The X factor: why has Utah become a mecca for extreme sports enthusiasts?

• Author: Coon, John
• Position: Business Trends

Being an adrenaline junkie comes naturally to Thom Hall. When a client he worked with as a financial planner sent him a video on flyboarding, Hall became an immediate fan of the sport, which essentially combines a jet pack with a surfboard to make it possible to fly along the surface of a lake or reservoir. "I was instantly mesmerized and had to go track down what this thing was and where I could go do it," Hall says.

His quest to experience flyboarding took Hall to Florida. He found a flyboard distributor near Tampa and signed up for training on how to use it. Once Hall had the basics down, he returned to Utah with a new flyboard in hand and a business idea to go along with it.

That's when Hall and his brother, Dave, started Rocky Mountain Flyboard, a company that rents or sells flyboards and hoverboards. Their Salt Lake City-based company is the exclusive distributor of the French-made Zapata Racing Flyboard in 10 Western states and Guam. They also rent out flyboards to use at flight centers in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

What started as a side business done for fun has grown into a thriving enterprise.

"I love something that is new and exciting," Hall says. "It just sparked my imagination. I assume it is the same with other people."

This attitude is common among Utah residents, which is one reason why the extreme sports industry is growing and thriving in the state.

Extreme Sports Hub

Utah has become a popular destination for all sorts of extreme sports. Events ranging from AMA Supercross motorcycle racing to the Dew Tour--a pro competition featuring a mix of extreme sports from skateboarding to motocross--have come to the Wasatch Front in recent years. These sporting events have drawn healthy crowds and made an economic splash.

Supercross races at Rice Eccles-Stadium from 2001 to 2004 and 2009 to 2013, for example, created more than $75 million in economic impact for the state. During the five years the summer Dew Tour had a stop in Utah, it brought in approximately $10 to $12 million each year, while the winter tour brought in around $6 million. The Dew Tour also set attendance records for both its summer and winter tour stops in Utah.

Casey McClellan, director of the Utah Summer Games, has seen firsthand the broad appeal of extreme sports. The Utah Summer Games draws approximately 10,000 athletes from around the state to Cedar City each summer. While the majority of the sports at the Utah Summer...