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With the festive season fast approaching, you might be thinking about great Christmas gift ideas for your loved ones. Anybody out there who knows someone who's a bit of an adrenaline junkie - and let's face it, we all know someone like that - you'll know that buying them a pair of reindeer socks or a Pound Store bottle of aftershave isn't exactly going to light up their eyes like a Nintendo64.

You see, what they'd really like to see when they tear open the wrapping is a piece of paper giving them a free paintballing session, or a couple of hours of quad biking, or maybe a voucher for skydiving. Anything that's going to get their pulse racing will do. If they love being behind a steering wheel and travelling at speeds where cheeks start to flap, they'll love a real extreme driving experience, and they won't forget that it was you who gave them said experience.

Of course, there's more to extreme sports than something so simple as quad biking or 4x4 driving - maybe your relative will be eager to open up a 3rd dimension and try getting airbourne. There's a lot of different societies and associations you can join (such as the BMAA) if you want to get serious, but if you just want to try it out, microlighting is a particularly thrilling activity for anybody who likes a bit of excitement.

The best thing about ultralight aviation is that since the activity first became popular during the late 70s, it has become a much safer way to experience flying - although pilot error has always been the leading cause of microlight flight related injuries.

Just tell them to be careful. Like that'll help...