[philers]

I think that off-piste skiing shares the same immersive flow-like experience whilst also being a physical activity.

It's the combination of feedback, decision making and then successful completion of the challenge that really combines to create the feeling.

Thinking of the problem, planning your response, and then executing in quick succession repeatedly.

[comrade1]

This is surprisingly close. I'd never thought of it like this but it's immediately clear what you mean.

Especially if it's off-piste but an area that you're familiar with. You plan out your run multiple steps before you start, and once you're on the hill you have to be flexible enough to change course and replan on the fly for another multiple steps ahead, all while you're barreling down a hill.

And then there's the moments of sheer terror when you see snow sliding past you, or when you come up on a recent avalanche 1) have to avoid the packed ice and 2) look out for what caused the avalanche.

You're absolutely right - I get a kind of rush from coding that's similar to skiing off-piste. Not quite the same but not as different as one would think.

[sanityinc]

Yes. Climbing, too. And there seem to be a surprising number of climbers who are also programmers, so it seems to me there's something similar in the nature of the two activities.