Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Extreme Mountain Unicycling Is as Crazy as It Sounds

Posted: 07 Feb 2013 03:22 AM PST

As if coming down the side of a mountain on two wheels wasn’t hard enough, thrill-seekers have come up with an even crazier sport – extreme mountain unicycling. Saying this sport is dangerous and difficult is probably a huge understatement.

If you though unicycling was just a goofy pastime, and out previous posts on Cycle Ball and other interesting unicycle sports haven’t changed your mind, this one definitely will. Extreme mountain Unicycling is all about climbing dangerous peaks and then sliding and bunny-hopping all the way down without falling into seemingly-bottomless chasms. Not really my idea of a fun time to be honest, but I have to admit watching the likes of Lutz Eichholz cycling their way down the Dolomite Mountains, in Italy, on one wheel is pretty cool. The young German and his friend Stephanie Dietze garnered the support of Adidas sportswear, who sponsored their trip and provided a professional cameraman to record their unbelievably dangerous feats.

Photo: Markus Greber

26-year-old Eicholz grew up in Germany’s Ruhr area, and started unicycling when he was nine years old. There were no mountains near his home, but together with his friends he started performing all kinds of tricks, and before he knew it he was taking part in one-wheel-riding events around the world. It was during a trip to China that he met expert extreme unicyclist Kris Holm, who introduced him to the sport. ”That started me on the extreme unicycling route. It was totally cool. I was in New Zealand and went to the mountains and realized it would be possible, but that it would be difficult. Then in 2010 three friends and I went up the Zugspitze mountain and came down on unicycles,” he told The Local.

Photo: Markus Greber

Extreme mountain unicycling was pioneered during the 1990s, on the West Coast of the United States, and has since then won thousands of fans around the world. "People like the novelty of it," Wendy Grzych, the president of the Unicycling Society of America,  told the New York Times. "It's a whole subculture, and a different makeup than your church friends or work buddies." As you can imagine, there’s a lot of falling involved, but practitioners claim the sport is no more dangerous than mountain biking. "We fall more often than mountain bikers, but we're going slower so it's not as bad. The same cliffs are out there," says unicyclist Hans Van Koppen. But everyone agrees going down the mountain on one wheel is a lot more exhausting than riding a bicycle. "Unicycling is by far much more exercise," Van Koppen said. "You use every part of your body — arms, legs, stomach, back."

Photo: Markus Greber

Photo: Markus Greber

 

Photos via ChopMTB

Extreme Mountain Unicycling Is as Crazy as It Sounds was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Catalan Artist Folds Table Napkins into Awe-Inspiring Masterpieces

Posted: 07 Feb 2013 02:09 AM PST

You might have seen napkins folded into impressive shapes at some fancy dinner, but they probably look like child’s play compared to the masterpieces created by Catalan artist Joan Sallas.

48-year-old Joan Sallas is considered the world’s best virtuoso napkin folder, and is credited with almost singlehandedly reviving the Baroque-style art that appeared in Renaissance Italy and reached its peak during the 17th century, in German speaking countries. Believe it or not, the Catalan master has managed to take the classic art to new heights with only old engravings and documents describing royal banquets as his inspiration. He learned the secrets to folding paper from his grandfather, when he was only a child, but the passion stayed with him through adulthood, when he discovered the lost art of folding linen. After spending years researching old documents and trying to copy napkin works of art created for the opulent events of 17th century Europe. He has mastered eight folding techniques, including fans, rolls and lilies, that allow him to recreate some truly awe-inspiring decorations.

Photo: Gerwin Sturm

Although he spends months at a time folding hundreds of meters of linen into works for his unique exhibitions, Sallas says it’s the research that takes up most of his time. Going though centuries-old documents and pieces of art depicting napkin creations and trying to decode their secrets is painstaking work, but the passionate artist is happy to do it. ”This isn’t an exhibit, it’s a research project in the form of an exhibit,” he said in a 2010 interview with AFP. “The heart is not the objects that are here on display but the research, which evolves dynamically.” Throughout the years, he has amassed a private collection of over 2,000 documents and books, to make sure this beautiful art isn’t lost ever again.

Photo: Paula Vesnick

Joan Sallas impressive portfolio includes elaborate animals and structures, the kind you’d never imagine could be made out of folded napkins, and yet the artist says ”My favourite piece is always the one I haven’t deciphered yet, the one I don’t know how to fold yet.” More surprising still is his habit to dismantle the intricate works of art and throw the linen material away. “This ephemeral quality is part of life,” he says. ”We are only here for a short time.”

Photo: Paula Vesnick 

Photo: Paula Vesnick 

Photo: Gerwin Sturm

Sources: AFP, Huffington Post

Catalan Artist Folds Table Napkins into Awe-Inspiring Masterpieces was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Living with Wolves – The Amazing Story of Werner Freund

Posted: 07 Feb 2013 12:45 AM PST

79-year-old Werner Freund has a unique gift. The ex-paratrooper and now wolf-researcher from Germany can get along with wolves so well, it's almost like he's a member of their pack. In fact, it's been 40 long years since he started living among wolves and rearing them from pups at his 'Wolfspark' sanctuary , located in Merzig,  in the German province of Saarland. The close relationship between Werner and his wolves is quite obvious from pictures of him leaning back on his haunches and howling, and of the wild beasts eating meat straight from his mouth.

Wolves are generally a feared species; come into close quarters and your chances of making it out alive are quite slim. But things are different in the case of Werner. It's like they've accepted him as one of their own. When Werner is around, his wolves are actually playful, docile and submissive towards him. Perhaps it's because he's successfully asserted his dominance as the alpha male in the pack. The park is inhabited by wolves from six different packs around the world, including Siberian, Arctic, Canadian, European and Mongolian ones. They were mostly acquired as cubs from animal parks or zoos and hand-reared by Werner.

Photo: Hihawai

It may seem gross and unnecessary, but there's a reason why Werner feeds the wolves with his mouth. The feeding routine is unique – he first howls, calling on his pack to come for the meat that he has procured. The raw meat comes from a steady supply of slaughtered deer that he keeps handy to feed his packs. The hungry wolves excitedly make their way, heeding to their leader's calls. Werner makes sure that he sinks his teeth into the meat first, sealing his position as the dominant male each time – just like in the animal world where the alpha male always gets the first cut. The hungry wolves wait and watch obediently and proceed to snack on the raw meat only once he permits them to.

Photo: Michael Schönberger

Feeding first is the only way that Werner can make sure he maintains the respect of the pack. And it works. When the wolves are not feeding, they play around with him and joyfully lick his face as a sign of subservience and acknowledgement. These gestures sometimes hurt Warner, as the wolves show their delight by violently poking their muzzles into the corners of his mouth. Sounds scary, but it's nothing more than a rough greeting. Werner has scars, pockmarks, and sometimes even comes away with a black eye after these encounters, but he says the intimacy is needed to become one with the pack. "If I didn't live such a wolf-like life, I'd never be able to connect with the wolves," he says. In fact, he is constantly acting the part. "I noticed early-on that dominant wolves behave arrogantly towards the rest. As a human, I'm not arrogant, but as a wolf I am. It's the only way I can maintain my position at the head of the pack. So Werner will get down on all fours, growl at a threatening wolf, look away nonchalantly when a challenger approaches, and sometimes even resort to biting.

Photo: Michael Schönberger

The wolf that Werner is always wary of is the one directly beneath him in the hierarchy. Since wolf packs constantly shift the position of power, he needs to make sure he is not attacked if there are changes in the ranking order. So while he might be comfortable enough to take a midday snooze with his furry companions, he must always be careful to notice even slight signals that might warn of a change in his position. After all, in the eyes of the pack he is still an outsider, but with the exclusive place above the alpha male. Even so, Werner does not meddle in a pack's internal squabbles. "When I enter their fenced-in territory, I only go to the alpha wolf or his mate," he says. "If I go to the others, it could be read as an attack. I don't want to challenge their hierarchies. What they do is their business and I try not to get involved in their fights. If two wolves are having it out, I may go between them if it gets too rough. But I try not to, since I risk being attacked."

 

Werner established the snowy, 25-acre wolf sanctuary in 1972, and has raised more than 70 animals since then. Currently, there are about 29 of them at Wolfspark. There's a video that shows Werner playing around with his wolves and it's sweet to see how well humans and animals can really get along. If you thought it was only in the movies that wolf-men transformed into wolves, well, Werner is the perfect example it can happen in real life (minus the CGI effects, of course).. "Yes, I'm an animal," he says quite cheerfully. "When I'm not with the wolves, of course I'm human; but with the wolves, I'm a wolf."

Living with Wolves – The Amazing Story of Werner Freund was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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