Kayaker Emily Jackson, photo via Women's Outdoor Alliance.
Last week, the word about town was that freestyle kayaker Emily Jackson was aiming for a spot on Team USA at the U.S. National Freestyle Team Trials in North Carolina. Being that she’s the 2012 World Cup champion and the daughter of whitewater legend Eric “EJ” Jackson, it should have hardly caused a ripple in the news pond. So why were people up in arms about it?
Because Jackson is seven months pregnant. (Read more after the jump!)
I'm not a naturally fearless person. It's pretty simple: Some of us are born adrenaline junkies and some of us aren't. That doesn't mean I don't like a thrill—I've jumped off cliffs, shimmied into dark caves and snorkeled above some pretty big sharks. But let's make one thing very clear: if those sharks had started swimming my way, I'd have been out of the water faster than you could say "Holy murder fish."
Not so for Ocean Ramsey, the star of a new GoPro video that went viral around Valentine's Day. In the short clip titled "A Blonde and a Great White Shark," the freediver and stunningly beautiful model slips into peaceful blue water in a shark cage as a calming tune lures you in. She then proceeds to swim out of the cage, approach a Great White shark and enjoy a ride latched onto the shark's dorsal fin. Let me repeat that: swims out of cage, grabs shark fin, goes for ride. (Watch the video after the jump)
One of the first dates I went on with my significant other was to Malibu State Creek Park, and it was there I decided he would be a great boyfriend and, maybe more importantly, a trustworthy partner for my outdoor pursuits. Picture this: I'm on top of a rocky cliff looking down over a murky pool of sunbathers all beckoning for me to jump. Nerves are on edge, heart is pumping, pressure is coming at me from all angles and the last thing I want to do is leap off that cliff. But then I hear my new boyfriend assuring me that if I don't feel comfortable doing it I won't have to—trust my gut. Long story short, I jumped (and did it again about five more times after that), but only because I knew I had support from someone willing to let me back out. It was my choice to move forward or back out.
That's why when I came across this video about rock climbers setting up a 300-foot fall canyon rope swing, something didn't sit right. Fast forward to about 12 minutes in and one unlucky woman ends up at the bottom of a pendulum 300 feet below the camera all because her boyfriend wanted her there. Not cool.
This woman had decided the rope swing wasn't for her—and her boyfriend should have respected that. Instead, he made the situation worse by pressuring her and eventually pushing her off the cliff. He broke a very important line of trust between two people in a relationship. She actually begged him: "Please don't push me off. Please don't," but he launched her anyway. Let it be a lesson to you: Just because you're ready to try something outdoors doesn't mean everyone else it. Encourage others to try something that scares them, but if they say flat out they don't want to, don't force them. Don't break your line of trust.
"She'll thank me later," says the guy in the video. I think she will—when she's with a new boyfriend she can actually trust.
What do you think? Am I overreacting? UPDATE: Looks like the girl in the video has been going around defending this guy after all the bad press he got. I still have to go with my original thoughts here—she flat out asked him not to push her, and that's the bottom line!
