ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a synthesis between phenomenology and a description of the ineffable elements of the extreme sport experience. It argues that elements of the extreme sports experience are ineffable, not because the experience is an 'unreflected' or 'pre-reflective' experience but because it is an experience characterised by intentionality where lived experience is beyond words. The ineffable aspect of the experience was revealed in many instances as occurring immediately after a commitment to action. Altered states characterised by accentuated sensory acuity and clarity of perception are typical responses to extreme sport experience. The extreme sport experience emerges as a medium for altered perceptions of space, time and clarity or enhanced state of sensual awareness and abilities to act. The extreme sport experience is multidimensional, including an enhanced, altered state of being that changes the participant's relationships with the environment.
