....but one that will be discussed....very thoroughly.....in our household. My boys are 9 & 7, and I've tried to temper my enthusiasm for them "going for it" against my general parental paranoia for my kids, and my understanding, after all these years, of the inherent risks of the sport.
Years ago I scratched a long time itch.....riding sport bikes. When the first Ninja's came on the scene in the early 1980's, I saw them and thought "I gotta get me one of those things". Lucky I didn't, or I'm sure I'd have likely become a statistic. But the itch remained, and in my mid-30's I decided it had to be scratched. Freaking out family and friends, I said "I'm going to ride". First thing out of everyone's mouth was "Isn't that dangerous ?" or "I know a guy who's brother....".
It brought up the issue of Danger vs. Risk. Degrees of danger vs. management of calculated risk. And with riding motorcycles, there are about 5 major factors one can employ to take the risk of street riding and cut it down, statistically, to a fraction of what most riders face when they turn the key. I rode for 6 years, I scratched the itch over close to 20k of Sunday sport rides, and I stopped when my wife said, after having our third child, that she didn't breathe from the time I rode off until the garage door went up when I returned. She wasn't asking me to stop....but she was asking me to stop.
Anyways, I've tried to be a teacher on the slopes for my boys with regard to thinking about risk and exposure as we ski. Beneath the joy of sliding on snow can be a foundation of managing the inherent risk that you face from the time you click in until you're sitting in the bathtub recalling another great day. I don't really know how many people on the slopes think like that. I bump into too many people these days who have never even heard of the skier's responsibility code. Scary.
And many times, people's assumptions of inherent risk are based on a trail's rating. In many ways, Jester can be considered to be more dangerous than Rumble. Fall on rumble and the bumps, coutours, and likely speed you've been carrying while skiing it, can all actually help assure you'll be able to regain control. Fall in the wrong place on Jester, and your margin of safety can be non-existent with the trees as your stopping devices....and usually your speed is likely much higher than other trails.
Anyways, sorry to ramble. These sad events always feel like a kick in the gut. But a discussion of risk factors, inherent dangers, and what we can do to try to minimize our exposure as skiers is something I will revisit with my boys, and girls, again. It shouldn't take this type of tragedy at SB, or any ski area for that matter, to remind us to try to think and ski in a way that anticipates, and avoids, as many of the potential danger points inherent to sliding on snow as possible. We can't eliminate danger or risk, but the way we think and ski can reduce, at least statistically, our exposure to risk.
Anyways, and on a lighter note, some fond summer memories. I loved that Duc.....the greatest Banana yellow machine ever.
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