When he was winning college golf tournaments as a Fresno State senior, pro golfer Nick Watney was content to come up a few units shy of a history degree. In fact, Nick didn’t want a college degree to fall back on.

Golf bag slung over his shoulder and a bounce in his step, a stocky fellow walks alone to his car in the Haggin Oaks parking lot. “I was crushing the driver,” he says, talking more to himself than anyone else. “Absolutely crushing it.”

While some business people are perfectly content golfing or playing tennis in their time off, others apply their competitive spirit to more extreme pursuits. These high achievers share several characteristics: They search far and wide for challenges, they’re competitive, they have uncommon amounts of energy and they have the financial means to travel, whether to climb Russia’s Mount Elbrus, kite surf in Brazil or hunt rare black impala in South Africa.