4 ms·

One thing to note is that British Columbia, especially the bike park in Whistler, is basically the Mecca of [this type of] mountain biking. For most people arou

One thing to note is that British Columbia, especially the bike park in Whistler, is basically the Mecca of [this type of] mountain biking. For most people around the world it's not a cheap trip, riding there might be something they've dreamt about for years, and they intend to make every minute count, even though they're tired and some of the trails are unlike anything they've ever ridden at home.

jajko 2y ago
Something like Chamonix, France for many other extreme summer & winter mountain sports (downhill MTB including) then. People keep dying 'en masse' there, long term average is 60 per year in Mont Blanc range alone, but this includes all activities so heart attack during pleasant walk is there too. They compare it to whole US rockies in terms of mortality, not sure if it still holds. If folks focused purely on statistics whole place would be banned ad infinum due to world's easiest access to extreme terrain, luckily French folks have a different attitude to risks in what they consider 'noble' activities (which covers most mountain stuff). I almost contributed to stats there last year too with my medium severity paraglider landing crash (both legs broken but missed massive rock by few cms which would end up much more severe).
- tim333 2y ago
  I wonder how it compared to off piste snowboarding? I lived in Chamonix a bit and a lot of the shuttle bus drivers seemed to have spinal injuries from going off cliffs accidentally snowboarding off piste. It can be hard to see them in deep powder.
boringg 2y ago
It should also be noted that the technology for downhill mountain biking has exploded in quality and price -- probably also money from manufacturers sponsoring pros etc. Making it viable for super sketchy terrain (via tires, suspension, frame dynamics, braking) to be taken on and cliff drops to be attempted. Its probably the quickest advancing "extreme" sport happening right now - which would track with this finding since they are pushing the boundaries and the landings are HARD. For example go see the highlights of red bull rampage for the current mtn biking zeitgeist.
alistairSH 2y ago
100%. I enjoy watching the UCI downhills races. And some of the RedBull stuff. But I'll never attempt trails like those on my own. I don't have the equipment. I don't have the skill. I don't have the will (balls). Almost all of the spinal cord injuries I've heard about have occurred when the mountain biker was airborne on purpose. And not just airborne on a natural 2 foot rock ledge, but engineered ramps/jumps/etc. The "Everest : Hiking :: DH/freeride : mountain biking" analogy is correct.

jajko 2y ago

Something like Chamonix, France for many other extreme summer & winter mountain sports (downhill MTB including) then. People keep dying 'en masse' there, long term average is 60 per year in Mont Blanc range alone, but this includes all activities so heart attack during pleasant walk is there too. They compare it to whole US rockies in terms of mortality, not sure if it still holds. If folks focused purely on statistics whole place would be banned ad infinum due to world's easiest access to extreme terrain, luckily French folks have a different attitude to risks in what they consider 'noble' activities (which covers most mountain stuff). I almost contributed to stats there last year too with my medium severity paraglider landing crash (both legs broken but missed massive rock by few cms which would end up much more severe).

tim333 2y ago
I wonder how it compared to off piste snowboarding? I lived in Chamonix a bit and a lot of the shuttle bus drivers seemed to have spinal injuries from going off cliffs accidentally snowboarding off piste. It can be hard to see them in deep powder.

boringg 2y ago

It should also be noted that the technology for downhill mountain biking has exploded in quality and price -- probably also money from manufacturers sponsoring pros etc. Making it viable for super sketchy terrain (via tires, suspension, frame dynamics, braking) to be taken on and cliff drops to be attempted. Its probably the quickest advancing "extreme" sport happening right now - which would track with this finding since they are pushing the boundaries and the landings are HARD. For example go see the highlights of red bull rampage for the current mtn biking zeitgeist.

alistairSH 2y ago

100%. I enjoy watching the UCI downhills races. And some of the RedBull stuff. But I'll never attempt trails like those on my own. I don't have the equipment. I don't have the skill. I don't have the will (balls). Almost all of the spinal cord injuries I've heard about have occurred when the mountain biker was airborne on purpose. And not just airborne on a natural 2 foot rock ledge, but engineered ramps/jumps/etc. The "Everest : Hiking :: DH/freeride : mountain biking" analogy is correct.