只有CEO才玩得起的奢侈运动

    上周，许多人非常惊讶地获悉，艾伦•尤斯塔斯无畏地从平流层上一跃而下，成功超越了奥地利跳伞运动员菲利克斯•鲍姆加特纳创造的高空跳伞世界纪录。

    更让人惊讶的是，从超过25英里（约合40,234米）高的热气球上跳下，下落速度超过800英里（约合1,287千米）每小时的尤斯塔斯，并不是你想象中的四肢发达，头脑简单。现年57岁的他是一位计算机科学家，碰巧也是谷歌公司（Google）工程与研究事务高级副总裁。

    尤斯塔斯比鲍姆加特纳年长十多岁。他从日常工作中抽出时间，挑战一项如此惊心动魄的壮举，这的确令人惊叹。当然，在我们看来，尤斯塔斯的这个业余爱好可不便宜。没有人透露尤斯塔斯为这次跳伞花了多少钱，实际上，他与一个由科学家和工程师组成的团队为这次行动做了好几年的准备，还可能得到了一些外来的赞助。毕竟，尤斯塔斯需要一套配有维生系统的特制宇航服，还有特制降落伞和氦气球。【据说鲍姆加特纳在气球上就花了7万美元，尽管他的跳伞得到了红牛公司（Red Bull）的赞助。】

    换句话说，这种运动只有身价不菲的高管才负担得起（或者就像鲍姆加特纳这样，某位由公司赞助的勇敢者）。接下来我们看看只有有钱人才玩得起的其他五项昂贵的体育运动，以及都有哪些高管喜欢这些运动。

    直升机滑雪

    Many people were surprised last week to learn that Alan Eustace had successfully outdone Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner by setting a new world record for high-altitude skydiving with his death-defying jump from the edge of the stratosphere.

    Even more surprising? Eustace, who leaped from a balloon more than 25 miles above the earth and fell at more than 800 miles per hour, isn’t your typical daredevil. In fact, he’s a 57-year old computer scientist who also happens to be Google’s senior vice president of knowledge.

    Kudos to Eustace –who is more than a decade Baumgartner’s senior – for taking some time off from his day job to tackle such a heart-racing feat. Of course, it occurred to us that Eustace’s side-project was probably a bit expensive, as far as hobbies go. No one has said how much the feat cost Eustace, who spent several years preparing with a small team of scientists and engineers and who very well could have received outside funding. After all, Eustace needed a specially-designed spacesuit with a life-support system as well as a special parachute and helium balloon. (Baumgartner’s balloon reportedly cost about $70,000, though his jump was sponsored by Red Bull.)

    In other words, it’s the kind of sport only a reasonably wealthy executive (or, in Baumgartner’s case, a corporate-sponsored daredevil) would likely take up. Here’s a look at a five other expensive sports for only the most affluent of athletes, and some of the top executives who love them.

    Heli-skiing

    滑雪已经成为一项富人的运动，因为滑雪装备和吊椅都要花很大一笔钱。再加上直升机就显得更加奢侈了（只要有直升机出现，那绝对够奢侈）。尽管直升机滑雪需要一天的路途奔波，花费达到每人约1,000美元，但这项运动却日渐流行。直升机滑雪的理念相对简单：让直升机载你飞到一片人迹罕至的山区，在那儿你可以踏着新雪来几次超级昂贵的滑行。俄罗斯亿万富翁，布鲁克林篮网队（Brooklyn Nets）老板米哈伊尔•普罗霍洛夫，以及特立独行的亿万富翁，维珍集团（Virgin Group）创始人理查德•布兰森，都对这项运动情有独钟。

    实际上，说起理查德爵士……

    风筝冲浪（以及理查德•布兰森爱好的其它所有运动）

    Skiing is already a sport for the wealthy, what with the equipment and lift passes likely to run you a pretty penny. Tossing a helicopter into the mix just seems extravagant (it always does). But heli-skiing is gaining in popularity despite day-long excursions often costing around $1,000 per person. The idea is relatively simple: A chopper flies you to a not-so-accessible part of a mountain, where you're dropped onto some of the freshest snow imaginable for a few very pricey runs. Russian billionaire and Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov apparently enjoys the sport as does the original extreme billionaire, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.

    Actually, speaking of Sir Richard . . .

    Kite-surfing (and, pretty much every other Richard Branson hobby)