ADVENTURE CAPITALISTS.

Not all of Utah's business and professional minds are fixed on mergers, acquisitions and the latest management techniques. Many of these businesspeople are thinking about their next climb up sheer granite walls, their next jump out of an airplane, or their next plunge through whitewater cascades. While soaring thousands of feet above the ground under stretched nylon wings or maneuvering their four-wheel-drive vehicles over treacherous red rock, these professionals are rejuvenating their minds, bodies and spirits through extreme sports.

Jack Crosland is an orthopedic surgeon at Ogden Regional Medical Center and McKay-Dee Hospital. He is also an avid kayaker. "You can have any type of experience kayaking," he explains. "There are times I have squeezed so much epinephrine from my adrenal glands and other times when I've been on a laid-back endorphin high just having a good time." Crosland is currently in the process of building a kayak park in West Ogden. His goal is to create a multi-use venue that will run from the mouth of the Ogden River through Weber Canyon.

Several Utah companies are heavily involved in extreme sports. Many have built…