Probably has more to do with the visceral pleasure of accelleration (cf. amusement parks) than the risk of death. Otherwise Russian Roulette would be a more popular extreme sport. It sure is more accesible.
i have to agree with the op. i think you can't, e.g. for entrepreneurs, disentangle risk from reward. similarly, with base jumping, risk itself can't be disentangled from the thrill of speed. for instance, i like to snowboard because it gives me the thrill of speed, which is tightly bound up with the sense of being on the edge of control and being out of control.
