Extreme Sports Venues in Myanmar

Myanmar Geography Offers Many Extreme Sports Venues

With its decision to rejoin the community of nations, Myanmar made a daredevil leap to the front pages of the world. This is good news for extreme sports enthusiasts. Myanmar’s dramatic landscape offers athletes some exciting venues that have been pretty much off limits till now.

Heli-skiing is a sport waiting to happen in the Northern reaches of Myanmar where the Himalayan mountains delineate the border areas of Myanmar, China, and India. In the range is Hkakabo Razi, the highest peak in Southeast Asia, pricking the sky 20,000 feet above sea level. However, that rugged mountainside is best suited for wilderness mountain climbers, not skiers; although they should still use equipment as this ankle brace amazon to protect themselves during these climbs.

For mountaintop skiers, farther west in the range near the Indian border rises Phon Gan Razi. That lower peak is accessible by helicopter and, just as important, is within walk-out range of civilization at the end of the ski run. Heli-skiers will need a permit and, of course, a helicopter and pilot. For the latter, skiers can contact one of the several local flight companies.

It is essential to wear the proper base layer. One of the benefits of base layers is that they help to regulate your body temperature regardless of the weather.

White-water rafters wanting to test their courage need look no farther than the boiling froth of Myanmar’s Maykha River in Kachin State. Fed by the snow melt of the Himalayas, the Maykha was first paddled in 2003. The venue has been labeled by Ultimate Descents rafting experts as “the most challenging wilderness rafting trip on the planet.” To complete the 200-kilometer trip takes 10 days or so. Rafters bob and weave through class 5 and class 6 rapids at the bottom of sheer canyons in wilderness areas. The radical topography of the Kachin region makes it an adventure just to be in the area. Tours must be booked months in advance, which suggests water-challenging athletes are discovering the Mayhka.

Diving the Burma Banks is not like a placid day frolicking in the waters of an otherwise deserted beach. The Banks are a series of sea mounts—essentially, canyon walls under the ocean’s surface—in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar. Diving among the sea mounts is precarious because of strong, surprising currents. A diver can end up a kilometer away from his entry point. For that reason, tour operators insist on a buddy system.

Besides the adrenaline rush that comes from being swept along underwater by unseen currents, divers in the Burma Banks get the chance to mingle with sharks. Numerous members of the shark family—includingsilver tip, nurse, blacktip, whitetip, gray reef, bull and hammerhead—regularly glide among the seamounts in search of, well, food. Divers, beware.

Technical rock-climbing is an exhilarating way to hang out with friends and Myanmar offers numerous places to do so. The sport has developed in the last 10 years with most climbs in the 5.10-5.12 range of difficulty. A couple dozen routes have been bolted and many more are sought among the heavily vegetated hills of the country.

The climate of the region—marked by rain and verdant outcrops—means that lots of rock is turned to soil in time. But many of the sheer cliff faces that remain are craggy, limestone surfaces perfect for bolting and finger-tip dangling. The Technical Climbing Club of Myanmar is in the forefront of developing and expanding the sport.

Big-time sport fishing—meaning fishing for really big fish—is a growing sport in Myanmar thanks to the presence in its waters of over-sized finned, gill-breathing vertebrates. The Mekong Giant Catfish is the largest freshwater fish in the world. In its swimming of the Mekong River, the catfish passes through Myanmar. It can grow up to 11 feet in length and weigh almost 700 pounds. Slightly smaller catfish—growing only 5-6 feet long—are found in the Irrawaddy River.

Offshore, sport fishermen wanting to do battle with finned challengers charter boats to ride out into the Burma Banks in the Andaman Sea. On the edge of the Mergui Archipelago, the Banks are home to many exotic fish, including the black marlin, which are deemed to be the fastest fish in the oceans. A terrific sport fish, they jump high in the air in doing battle with a hook for upwards of an hour. They can grow to 1,000 pounds.

Finally, global surfers are being drawn to Myanmar. Some want to kite-surf off the white beaches of Ngapali and others want to try traditional surfing near Ngwe Saung and other coastal areas.

Myanmar is such an undiscovered—and in many places, rugged—country that adventurous sports enthusiasts should feel a certain thrill just walking its dirt roads, swimming its white-beached bays, and venturing through its dense, teak forests. Until a more sophisticated 21^st-century veneer overlays much of the country—bringing paved roads, safe drinking water, and reliable electricity like the one that can be serviced by a commercial electrician—the country will remain a top-priority destination for no-limits-sports people wanting adventure first and comforts second.