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> In researching 2016’s dramatic rise in BASE jumping deaths, I was almost unable to keep up with the pace with which people were dying. Perhaps something to do with the increased popularity of social media and action cameras -- thus attracting a large body of non-seriously committed, in it for the views, darwin award nominees?
Well yeah. That's kind like saying more people are dying from Russian roulette...while Russian roulette is experiencing a surge in popularity. Do something stupidly dangerous enough & in large numbers and you get rows of bodybags. Sounds callous but that is the reality of it.
People expected wingsuit BASE to become safer with experience; practitioners didn't expect it to be a toss of the dice no matter what.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> died from flying too close to terrain Is that a euphemism for crashing into the ground?
BASE wingsuit fliers tend to skim just above the surface of a slope rather than flying at higher altitude. You'll see it a lot if you watch GoPro videos. This is phenomenally dangerous in a powered aircraft, but it's near-suicidal if you're flying a wingsuit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How are there so many people willing to do something so insanely stupid? I looked at the BASE fatality list. Vast majority of the names and nationalities are of European descent and/or nationality. Are adventure sports (risk taking for thrill) a white European thing? Do you have to have a sort of arrogance and privilege to disrespect risks like this? I personally have no desire for any of this stuff, as I'm quite awa…
It costs a lot of money to get into.
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Just a nit, because I spent years not realizing this due to my accent, but it's "I'd have" not "I'd of". It sounds like "I'd of" because "I'd've" gz on surviving the fall so that you could have random people correct your grammar in the future. Glad to hear you kept with it-- people are surprisingly risk adverse yet will ignore passive danger
Possibly the use of "I'd of" had authorial intent, e.g. to sound more colloquial. In my opinion this is valid usage in English.
I had a close call this summer whitewater rafting on the Upper Animas River in Colorado and it has caused me to re-think every serious risk I take and has changed me in a big way. I was participating in a multi-day trip run by one of the local guiding outfits through the Upper section of the river, a much more difficult and serious undertaking than the Lower Animas, which is frequently run by average day-tripping tou…
I had a close call this summer whitewater rafting on the Upper Animas River in Colorado and it has caused me to re-think every serious risk I take and has changed me in a big way. I was participating in a multi-day trip run by one of the local guiding outfits through the Upper section of the river, a much more difficult and serious undertaking than the Lower Animas, which is frequently run by average day-tripping tou…
I have a couple of friends, both white-water guides and accomplished outdoorsmen, and they both put whitewater in a different category of risk: you can do everything right, and still die just due to the unpredictability of it. One of them said he had an instructor who basically said "if you stick with this long enough, either you'll die or someone you know will". They were both in the latter category.
Six hours late on this thread and I can't see anyone calling out GoPro and friends: >Five days earlier, the GoPro star Uli Emanuele, 29, died when he crashed in the Dolomites of his native country, Italy. Freedom for these people (mostly young men) to die is one thing. But part of GoPro's profits are knowingly built up by a quasi-suicide cult. That's not that different from dealing heroin.
> But part of GoPro's profits are knowingly built up by a quasi-suicide cult. How is that?
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> There's gotta be safer ways to get an adrenaline rush. I was suprised to see no mention of VR as a potential alternative anywhere in the thread. I suppose realism still has a long way to go!
I doubt VR will ever replace dangerous sports. You get adrenaline rush precisely for the fact that you realize it's dangerous with a real potential of getting killed or wounded and the fact that you get away with it. Sitting in an armchair with no such potential consequences might get you some thrills but it's nowhere close to the real adrenaline rush. I don't actively pursuit this feeling, but driving motorcycle reg…
A non-trivial number of people choose to go out and rock climb without using ropes, even on climbs where ropes could easily be added. That's not purely about risk-taking, but it seems to give lie to any idea that a safe simulation will be satisfying for everyone.
Well yeah. That's kind like saying more people are dying from Russian roulette...while Russian roulette is experiencing a surge in popularity. Do something stupidly dangerous enough & in large numbers and you get rows of bodybags. Sounds callous but that is the reality of it.
Somebody should calculate P-value for that claim.