While some students play extreme sports on their xbox, others chose the real thing and go outside.

Activities like hiking, mountain climbing, parasailing and surfing are closer than you think. In fact, only 6.6 miles from Krop is the largest urban park in Florida: Oleta River State Recreation Area, with 993 acres; this is where junior Leo Ferretti enjoys activities like camping, mountain biking, mountain hiking, hiking and grappling. “I love the outdoors; I love adventure, in all its forms,” Ferretti said.

A regular at Oleta, Ferretti would go every weekend with friends. “During the summer, my brother and friends would mountain bike when the weather wasn’t too hot,” Ferretti said. “Oleta has a great mountain biking trail.”

Other students, like junior Natalie Aguila, travel around 2000 miles to the slopes of Colorado to strap a two-by-five board to their feet; snowboarding is an extreme sport that requires balance and endurance to avoid falling. “I like snowboarding, it’s so hard, but it’s a lot of fun,” Aguila said. “But your whole body is sore afterwards.”

However, you don’t have to go across the country to find extreme sports. Twenty minutes away is Haulover Beach, a place where surfers enjoy small-to medium sized waves and “nice breaks to surf on.” Or, travel to Hollywood Beach, and you can rent surf boards on sunny beaches. “The atmosphere there is definitely more people friendly,” Ferretti said.

Finally, Hobie Beach is a popular escape for catamaran sailors where one can rent two-hulled sailboats, called catamarans by the hour or for the day and with the option of lessons. In strong winds, hobie sailors trapeze, using a harness to keep the boat just skimming the surface by pushing their weight off the boat and hang by their toes. “Hobies are a lot of fun. I love trapezing you feel weightless,” junior Dalia Sabbagh said.