500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [164]
The plains of Texas and Oklahoma (also known as “Tornado Alley”) are ground zero for tornado chasing, though tours can travel from the Canadian Plains through the Dakotas and down toward the Mississippi Valley. Expect to spend a lot of time on the road, much of which will be spent not looking at tornadoes—extreme weather is a fickle guest, and doesn’t always show up on schedule. Tornadoes also frequently occur at night or are totally obscured by rain. On slow days, some tour operators might offer visits to attractions like Mt. Rushmore (www.nps.gov/moru), Carlsbad Caverns (www.nps.gov/cave), or the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas (cute, but not exactly an F5 twister). It’s all worth it, however, if you’re able to see in person—and capture in photos or on video—one of nature’s most awesome and destructive forces. —ML
Tours: Storm Chasing Adventure Tours ( 303/888-8629;www.stormchasing.com). Silver Lining Tours ( 303/644-4296;www.stormchase.net).
When to Go: May–Aug.
311
Bull Riding Adventure Experience
So You Want to Be a Cowboy?
Locations across the U.S.A.
He weighs 2 tons and he’s really, really angry that you’re sitting on top of him. But you can handle this bull—you think. After all, you’ve had a few days of instruction at one of America’s top ranked bull-riding clinics, and when that chute opens, you’ll be ready for the ride of your life.
Lyle Sankey has been teaching rodeo skills like bull riding, team roping, and bareback bronco riding to professional competitors for years at his rodeo school in Branson, Missouri. He’s now expanded his offerings to engage participants in a bull riding “Vision Quest” experience that lets novices try their hand at one of rodeo’s most demanding events. Depending on the venue and schedule chosen, these camps can last from 1 to 4 days, and include classroom time, rides on the mechanical bull and, finally, the real thing: a bull whose size and temperament is matched to your age, athletic ability, and ambitions—you hope.
Participants are welcome to bring their own equipment if they have it, and instructors will evaluate and tune it up as needed; otherwise, the Sankey schools are willing to loan you their equipment. (The exception is boots—if you don’t already own them, consider buying a good pair of Western boots with a relatively flat shank.) And you will also be required to have medical insurance, for reasons that are obvious; if you don’t already have insurance, Sankey schools can put you in contact with providers of short-term medical insurance.
Bull riding takes a special kind of energy and ambition, but it’s not limited by gender—both men and women are welcome at these schools, and female students from Sankey have excelled to the point that they have been featured as bronc riders in music videos. All ages are welcome as well; students from 7 to 70 have enrolled. And if you’re just not sure you’re ready to ride that bull, the “ground school” option lets you participate in everything, including the mechanical bull, until you’re ready to tackle the real thing. —ML
Holding on for dear life at the Sankey Rodeo School.
Sankey Rodeo School ( 417/334-2513;www.sankeyrodeo.com).
When to Go: Open year-round; check website for dates and locations.
312
Wayne Gretzky Hockey Fantasy Camp
Slapshot!
Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.
You’re skating up the ice with the puck in front of you, and the goal is in sight. An opening appears and you’re lining up the shot, when WHAM! Out of nowhere, a body slam from the opposing team’s Number 99 checks your dreams of hockey glory. Wait—Number 99? Yes, that was Wayne Gretzky, the Great One himself, on the ice with