Freeclimbing and skysurfing

A few kilometres from Paris, at Fontainebleau, there's a wonderful forest. Here, among the trees, strange rock formations come out of the earth. Some in the shape of animals, others like towers.

Freeclimbing came into existence among these fairy tale surroundings. Some youngsters, almost as a game, began climbing the rocks: their only equipment being gym shoes.

That was many years ago. Now Freeclimbing is practised by many enthusiasts all over the world. After the rocks came the walls of old churches, bridges, seacliffs and finally the faces of the highest mountains, until then the domain of mountaineers. The equipment necessary for this fascinating sport can all go into a little rucksack. To go up as high as four metres, all you need is a pair of special shoes.

But, if you go up higher, safety is guaranteed by a rope. So, the first rule is to try not to fall! To attempt the most difficult faces, requires many years of daily training. A good freeclimber, as well as having good balance and great agility, must also have considerable strength. Just imagine- often the freeclimber must hang by one finger!

Climbing competitions nowadays are very widespread. There is an extraordinary number of very great champions. They manage to climb faces which at first seem perfectly smooth. The athletes must conquer the ascent in the shortest time possible.

Watching is exciting. It's not every day that you see Spider Man in action.

Mark is a 20 year old Australian and as brave as a lion. With a surfboard undder his arm, he walks along the runaway. A plane is waiting for him ready to take off. A last minute check to his equipment, a wave to his friends and off he goes: the adventure has begun.

While we're going skyward, Mark tells about this exciting sport: Skysurfing. Before you can even begin sky diving you've got to be a good parachuter, be able to keep your balance and be a freefall expert. You fly up to a height of about 14,000 feet ( over 4 kilometres ) step into shoes which are fixed on a special surfboard, take a deep breath and jump.

Then,...you start to surf through the clouds instead of waves. But not for long: when you freefall you go down quickly. You've got to open up your parachute in time, take off the board, put it under your arm and then unfortunately, it's already time to land. The hardest thing to do is stay upright on the board.

The most frightening moment is when the board turned upside down and the sky diver is falling head first. Yo need to keep a cold head and try and get upright again as quickly as possible. It's not a sport for everyone: you have to be very well prepared and fit.