Those who perpetuate the stereotype of the cowardly computer nerd never spent time with network professionals. Networking is a thrill-zone job. Yet for many of you, the workweek is only an appetizer. With the weekend comes your daredevil hobbies such as skydiving, firefighting and snowboarding. Such activities, enthusiasts say, mesh with the network profession by boosting confidence and troubleshooting skills.

The birdman Flame resister Snow acrobat Other techie daredevils

The birdman

Perhaps no one personifies the daredevil network professional better than skydiver extraordinaire David Sanders, a network manager for J&A Advertising in Hollywood, Calif. In his 11 years of skydiving, the 44-year-old has accumulated some 1,500 jumps and countless stories - such as the time he and his buddies soared past their landing spot (and ride home waiting there) only to touch down miles away in a vacant lot across the street from one of the jumper's homes and his accommodating pick-up truck.

Sanders, who holds master skydiver and jumpmaster certifications, could teach but prefers the varied jumps these high-level licenses allow, like the high altitude/low opening (HALO) jump. A HALO jump uses specialized gear, including oxygen, for jumps at 30,000 feet, rather than the typical 12,000 feet. In another jump, he wears a birdman suit with webbed arms and legs. The suit transfers speed to forward motion, so a "free fall" that would normally take 50 seconds at 125 mph lasts about 2 minutes at 50 to 70 mph, he says.

"No matter what level you are at, there are always challenges - always more to the sport, more to experience, the ability to refine your skills," he says.

Still, Sanders seeks new ways to get that "ground rush," he says. Bungee jumping and wing walking are two of his other diversions. For the latter, he dons a parachute, steps onto the wing of a glider in flight, then walks or sits until he leaps - or falls - off.

Such sports are not sheer craziness, Sanders says. Training, technology and back-up plans keep the danger in check - much like on a network.

"On the surface it seems a little wild, but it's very controlled," he says. "Being an ‘adrenaline junkie' ties into troubleshooting . . . there's always Murphy's Law - like in networking. You deal with what's in front of you and progress logically. You learn if you train properly, you can handle any situation."

Flame resister

Pagers adorn each of John Van Lanen's hips. Beeps from one means trouble at work. He is the manager of network operations for Tri-County Computer Services Association in Wooster, Ohio, the IT department for 19 school districts in three counties.

Beeps from the other means bunker gear, ladder trucks and physical heroism. Van Lanen, 39, is a volunteer firefighter and an assistant chief at that. For 17 years, he has protected the 7,500 people and 60 square miles of the rural farming community where he lives. He has rescued people from burning buildings, extracted bodies from crashed planes and secured overturned tankers.

Fires are common in his area and particularly dangerous because farmers often store explosive materials in or near their barns. A few years ago, a 100-pound propane tank blew up during a barn fire, Van Lanen remembers. Another time at a hog farm, a 20-pound propane tank exploded 50 feet away from him.

"I looked at it and thought, ‘That's kind of cool' while the rookies had to go home and clean their shorts," he laughs. "No doubt about it, we are adrenaline junkies . . . we're tempting fate."

Other techie daredevils From kayaking with sharks to racing motorcycles, more industry professionals share their free-time bravado. Techies with daredevil hobbies are hardly the rarity. Your compatriots on the other side of the negotiation table, working for vendor organizations, have their share of derring-do, too. Mary Nugent, a vice president at BMC Software, spends her free time kayaking in the shark-infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico, about an hour's drive from her Houston home. She once faced down a four-foot-long shark stalking her as she paddled. more..

Firefighting helps Van Lanen be a better network executive, and vice versa, he says. "Talking to someone whose barn just burned down is like talking to someone whose network just crashed," he says. "You attack datacom problems like you attack a fire. You go through a certain set of procedures to solve a problem, and you do a lot of preplanning."

Snow acrobat

Not rain, nor sleet nor broken bones will keep Tami Tucker from her snowboard. In the six years since Tucker, 40, learned to ride, she has developed a need for speed, jumps, the rail and half-pipes.

"I love it. There's nothing like flying down the hill and going as fast as you can. The adrenaline, the freedom," she says.

Tucker, IS manager for public-opinion pollster Moore Information in Portland, Ore, rides every weekend at one of the half-dozen terrain parks near her, from the first big snow through the rains and slush of spring. Trick boarding is risky, but injury doesn't faze her. Last year she broke her arm, dislocated a shoulder and snapped her collarbone, twice. This year, she smashed the bone in her right wrist doing "grinds" - jumping onto a metal rail, sliding and jumping off. Then she broke her left arm during a speed run.

Typically, a miscalculated jump doesn't cause injury. But, she says, "I have had my share of spectacular falls - cartwheel falls and the like."

Tucker says her sport has taught her to remain cool under pressure on the job, even when others are panicking. "It has to do with confidence," she says. "I always have a feeling that there isn't anything I can't fix, or anything I can't do, and that comes from riding."