The Olympics are on the horizon & it seems that all competitive snowboarders are in a race to see how many double corks they can land in the Halfpipe. Double corks are gnarly and super dangerous. Just two days ago Olympic hopeful and Burton Team rider Kevin Pearce, sustained a traumatic head injury that has left him in critical condition. Our prayers & best wishes go out to Kevin & his family & hope that Kevin can make a strong recovery.
The new level of snowboarding has gotten so high that riders are literally putting their lives on the line in order to achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves. As the general public watch from the safety of their television sets, there is a false perspective that a viewer may get from that lazyboy. Snow is not as soft as it may seem and is very unforgiving. Lets put this into perspective..the halfpipes today have come a long way from highway banked hits to now the super 22 foot behemoths. These pipes are rock hard and are pretty much solid ice. So, a professional snowboarder can launch himself on a 22 foot pipe on average 10 feet above the lip at a minimum. That's 32 feet up in the air on an ice block straight to the bottom. how do you think your body would hold up to that? Not to mention the velocity & rate at which they are flying. Falling in a big halfpipe hurts, i dont care who you are. If your not ready for something like that...please know your limits. Kevin is a professional & this is part of the game....really just an unfortunate turn of events.As we watch these athletes push themselves for glory, please take note of what they are now sacrificing.
The photo is of Andy Finch & the newly cut Halfpipe @ Northstar at Tahoe. Going big & taking risks.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
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