Documentary on Extreme Sports Includes Footage of MaiTai Event on Maui

Carl Quintanilla kiteboarding lesson with Susi Mai. Courtesy photo.

By Maui Now Staff

From flying off a mountain in a “wingsuit” to nailing a triple back motorcycle flip to kiteboarding 40 feet in the air, CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, examines the extraordinary growth of extreme sports in a one-hour documentary, “The New High: Extreme Sports,” that is scheduled to premiere tonight.

The show will premiere on Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. HST and then will re-air at 7 p.m. HST. It will also be on Friday, June 19 at 1 p.m. HST and on Sunday, June 21 at 4 p.m. HST and 7 p.m. HST.

CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla speaks with prominent venture capitalist Bill Tai and pro kiteboarder Susi Mai – who together are the force behind “MaiTai Global” – part extreme sports camp, part network of the top minds in tech where entrepreneurs, investors and pro-athletes come together to kite, party and make deals on Maui.  “There’s a certain kind of person that will look at a pro rider flying through the air and think, ‘I could do that,’” explains Tai. “And I think that’s exactly the kind of person that goes into a startup.”

Quintanilla follows two “MaiTai” first-timers hoping to find backers for their new product, and speaks with a former SVP at Twitter who’s come to Hawaiʻi looking to invest in the next great tech idea.

CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla takes a kiteboarding lesson with Susi Mai on Maui. Courtesy photo.

The CNBC crew also travels to:

• Salt Lake City to meet three members of the “GoPro Bomb Squad” – Neil Amonson, Marshall Miller and Jesse Hall – and watches as they jump from Notch Peak, 9,000 feet above sea level, wearing wingsuits and soaring at speeds of up to 120 miles an hour. The group is paid by camera maker GoPro to live out their passion of skydiving, BASE jumping and wingsuit flying.
• Boards a ship headed to the Bahamas for a three-day cruise where 1,400 fitness fanatics participate in a Spartan obstacle race;
• Meets action sports legend Travis Pastrana during a stop on his 40-city North American Nitro Circus tour, which is expected to bring in some $35 million in ticket sales.
• Profiles 31-year-old Amelia Boone who is a bankruptcy attorney in Chicago by day; but on weekends, she sheds her corporate skin and competes as one of the best obstacle course racers in the world. CNBC cameras cover Boone in action at “The Spartan Beast,” a 12.5 mile race in New Jersey where competitors trudge 4,800 feet up muddy ski slopes and tackle 32 obstacles.

Carl Quintanilla kiteboarding lesson with Susi Mai. Courtesy photo.

In just the past few years, entirely new sports have been invented as more and more money, time and passion have been pumped into a rapidly developing industry.

Along with these astonishing pursuits, there is also the very real element of danger and even death, CNBC reports and examines the risk involved. Since 1981, more than 250 people have died in BASE jumping accidents alone, the network reports. Quintanilla talks with several athletes featured in the hour about walking the fine line between adrenaline and actual danger.