Surfing in Praia do Norte beach in Nazate, Portugal; Garrett surfed the wave over 6 months ago and has had to wait for Guinness World Records and a team of surfing photography experts to confirm that the colossal giant was in fact the largest ever ridden.

“I was totally in the moment,” 44 year old Garrett said. “PCP – Present, Connected and Protected.”

According to Guinness when qualifying this the largest wave ever surfed, Garrett’s record breaking ride eclipsed the previous record set in 2008 by Mike Parsons at Cortes Bank by a whole foot.

McNamara, who has surfed professionally for nearly 30 years said he had not planned on hitting the beach on the day of his record, as a session in the waters “surfing even bigger waves” the day before had left him feeling battered and bruised.

Garrett said he knew the wave was big, but wasn’t sure he had set the record until it was made official last week at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards in Anaheim, California.

“I really just surf for the love of it and I wasn’t looking to get the record. I wasn’t looking to get any awards,” he said.

“One of the main reasons I’m doing this is to hopefully inspire at least one person to do what they love, to do what they are passionate about,” McNamara said. “I am living proof you can do what you love as a career.”

Source: The Mirror

These giant wave hot spots where once a well-kept secret, surfed only by a select few boundary pushing locals, but with the help of new and more powerful technology and more accurate forecasting, these monstrous swells have been shoved into the world surfing spotlight! Ollie O’Flaherty and Andrew Cotton are considered the pioneers of taming the waves off the coast of Mullaghmore Head in County Sligo. Their recent exploits have gained them worldwide recognition after being shortlisted at the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards in California, the home of big wave surfing!

Of course, surfing waves that can reach up to 50ft in height comes with some very life threatening dangers! “I’ve definitely had one or two pretty big scares…last October I got wiped out and was stuck at the bottom of one wave and I got picked up, hit and dragged over the reef three times” Said Ollie, but he insists that “the thrill outweighs the consequence for me.”

Part of the lure for these pioneers is the very fact that they are among the first people to surf these locations, and it is the fear or excitement of the unknown that is the motivation for searching out other break locations! Despite having travelled the world in search of the Holy Grail of waves, Ollie said “To be brutally honest the best waves I’ve ever seen or surfed have been in Ireland, by a long way. It might not be good all the time but when it is good, it’s better than anywhere else in the world,”

In this video you can really see the sheer scale of the waves these brave blokes are surfing – in shallow water with reefs just a matter of feet below the surface of the water! It was also a contender for the Bilabong XXL wave award in 2011!

With new spots being found all the time and surfers exploring ever deeper waters with some guys venturing out over 8 miles from the coast to find the allusive breaks, big wave surfing in Ireland is going to attract a lot more attention from the world’s top surfers over the coming years as they come and experience the huge uninterrupted waves the Atlantic pummels the Irish coast with.

Story Source – BBC News
Photo’s – Peter Martin

The following day brings yet more top notch driving thrills as you get behind the wheel of yet another of the world’s greatest supercars for a short high octane drive over the Nordschliefe circuit – considered one of the most demanding purpose built race tracks in the world! Awaiting your arrival at the circuit will be a another selection of mouth-watering cars to experience the sweeping curves, high speed chicanes and mile long straights without having to worry about wrecking a £200,000 supercar! On offer will be the classic Megane R26R, Lotus Exige and the Renault Clio Cup – the perfect selection of cars to thunder around the 12.9 mile long terrifying ribbon of tarmac along with expert tuition from a professional in the passenger seat for five incredible laps!

The weekend will draw to a close with the return journey in convoy back to Blighty behind the wheel of yet another supercar to really finish the once in a life time experience on a high!

The cost of this awesome experience is a cool £4795, but when you add up the amount of drive time in some of the world’s greatest cars, the high price tag quickly seems to be worth every penny! There are only a very limited number spaces left for this once in a life time drive, so if you would like more information, contact Juliette on 01924 290204 before the 25th of April – Don’t forget to mention you saw this on the Extreme Element Blog!

The grandmother, with four generations of family below her, usually spends her time knitting caps for babies and crocheting bandages for leopards in India, but decided to take up Paragliding “on a whim” after her 75 year old son recently took up the sport as a hobby earlier in the year. Marry said “I didn’t want him to do something that I couldn’t do”, and choose to take the flight as part of her 101st birthday celebrations!

In an interview with the TODAY.com Mary compared the turbulence of the flight with life, saying “…life has its ups and downs, so I guess paragliding can have a little up and down too”. The inspirational OAP said she wasn’t afraid at all because she saw so many other people enjoying the experience without incident, by the time it was her turn to fly she was only excited!

Mary beat the previous record which was set by British women Margaret McKenzie McAlpine who went paragliding while on holiday in Cyprus in 2007, but Mary said she her main aim for the paraglide, (apart from having some fun!) was to encourage older generations to get out there and experience new things while they can and stay positive, because, as she put it: “Friends don’t like a grumpy person.”. It wasn’t until after her flight that her son realised his mother may have set a world record and contacted Guinness to confirm this and later told Mary said she found her new found fame “humorous”!

Photo and story source: msnbc.com

If you are inspired by this great great grandmothers daring birthday celebration and want to take to the skies in style, or maybe know and OAP with a taste for adventure, check out some of the experiences we have available:

Tandem Paragliding Experience (Winch)
Price £69
Paragliding is one of the closest ways to experience free flight as you get to soar through the skies and enjoy the silence of gliding! Throughout the 10 minute flight you will get to enjoy the views as the expert instructor pilots you safely to the ground making plenty of long swooping turns across the sky.




Tandem Hang Glide Aero Tow (South East)
Price £225
As the microlight tows to an altitude of around 2000ft, you will be able to appreciate the tranquil beauty of the earth from the sky! As you are released, the instructor will take control of the hang glider as well as letting you make some turns yourself and experience the ultimate feeling of flight!




Microlight Flight Kent
Price £69
Fly over the patchwork countryside of Kent in a Microlight and experience the bare bones of powered flight with just a wing, engine and small cockpit! Reach speeds of 70mph as you soar through the skies and get the chance to take the controls and fly the Microlight yourself.

From skydiving in a car to free falling in a kayak, and from no parachute to landing on a moving target; it would appear the adrenaline junkies have a great deal of scope for making jumps even more memorable. Because the spectacularly surreal sensation of free fall just isn’t enough for some!

In no particular order, here are some of our favourite skydiving videos:

1. Travis Pastrana Jumps With No Parachute!
We don’t think this one needs much more of an introduction, as super extreme adrenaline junkie Travis Pastrana enjoys a spot of safety-free skydiving…

2. Skydiving With A Glider!
Combining more extreme sport activities surely has to make skydiving even more adrenaline inducing…

3. Skydiving In A Kayak!
Well if gliding makes it in for being extreme, how about paddling against the current… or turbulence!

4. Skydiving in a Car
Continuing the extreme combinations of our many experience elements, driving has to be in there… and here it is! At least this is a convertible!

5. Omar Alhegelan Meditating
If the extreme thrills of free fall get a bit much, why not curl up your legs and chill out for a few minutes? The slow motion peacefulness of this video is stunning…

6. Gymnastic Free Fall
It’s not just Omar who likes to chill out with a bit of gymnastic free fall, as this elegant display clearly shows!

7. Landing On A Moving Target!
Making something memorable out of the free fall is one thing, but making a special entrance back on land requires a whole new level of brawn and bravado – as seen with this perfect landing on a moving van!

8. Five Year Old Skydiver
The earlier you learn something, the better you’ll become at it – so imagine how good this little boy will be in a few years! He has to be the coolest kid in school!

9. HALO Jump 30,000ft
At double the height of the highest tandem skydive in the UK, this HALO jump requires breathing apparatus and provides over two minutes of free fall!

10. Fazza Skydiving
The slow motion free fall and the fantastic views of this Fazza Skydiving made it in for highlighting the beauty and freedom of free fall.

So if all of that isn’t enough to get free fall fancy well and truly tickled, imagine your face looking like this…

Being at the forefront of the extreme sports and action sports industries, it’s little wonder we receive so many requests from budding young stars and athletes looking to make a name in the daring world of adrenaline activities.

It’s a great pleasure for us to see the development and progression of these young stars – and we’ll try to help them reach their lofty targets, goals and ambitions wherever we can. Being the extreme sports specialist; we’re in a good position to offer many years of experience – and hopefully quite a bit more!

After a few edits were sent our way by a crew of scooter riders, we felt compelled to support these talented youngsters wherever we could, and help get their wheels rolling toward further progression! To say thanks for a few merchandise goodies, our latest riders Bill Faulkner & Jay Samuels sent us a couple of new edits sporting our T-Shirts and hoodies – and we loved them!

Jay Samuels:






Bill Kill’s it…
We’re still working on Bill’s videos, but here’s a couple of his best photos:

We’ll be bringing you many more updates from the talented youngsters representing our Urban Edits over the coming months, so keep an eye out both here on the blog and on our Facebook Page.

If you’ve got what it takes and think you’d like to become one of our budding young athletes, drop us an email to UrbanEdits@exelement.com – and we’ll send you a gift pack ready to get out and get filming!

Although we can’t offer you a drive in an actual F1 car, we do have a number of Single Seater driving experiences across the country that are just about the closest the general public can get without years of practice and experience. These bespoke, lightweight racers are hunkered down low to the ground allowing for faster cornering and quicker acceleration from the 1600cc engines.

Single Seater In The North

Knockhill, Fife

Knockhill circuit is located just above Edinburgh and offers some of the best circuit driving north of the border – with three single seater driving experiences to be enjoyed on the 1.3 mile track.

Single Seater Super Trial
Price £240
This awesome track day is one you’ll never forget, as you drive a powerful single seat racer out on the track with a one-to-one tuition. Starting in a Seat Leon Cupra, you’ll prepare for the main event with a skills and knowledge session – allowing you to immerse yourself in the motor sport quality of Knockhill. You will then have two sessions in the single seater to try and set the best lap times in the beginner and advanced sessions.


Ultimate Drivers Experience
Price £335
Take to the track for the ultimate driving day as you get behind the wheel of three exciting forms of motor sport. Start in the 270cc pro karts before a session in the Subaru Impreza WRX rally car – and finally enjoy the awesome Single Seater with ‘hand me down’ Formula 1 technology all under the supervision of experts.


Single Seater Experiences Midlands

Silverstone, Northamptonshire

Silverstone is considered the UK’s premier circuit and has been the home of the British Grand Prix for over 17 years now – and is set to be so for another 20 years. Whilst behind the wheel of a single seater racer, you will be driving on the same tarmac and apex as the best drivers in the world do every summer – making this as close as you could possibly come to the real thing in Britain!

Silverstone Single Seater
Price £175
Take to the famous Silverstone tarmac behind the wheel of a bespoke single seater racer and enjoy the power and poise of the cars packed with F1 technology. You will start with a 20 minute driving session behind a pace car – to build some confidence on a practice session before a further 20 minutes of driving pleasure on the UK’s home of motor sport.


Single Seater Driving in The South

Castle Combe, Wiltshire

Castle Combe circuit is located in the heart of the Wiltshire and offers a fantastic high speed track to really test the capabilities of single seat racers. The Formula Ford racers available at Castle Combe are powered by 1600cc engines, and thanks to their lightweight aerodynamic design; can really give it some around the track!

Formula Ford Thrill
Price £179
Practice your driving techniques in a Ford Focus with one-to-one tuition from expert instructors before learning the racing lines and braking points of this high speed circuit. Once ready and confident, you’ll be strapped in and ready to drive for six laps of petrol head perfection- pushing the car to its limits of speed and grip across many tight corners!


Goodwood, West Sussex

Goodwood circuit is one of the most famous in the UK and is claimed to be one of the fastest in Europe thanks to the long straights. It is also the home of the Festival of Speed, contributing to making Chichester’s picturesque racing circuit the perfect location for pushing the single seater race cars to a fast paced limit!

Formula Ford Thrill
Price £179
Take the powerful Ford FF2000 racers for a spin on one of the fastest and most prestigious circuits in the country. Start by gaining some experience in an Alfa Romeo with guidance from the expert instructor before you get strapped into the single seater and begin the high speed driving session.


So there we have it, a selection of our top single seater experiences – giving you the chance to get as close to Formula One as possible. With a low centre of gravity and a powerful engine, these high speed racers will give you a real racing driver sensation without the years of practice and dedication usually associated with sitting in the drivers’ seat of an actual F1 car!

Bungee Jumping experiences have never been exclusive in participation, from obese to oap – if you fancy it enough, the capability is there to let anybody feel the rush of pure adrenaline associated with suspended free fall!

With the amount of jumps we have completed here at Extreme Element, we’ve seen our fair share of bungee brilliance and bravado down the years, from naked jumps to a Guinness World Record. But, even we were a little taken aback by the bravery shown by Christine Rougoor over in Whistler, British Columbia this week, as she made the giant leap whilst seated in her wheelchair!

Supported by 9Lives Adventures, paraplegic Christine completed the jump with relative ease and claims that her first bungee jump definitely won’t be her last.

Mr Ladki, founder of 9Lives Adventures, said:

“The chair provides much more stability for the bungee jump. It prevents the blood from rolling around the body too fast and prevents black-outs.”

Bungee Jumping isn’t alone in having options for disabled persons – as Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham proved with his double back flip, and our skydiving experiences along with many other of the most daring activities show .

What extreme sports would you recommend are suitably capable and suitably daring enough for these fearless PWDs?

Bungee Jump Wedding

How about standing on top of a 160ft crane while taking your vows? Standing alongside a terrified vicar and your closest friends and family, instead of making you way up the aisle after the ceremony, you may leap from the platform attached to a bungee cord! Really puts a new meaning to the phrase ‘jumping into a new life…’!
If you would like to experience the thrill of bungee jumping with your loved one without doing it on your wedding day, then check out our Tandem Bungee Experiences.

Hot Air Balloon Wedding


Although Hot Air Ballooning isn’t usually considered that extreme, getting married in a wicker basket suspended hundreds of feet in the air by nothing more than nylon and hot air is high in the sky compared to most! As a basket can hold anywhere from 4 to 20 people, selecting which guests are brave enough to witness your big day will be the challenge. If you like the idea of getting married in a Hot Air Balloon or would just like to share a ride with your bride to be, take a look at our Ballooning Experiences

Scuba Diving Experiences

Despite the obvious difficulty with communication with all the breathing apparatus, getting married underwater is surprisingly popular! A quick search of Youtube brings up hundreds of Scuba wedding videos from exotic locations around the world. Some couples have even gone one step further and got married in an aquarium tank with sharks swimming among them, with guests sitting comfortably on the other side of the glass. If you are thinking about an underwater marriage, it is probably a good idea to get some practice in first with one of our Scuba Diving Lessons

Skydiving Wedding

It all started in 1940, New York with the first Parachute Wedding – and since then, many couples have tied the knot hurtling towards earth at 120mph. Some couples have the ceremony on ground, others in the plane – all before jumping! But, the ultimate way to get married in the air has to be during free-fall… just don’t drop the ring! This is arguably the most extreme way to take your vows, as you may be as excited again – even throughout the whole wedding! If you would like to experience the ultimate adrenaline rush, you can either take the first steps to getting your license with an AFF level 1 course, or simply get started with the intro thrill with a Tandem Skydive.

So there we have it, a selection of some of our favourite ways couples have got hitched – and a few of our experiences that could get you on your way to getting married in extreme fashion!