Antonio Graceffo " />

Photos courtesy of Antonio Graceffo

About 20 years ago, before trying my hand at adventure writing, I had a brief flirtation with a career as a semi-professional athlete that nearly steered me away from any journalistic aspirations. Then, in the early 1980s, when you told people at a cocktail party that you were a professional tri-athlete, they usually asked, "What is that?"

If you were lucky, they might have had some notion of what it was you were talking about. They might have looked upon you with a degree of quiet awe as this exotic event -- which combines swimming, running, and cycling -- was gaining notoriety as the pinnacle of athletic achievement. The sport was so highly regarded by people "in the know" that, without ever having won or even placed in a major competition, one could draw a salary and attract sponsorship just by finishing a race.

Today, if you were to tell someone at a similar cocktail party that you were a professional tri-athlete, or even that you were the world champion, they would look at you in contempt and ask, "What, just three events? That's it?"

Granted, completing any multi-sport event is difficult, but the general consensus is anyone can swim, bike and run. Some just do it faster than others.

The new breed of multi-sport competitions is so difficult it makes the old triathlon or even the decathlon look like an outing with granny. Today, the skills necessary to compete range from the traditional three -- swimming, running, and cycling -- to ocean kayaking and even extreme skill sports, such as orienteering, free-diving, abseiling, rock climbing and base jumping.

Extreme, multi-sport events are becoming very popular in Asia with Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong leading the region.

Once again, Taiwan is preparing to play host the Action Asia Extreme Sport competition. Two combined Taiwanese and foreign teams recently contacted Jean-Marc, owner of Fresh Treks outdoor adventure company, to teach them rock climbing, abseiling and kayaking.

We convened one clear fall Sunday near the town of Lungdong just south of Keelung, a picturesque stretch of rocky coast popular with weekend outdoor enthusiasts.

As for my own presence this day, I was planning my certain-to-be-fatal sea kayaking expedition around the island of Taiwan. Jean-Marc invited me to come along to hone my paddling skills. I agreed that one afternoon of preparation might be useful before tackling 1,500 km of the Taiwanese coastline.

"Some of us are preparing for Action Asia Taiwan," explained the team leader. "But the rest of us are preparing for Malaysia."

He went on to explain that the Malaysia challenge is considered to be one of the tougher events in the world, taking more than four days to complete.

"In the Taiwan event, we have to run, swim, bike, kayak and abseil."

Is that all? I wanted to ask. But as often happens when I get around younger athletes, I found that I no longer possessed the lingo. "What's abseiling?" I asked.

"It's the German word for rappelling," he explained.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

Jean-Marc brought a group of Taiwanese and French outdoor enthusiasts along who had never done rock climbing or rappelling before. In true Jean-Marc form, within minutes of arriving at the cliffs, he organized the whole 20-person gathering in the safest and most instructional way possible.

He had everyone do a small, five-metre climb and rappel. He then separated the extreme athletes from the novices and set up climbing routes appropriate for each group.

You can buy Antonio Graceffo's latest paperback, "The Desert of Death on Three Wheels," by clicking here.