Extreme Ironing World Championships

Extreme Ironing

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2010

"Any Garment Is Suitable, But it Must Be at Least the Size of a Tea Towel. It's Hardly Impressive to Iron a Handkerchief"

- Extreme Ironing

After a long work day at an English knitwear factory, Phil Shaw didn't feel like ironing his clothes, but he did manage to muster the energy to go rock climbing that evening and iron his clothes at the same time. (It's that clean-your-plate-and-then-you-can-have-dessert motivation that we try to teach our kids.) Thus, in 1997, the birth of extreme ironing, "the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt."

Since then, extreme ironists have taken their wrinkled garments both high (Mount Everest) and low (a blue hole off the Egyptian coast), both north (the North Pole) and south (Antarctica) - and most everywhere in between (for instance, across a gorge at the Wolfberg Cracks in South Africa). There's hardly a global destination that hasn't been subjected to their not entirely un-ironic pressing.

Shaw, or "Steam" as he's been nicknamed, created the Extreme Ironing Bureau in 1999, which validates record-breaking attempts and sanctions EI events, such as the Rowenta Tour, during which the world's best practitioners embark upon an extreme ironing crusade across a country or continent.

According to the official rules, in order to break a record, one must photograph or record themselves at an outdoor landmark, with a one-meter long, 30 cm-wide ironing board with legs, along with a "real" (non-plastic) iron. Plugs, or even extension cords, are hardly necessary; these athletes are more involved in pressing their luck.

The Bureau has sections in New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States, with an estimated thousand people participating in extreme ironing worldwide. The German Extreme Ironing Section hosted a World Championships in Munich in 2002, an event at which 80 participants competed.

Sure, ironing while BASE jumping or paragliding, or during a 30-foot dive off the coast of Melbourne in a 72-person team (a Guinness World Record-breaking feat in 2008) might get you mentioned in sports blog or printed on a poster, but it probably won't help you make a nice straight crease in your shirt's pleats. Not to worry, says the EIB: "There are occasions where the danger and the thrill of extreme ironing are more exciting than the actual ironing."

Feeling a little hot under the starched collar? Get out there and iron! See: www.extremeironing.com.

Extreme Ironing World Championships Tags

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Extreme Ironing World Championships Dates, Location and Further Information

The first (and possibly last) Extreme Ironing World Championships was held in Valley, a small village near Munich, Germany in September 2002.