With the superlative and singular terrain of Nepal it seems that casually trekking amid the jagged mountains is pretty pedestrian. There are certainly enough thrill seekers fueled on high horsepower trucks and death-defying adrenaline rushes that can make good use of Nepal’s extreme geography. Apart from the degree of personal risk involved in an expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest, there are countless combinations of normal recreational activities mutated into something insanely suicidal, but a good laugh if you survive. You could say that mountaineering to the top of Mt. Everest is the most extreme activity on the planet, but then consider that it takes months to get up there, and most of the action moves extremely slowly and you undergo prolonged trauma from the cold and shortage of oxygen. Let’s classify this less of an extreme sport and more like being a subject in a torturous medical experiment.

A quick ride (vertical drop) down Mt. Everest on a snowboard or out of a helicopter is exhilirating, and why hasn’t avalancheboarding caught on, which isn’t any more crazy than ironingboarding? If you just want to jump off of things there’s BASE or bungy jumping (reserve chute optional) and paragliding. The massive glaciers and the heavy monsoon rains create heavy runoffs and violently rushing waters, which makes for great whitewater rafting. When the snow melts and the soil dries out you can “ride” a bike or a mountainboard (a skateboard with big, knobby wheels) down the slopes. There’s the jungle safari in the lowlands, as well as being hunted for sport by the leeches. You’ll laugh, but I’m serious. Crossing the street in Kathmandu is extreme enough for me.