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谷歌公司高级副总裁艾伦•尤斯塔斯日前从一个升至4万米高空，造价7万多美元的热气球上纵身一跃，一举打破高空跳伞的世界纪录。在人们为他欢呼的同时，别忘了，这些CEO级别高管们酷爱的运动有多烧钱。
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.
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。
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.
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。
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.)
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。】
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.
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。
Heli-skiing
直升机滑雪
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.
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。
Actually, speaking of Sir Richard . . .
实际上，说起理查德爵士……
Kite-surfing (and, pretty much every other Richard Branson hobby)
风筝冲浪(以及理查德•布兰森爱好的其它所有运动)
Virgin's Sir Richard Branson has long-held the reputation of a man who
enjoys life in the fast lane. That's what happens when you sky dive regularly
and attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean in a hot-air balloon. (Branson had even
hinted that he wanted to break Baumgartner's record one day by jumping out of
the private spacecraft his company is developing.) But, in recent years, Branson
has set his sights on breaking records in the extreme sport of kite-surfing,
which involves riding a board (like a surfboard or wakeboard) while holding onto
a wind-propelled parachute. Two years ago, Branson set a record by becoming the
oldest person to kite-surf across the English Channel – a feat he achieved after
his son set a record for the fastest kite-surf across that body of water.
维珍集团的理查德•布兰森爵士多年来以追求刺激体验而闻名。他时不时来次高空跳伞，或者在热气球上横渡太平洋。(布兰森甚至暗示，总有一天他要从公司研发的私人宇宙飞船上跳下来，打破鲍姆加特纳的纪录。)但近几年来，布兰森的兴趣是要做风筝冲浪这项极端运动的纪录刷新者。风筝冲浪指的是踩着滑板(冲浪板或滑水板)，抓着风力驱动的降落伞冲浪。两年前，布兰森创造了一项纪录，成为年龄最大的利用风筝冲浪横渡英吉利海峡的人——在他儿子创下利用风筝冲浪最快横渡这片水域的纪录之后，他完成了这一壮举。
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:13:34