Whistler waiver withstands test by severely injured mountain biker

Whistler differentiates flow vs tech trails on their trail signs and I think starting last year have developed charts for both trail types indicating difficulty relative to all the other trails.

They're definitely trying their best imo

The difference between perceived and actual skill level, in relation to local differences in trail rating is the reason why I always try and get myself used to how a bikepark I do not know wants to be ridden. 

This year I saw three crashes that could easily have been prevented by the riders themselves, one was too eager after having bought a season's pass for 16 European parks and within 30 minutes broke his left collarbone, one was too daring on his first run and went otb, resulting in a rotator cuff needing surgery and one was way too fast on his second run, misjudged his speed and broke his ankle/lower leg after landing in the flat after easily clearing a 15 foot table.

I always try to remember to check my ego at the door if I feel either too confident or tired, or both, and use some common sense. No point in injuring myself, I'd rather ride conservatively than risking a season-ending injury or worse.

I know this one is old news but, I was wondering how many times you all crash? My crash rating is about one big one per season. Almost always something stupid. Last bad one was flying off a bridge cause a tree had fallen across it the night before and I came screaming through as I had every other day that week.

I've been riding for about thirty years so I can get down lots of stuff pretty safely based on experience alone. That being said, I don't do jumps higher than my shoulder and I try to keep my speed in check as I've learned that speed kills and the two ways you pick up speed is by either going really really fast on flow trails or doing big drops (9.8m/s squared adds up fast). Whistler is the combo of both those things Imo. 

I get the impression that many riders are willing to accept a pretty high crash to ride ratio. In the 90's the guys I used to ride with had the motto that if you didn't crash you didn't ride hard enough. Needless to say I eschew that philosophy nowadays. Wondering what degree of risk others on this site are willing to risk? One crash/ride reasonable? One/week?

Posted by: RAHrider

I know this one is old news but, I was wondering how many times you all crash? My crash rating is about one big one per season. Almost always something stupid. Last bad one was flying off a bridge cause a tree had fallen across it the night before and I came screaming through as I had every other day that week.

I've been riding for about thirty years so I can get down lots of stuff pretty safely based on experience alone. That being said, I don't do jumps higher than my shoulder and I try to keep my speed in check as I've learned that speed kills and the two ways you pick up speed is by either going really really fast on flow trails or doing big drops (9.8m/s squared adds up fast). Whistler is the combo of both those things Imo. 

I get the impression that many riders are willing to accept a pretty high crash to ride ratio. In the 90's the guys I used to ride with had the motto that if you didn't crash you didn't ride hard enough. Needless to say I eschew that philosophy nowadays. Wondering what degree of risk others on this site are willing to risk? One crash/ride reasonable? One/week?

I'm definitely on board with as little as possible, I've only crashed once this year (this morning! I'm fine) with riding at least 4 days a week since late April. 2 broken bones and 3 sprains/strains that kept me off for a week or two that's it for about 18 years of mountain biking. I feel like I'm pretty fortunate to get to ride a ton so I can 'maintain' a fairly good skill level and feel confident on most things (I'll ride everything in the bike park for example, well except the manager), and at the same time happy to take it easy here and there because every ride doesn't have to be the craziest ride ever.

Rubber side down.

Posted by: heckler

Rubber side down.

Forever and ever amen.