by Sam Julander
You have heard about skydiving, wing suiting, scuba diving, but have you ever heard about extreme ironing? You heard me right. Extreme ironing is the sport of ironing your clothes in unlikely situations. According to the Extreme Ironing Bureau, extreme ironing is “the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.”
The history of extreme ironing started in the 1980s. The inventor Tony Hiam was inspired to create the extreme sport when he noticed that while camping, his brother in law would iron his clothes. Hiam’s goal from then on was to receive weird glances from people while ironing in unlikely places. Hiam would choose busy airport lounges, telephone kiosks, and other random places. His practical joke caught on and took a turn. Instead of airport lounges, people were ironing their clothes on rock faces, underwater, jumping out of planes.
Competition broke out. Who could be the best at ironing shirt? Soon it went international. Some famous feats included a man who climbed the summit of Mount Everest, with his ironing board in 2003. A world record of 5440 meters above sea level. In 2008 a team of 72 divers simultaneously dived underwater to compete in the sport, holding the world record for most extreme ironers underwater at once. In June of this year, a free diver dove 42 meters underwater and ironed his shirt, creating a world record for underwater freediving- ironing.
It’s funny how fast something as simple as ironing a shirt can become so dramatic. I don’t care what cool sport you do, you will never be as cool as Tony Hiam ironing his shirt.
extremesports.com 