Spinal cord Armageddon!

“staggering” numbers of injuries among people who used mountain bike parks..... More than three-quarters of the injuries were recorded in people ejected over their handlebars.... The study estimated that those injuries will cost the province nearly $200 million over the patients’ lifetimes, covering health care, rehabilitation, patient expenses and loss of productivity.

Otb? Stop it! Stop mtn biking b4 it bankrupts us all!

‘Staggering’ number of spinal cord injuries linked to mountain biking: UBC study - BC | Globalnews.ca

Seriously, you guys are slipping. Two days into the news cycle and not a peep from denizens here?

On a serious note, since Covid I have observed in Europe that a lot, if not the majority of riders, ride stuff that is way beyond their abilities and limits, be it on highspeed jump trails in the Euro Alps or in Finale Ligure where there are no flow trails.  

We have visited a park in Austria for 10 years, and the increase in heli support/mtn rescue has definitely increased. And paramedics who are stationed at the bike park reflect that sentiment. Instead of slowly increasing their skill levels, most riders simply ride stuff that they have no business in. With bikes getting more capable than every, a lot of riders think that they have the skill set.

Posted by: Mic

On a serious note, since Covid I have observed in Europe that a lot, if not the majority of riders, ride stuff that is way beyond their abilities and limits, be it on highspeed jump trails in the Euro Alps or in Finale Ligure where there are no flow trails.  

We have visited a park in Austria for 10 years, and the increase in heli support/mtn rescue has definitely increased. And paramedics who are stationed at the bike park reflect that sentiment. Instead of slowly increasing their skill levels, most riders simply ride stuff that they have no business in. With bikes getting more capable than every, a lot of riders think that they have the skill set.

Cue the argument that this is another valid reason for starting off riding on a hard tail. 

Hi Dave! Hi!

Posted by: tungsten

“staggering” numbers of injuries among people who used mountain bike parks..... More than three-quarters of the injuries were recorded in people ejected over their handlebars.... The study estimated that those injuries will cost the province nearly $200 million over the patients’ lifetimes, covering health care, rehabilitation, patient expenses and loss of productivity.

Otb? Stop it! Stop mtn biking b4 it bankrupts us all!

‘Staggering’ number of spinal cord injuries linked to mountain biking: UBC study - BC | Globalnews.ca

Seriously, you guys are slipping. Two days into the news cycle and not a peep from denizens here?

To be honest I don't find it all that surprising when you sit back and take a look at the progression curve in terms of risk. Riders keep pushing the bar with risk in terms of speed and difficulty as the bikes and gear has improved and we seem to be paying little attention to these things.

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: tungsten

“staggering” numbers of injuries among people who used mountain bike parks..... More than three-quarters of the injuries were recorded in people ejected over their handlebars.... The study estimated that those injuries will cost the province nearly $200 million over the patients’ lifetimes, covering health care, rehabilitation, patient expenses and loss of productivity.

Otb? Stop it! Stop mtn biking b4 it bankrupts us all!

‘Staggering’ number of spinal cord injuries linked to mountain biking: UBC study - BC | Globalnews.ca

Seriously, you guys are slipping. Two days into the news cycle and not a peep from denizens here?

To be honest I don't find it all that surprising when you sit back and take a look at the progression curve in terms of risk. Riders keep pushing the bar with risk in terms of speed and difficulty as the bikes and gear has improved and we seem to be paying little attention to these things.

What is progression? Greater risk from higher speeds and bigger jumps isn’t necessarily progression. In many more mature sports when the activity is deemed to be too risky rules are made or changed to make the competition more safe. Certain technologies in F1 for example become banned and other safety measures implemented to make to sport less risky.  World Cup skiing has rules about ski dimensions and turn radius as well as course setting rules to make the races less risky. 

But for non competitive activities like mountain biking with your buddies? So called progression is sometimes just increased stupidity. Back in the 90s I recall riders quitting XC racing because "it was too competitive" when they meant that they weren’t good at it. So they went freeriding because it was more fun for them. And it was and there wasn’t anything wrong with that but that activity was equally competitive. Ultimately it’s up to the individual to decide but perhaps their friends should be calling them out sometimes that what they are about to attempt is stupid. We respect the skill of some riders but we should also respect the riders that know their limits and walk things rather than tumble down and get hurt. 

But to Tungsten’s point, there are a lot of things humans do that require medical treatments. Smoking and drinking. Both legal and unhealthy. High powered motorcycles and cars? Summer tires in snow? Wars! It’s not like riders don’t generally know that bike parks are dangerous.

Posted by: andy-eunson

What is progression? Greater risk from higher speeds and bigger jumps isn’t necessarily progression. In many more mature sports when the activity is deemed to be too risky rules are made or changed to make the competition more safe. Certain technologies in F1 for example become banned and other safety measures implemented to make to sport less risky.  World Cup skiing has rules about ski dimensions and turn radius as well as course setting rules to make the races less risky. 

But for non competitive activities like mountain biking with your buddies? So called progression is sometimes just increased stupidity. Back in the 90s I recall riders quitting XC racing because "it was too competitive" when they meant that they weren’t good at it. So they went freeriding because it was more fun for them. And it was and there wasn’t anything wrong with that but that activity was equally competitive. Ultimately it’s up to the individual to decide but perhaps their friends should be calling them out sometimes that what they are about to attempt is stupid. We respect the skill of some riders but we should also respect the riders that know their limits and walk things rather than tumble down and get hurt. 

But to Tungsten’s point, there are a lot of things humans do that require medical treatments. Smoking and drinking. Both legal and unhealthy. High powered motorcycles and cars? Summer tires in snow? Wars! It’s not like riders don’t generally know that bike parks are dangerous.

By it's very definition progression is going faster, going steeper and jumping farther. Include more complex tricks.  If you want an extreme example of progression compare the first Rampage to the last one.  It's obvious that the faster we go the harder we crash and that increases the chance of a more sever injury taking place.  A quick literature search suggests there isn't a lot of recent research, but papers written the early 2000's concluded the rates of mtb injuries were increasing.  As bike have gotten better and speeds higher I wouldn't doubt that injury rates and severity have continued to increase. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16508488/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38132086/

Posted by: syncro

By it's very definition progression is going faster, going steeper and jumping farther. Include more complex tricks. If you want an extreme example of progression compare the first Rampage to the last one. It's obvious that the faster we go the harder we crash and that increases the chance of a more sever injury taking place. A quick literature search suggests there isn't a lot of recent research, but papers written the early 2000's concluded the rates of mtb injuries were increasing. As bike have gotten better and speeds higher I wouldn't doubt that injury rates and severity have continued to increase.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16508488/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38132086/

Don't ignore the subclinical issues! From the Lancet in 2000.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11052591/

Bikes are certainly capable of going faster than they ever have, plus there are more bike parks all the time with steeper and faster runs. 

Just walking through Whistler in the summer, it's nothing but big bike rentals. So now we take someone with maybe not a ton of bike experience, but they've watched the videos, none of which look as steep or as fast as they actually are because of the GoPro effect. Rent them a bike that's very capable and stable at high speeds, so now instead of reaching their limit at 20kph they're coming off at 50kph+. TBH I'm surprised it's only an average of 4/yr in all of BC.

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: andy-eunson

What is progression? Greater risk from higher speeds and bigger jumps isn’t necessarily progression. In many more mature sports when the activity is deemed to be too risky rules are made or changed to make the competition more safe. Certain technologies in F1 for example become banned and other safety measures implemented to make to sport less risky. World Cup skiing has rules about ski dimensions and turn radius as well as course setting rules to make the races less risky.

But for non competitive activities like mountain biking with your buddies? So called progression is sometimes just increased stupidity. Back in the 90s I recall riders quitting XC racing because "it was too competitive" when they meant that they weren’t good at it. So they went freeriding because it was more fun for them. And it was and there wasn’t anything wrong with that but that activity was equally competitive. Ultimately it’s up to the individual to decide but perhaps their friends should be calling them out sometimes that what they are about to attempt is stupid. We respect the skill of some riders but we should also respect the riders that know their limits and walk things rather than tumble down and get hurt.

But to Tungsten’s point, there are a lot of things humans do that require medical treatments. Smoking and drinking. Both legal and unhealthy. High powered motorcycles and cars? Summer tires in snow? Wars! It’s not like riders don’t generally know that bike parks are dangerous.

By it's very definition progression is going faster, going steeper and jumping farther. Include more complex tricks. If you want an extreme example of progression compare the first Rampage to the last one. It's obvious that the faster we go the harder we crash and that increases the chance of a more sever injury taking place. A quick literature search suggests there isn't a lot of recent research, but papers written the early 2000's concluded the rates of mtb injuries were increasing. As bike have gotten better and speeds higher I wouldn't doubt that injury rates and severity have continued to increase.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16508488/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38132086/

To an extent that’s true but if you examine other risky sports its refinement and perfection of skills that are progression. Like figure skating or mtb slope style. The top athletes are very refined. Or freestyle skiing aerials. Super clean wins. And I think the riskier moves are worth more points, if you do them well.

Tungsten’s post sounds a bit like othering. Why should my taxes pay for medical treatment to those people.

Posted by: andy-eunson

To an extent that’s true but if you examine other risky sports its refinement and perfection of skills that are profession. Like figure skating or mtb slope style. The top athletes are very refined. Or freestyle skiing aerials. Super clean wins. And I think the riskier moves are worth more points, if you do them well.

Tungsten’s post sounds a bit like othering. Why should my taxes pay for medical treatment to those people.

For sure, but refinement is still progression. I'm not saying it's all down to better gear, but within that thought better gear increases our confidence which makes it easier to push harder.

I get the "othering" side of the argument you speak of. If you consider how much health care takes up of the federal and provincial budgets then I think it's fair to talk about people taking some responsibility for their health. The costs of the health care system are primarily based on people making poor choices. It's definitely important to acknowledge that not everyone has the same access to education/knowledge about healthy lifestyles or the mentorship/guidance to live a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn't fully negate personal responsibility. If you look at the leading causes of death and hospitalization across all age groups, lifestyle related factors figure prominently in the top causes of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer and digestive system diseases. With access to services being limited and people sometimes dying while waiting for care, is it fair if people who have lived healthy lives get short changed on critical care because of a large number of people who haven't taken care of themselves and are using up a large percentage of the limited resources that we have?

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/reports-publications/leading-causes-death-hospitalization-canada.html

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: andy-eunson

To an extent that’s true but if you examine other risky sports its refinement and perfection of skills that are profession. Like figure skating or mtb slope style. The top athletes are very refined. Or freestyle skiing aerials. Super clean wins. And I think the riskier moves are worth more points, if you do them well.

Tungsten’s post sounds a bit like othering. Why should my taxes pay for medical treatment to those people.

For sure, but refinement is still progression. I'm not saying it's all down to better gear, but within that thought better gear increases our confidence which makes it easier to push harder.

I get the "othering" side of the argument you speak of. If you consider how much health care takes up of the federal and provincial budgets then I think it's fair to talk about people taking some responsibility for their health. The costs of the health care system are primarily based on people making poor choices. It's definitely important to acknowledge that not everyone has the same access to education/knowledge about healthy lifestyles or the mentorship/guidance to live a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn't fully negate personal responsibility. If you look at the leading causes of death and hospitalization across all age groups, lifestyle related factors figure prominently in the top causes of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer and digestive system diseases. With access to services being limited and people sometimes dying while waiting for care, is it fair if people who have lived healthy lives get short changed on critical care because of a large number of people who haven't taken care of themselves and are using up a large percentage of the limited resources that we have?

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/reports-publications/leading-causes-death-hospitalization-canada.html

Typo. I had meant to say  refinement was progression. Sorry. 

But you’re right that it’s not fair to people to wait for care when they’ve led healthy lives and some knucklehead made poor choices and gets in ahead. But where would one draw a line? Similarly people often call for SAR to send a bill to rescued people. But that could lead to people not calling for help and dying as a result. With medical care we all pay in to it so we are all entitled to care. The issue is really what are we getting for our dollars. It should be that the system is run better so we can all get better care. Where would you draw the line? Old people? You’re nearly dead pull the plug. Any accident victim who was negligent? Your fault you’re on your own.

Posted by: andy-eunson

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: tungsten

“staggering” numbers of injuries among people who used mountain bike parks..... More than three-quarters of the injuries were recorded in people ejected over their handlebars.... The study estimated that those injuries will cost the province nearly $200 million over the patients’ lifetimes, covering health care, rehabilitation, patient expenses and loss of productivity.

Otb? Stop it! Stop mtn biking b4 it bankrupts us all!

‘Staggering’ number of spinal cord injuries linked to mountain biking: UBC study - BC | Globalnews.ca

Seriously, you guys are slipping. Two days into the news cycle and not a peep from denizens here?

To be honest I don't find it all that surprising when you sit back and take a look at the progression curve in terms of risk. Riders keep pushing the bar with risk in terms of speed and difficulty as the bikes and gear has improved and we seem to be paying little attention to these things.

What is progression? Greater risk from higher speeds and bigger jumps isn’t necessarily progression. In many more mature sports when the activity is deemed to be too risky rules are made or changed to make the competition more safe. Certain technologies in F1 for example become banned and other safety measures implemented to make to sport less risky. World Cup skiing has rules about ski dimensions and turn radius as well as course setting rules to make the races less risky.

But for non competitive activities like mountain biking with your buddies? So called progression is sometimes just increased stupidity. Back in the 90s I recall riders quitting XC racing because "it was too competitive" when they meant that they weren’t good at it. So they went freeriding because it was more fun for them. And it was and there wasn’t anything wrong with that but that activity was equally competitive. Ultimately it’s up to the individual to decide but perhaps their friends should be calling them out sometimes that what they are about to attempt is stupid. We respect the skill of some riders but we should also respect the riders that know their limits and walk things rather than tumble down and get hurt.

But to Tungsten’s point, there are a lot of things humans do that require medical treatments. Smoking and drinking. Both legal and unhealthy. High powered motorcycles and cars? Summer tires in snow? Wars! It’s not like riders don’t generally know that bike parks are dangerous.

The problem is that you are assuming common sense is being applied, and I see far less of this today in biking than in the past. It used to be that walking something was a given, or okay, as you would come back another day. Now, most cut cheater lines to avoid such risk, and sadly, the said features being avoided are not really that bad, which tells me there is an even greater problem. There is more to it than riding beyond one's ability, it is not even knowing one's ability in the first place, and since none is being developed with all the flow trails that do nothing to build skills or "commitment" I forsee this issue being amplified in the future. I can't tell you how many times I have seen riders going down Lower Crippler because of the cool woodwork on it but they are walking the entrance from BP.....and it gets only harder from there. If you can't do that, then why go down the trail in the first place? Because the wood features look cool on videos and everyone wants to try and check them out. I wonder how long it is going to be until we have an extraction on Pipeline with the Zen Garden from someone in waaay over their head. But guess what will be blamed.....the trail.

Isn't the Zen garden where the teeter totter is/was and a doctor died falling off the teeter?
The teeter remained after the death though, so I guess the feature was not blamed.  

And the new Zen garden and the wood work up higher on the flat are the same height off the ground

Saw this on CBC news the other day. I think it's a good to raise awareness of. Mountain biking is an inherently risky sport, people need to be responsible for their decisions out there. 

Why did neck braces go out of style in the downhill realm? They make a lot of sense to me. My buddies and I wear them. 

I'm glad chest and spine protection is mandatory in racing. Also makes sense. 

I'm guessing most of these injuries aren't happening on the DH track though. Would be good to see some stats on what level of trails these injuries are happening on, and the experience level of the injured riders.