold or Felix Baumgartner (the guy that did the Red Bull Stratos jump from space) .
Yes, this measurement is a little arbitrary, and it probably looks different for every person. Like any scale, different people are satisfied with different numbers. For me, Tier 3 activities provide a sweet spot. I like to make big, uncomfortable plans and promises to myself so I can see how I measure up. Sometimes I fall on my butt. (Or, in the case of flyboarding, flat on my back from about 15 feet above the water). But sometimes I surprise myself and succeed.
A picture from the summit of Teide (the highest mountain in Spain) to celebrate Tier 3.
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