Xgames snowmobiler dies

[jimmywilson69]

It's only a matter of time until the same thing happens in big air or the super pipe. Shawn White was ~45 feet above the bottom of the pipe at his highest apex. A fall from 20 feet will likely kill a human.

[madhatter]

I can't help remembering having watched parts of the "snowmobile freestyle" and saying out loud "somebody's going to get killed doing this". It was obvious. ESPN was playing with fire and now they've been burned. I don't know how they'll look at themselves in the mirror tomorrow morning in Bristol. I really don't...

you can see snowmobiles doing this sort of thing right on rt 100 in pittsfield/stockbridge and also in gaysville. Can;t really blame ESPN for "snowmobile freestyle" itself. As you said it's certainly dangerous as hell to say the least. I remember how excited the brothers were after pulling off the tandem trick, gotta be hard to go on w/o your bro.

[biged]

Never understood why they started to allow inverts in moguls, probably along the same line for viewers. The Moseley Dinner Roll probably gave a big increase in viewers.

[BoozeTan]

Well, ESPN isnt forcing any of these guys to participate or to attempt the tricks that they are attempting. There is no rule saying you must perform a backflip. The athletes are pushing the limits, not ESPN. Backfliping a sled has become a fixture in that event. If I had to guess Id say between practice, qualifiers and finals there were probably 100 backflips executed and landed. There were 2 events involving freestyle with the sleds, best trick and the head to head speed and style event. It is sad that Caleb Moore crashed and ultimately died. I wonder how his parents are going to handle it with his brother Colton also part of the sport and the Xgames.

[HelmetCam]

It's only a matter of time until the same thing happens in big air or the super pipe. Shawn White was ~45 feet above the bottom of the pipe at his highest apex. A fall from 20 feet will likely kill a human.

Sarah Burke died last year when she hit the lip of the pipe on the way down.

[HelmetCam]

Well, ESPN isnt forcing any of these guys to participate or to attempt the tricks that they are attempting. There is no rule saying you must perform a backflip. The athletes are pushing the limits, not ESPN.

ESPN is criticized as an "enabler" without which the competitors would not have the national stage to chase after the ever-growing sponsorship money.

Really they are no more to blame than the sponsors themselves- ALL of whom are looking to make money off of the willingness of these athletes to risk their lives.

And we enable it as well, by watching. We are entertained by their feats because of the danger involved. Safe is boring.

[Bubba]

Well, ESPN isnt forcing any of these guys to participate or to attempt the tricks that they are attempting. There is no rule saying you must perform a backflip. The athletes are pushing the limits, not ESPN. Backfliping a sled has become a fixture in that event. If I had to guess Id say between practice, qualifiers and finals there were probably 100 backflips executed and landed. There were 2 events involving freestyle with the sleds, best trick and the head to head speed and style event. It is sad that Caleb Moore crashed and ultimately died. I wonder how his parents are going to handle it with his brother Colton also part of the sport and the Xgames.

Offer fame and money and people will do stuff they otherwise wouldn't try. The "athletes" are motivated to do these things.

As for the folks trying this stuff out on their own, they're also motivated to try. They want to emulate some other idiot doing stupid human tricks who gained notoriety and dollars for doing these things on TV. I'm sorry...I don't feel that badly for people who get injured or killed doing the equivalent of a drunk redneck's last words - "Hey y'all...watch me do this!".

[madhatter]

Well, ESPN isnt forcing any of these guys to participate or to attempt the tricks that they are attempting. There is no rule saying you must perform a backflip. The athletes are pushing the limits, not ESPN. Backfliping a sled has become a fixture in that event. If I had to guess Id say between practice, qualifiers and finals there were probably 100 backflips executed and landed. There were 2 events involving freestyle with the sleds, best trick and the head to head speed and style event. It is sad that Caleb Moore crashed and ultimately died. I wonder how his parents are going to handle it with his brother Colton also part of the sport and the Xgames.

Offer fame and money and people will do stuff they otherwise wouldn't try. The "athletes" are motivated to do these things.

As for the folks trying this stuff out on their own, they're also motivated to try. They want to emulate some other idiot doing stupid human tricks who gained notoriety and dollars for doing these things on TV. I'm sorry...I don't feel that badly for people who get injured or killed doing the equivalent of a drunk redneck's last words - "Hey y'all...watch me do this!".

I agree he took the risk and paid the price, doesn't mean I don't feel bad for the kid or his brother and family... what about other risky things like the 90 meter ski jump etc? again asking questions, not providing definitive answers.

[RENO]

Well, ESPN isnt forcing any of these guys to participate or to attempt the tricks that they are attempting. There is no rule saying you must perform a backflip. The athletes are pushing the limits, unot ESPN. Backfliping a sled has become a fixture in that event. If I had to guess Id say between practice, qualifiers and finals there were probably 100 backflips executed and landed. There were 2 events involving freestyle with the sleds, best trick and the head to head speed and style event. It is sad that Caleb Moore crashed and ultimately died. I wonder how his parents are going to handle it with his brother Colton also part of the sport and the Xgames.

His brother dislocated his pelvis in a crash 20 minutes later. Saw both live. Cringed both times!

[BoozeTan]

Caleb is unbelievably the first person to die in the 18 year history of the Xgames.

[HelmetCam]

Caleb is unbelievably the first person to die in the 18 year history of the Xgames.

Deadspin wrote on this yesterday morning before the news hit: http://deadspin.com/5980175/its-only-a- ... he-x-games

[rockon]

It's only a matter of time until the same thing happens in big air or the super pipe. Shawn White was ~45 feet above the bottom of the pipe at his highest apex. A fall from 20 feet will likely kill a human.

jake brown's crash at skateboard big air in x games 13:

[TheLurker]

Maybe something will change in the x games if the conversation becomes more about Disney than ESPN.

[MarieM]

As for the folks trying this stuff out on their own, they're also motivated to try. They want to emulate some other idiot doing stupid human tricks who gained notoriety and dollars for doing these things on TV. I'm sorry...I don't feel that badly for people who get injured or killed doing the equivalent of a drunk redneck's last words - "Hey y'all...watch me do this!".

Where I live, there are frequently snowmobiles trying to jump open water. There are always plenty of spectators. You know the spectators are there just waiting for someone to miss hitting the solid ice. WTF?

I spoke with a 20-something-year-old guy who watched the Strong accident live. "It was waaaaaay better than a horror movie!!!!"

"If you build it they will come." "Give the people what they want." Yup. Human nature is interesting. Ratings rule.

[AntiSoCalSkier]

I'm always skeptical of the idea that people are only doing this for the money/glory. I know I don't ski for money, but that doesn't stop me from trying to progress in my personal skiing. Likewise, I know I push just as hard in the woods where no one can see me as I do under the lift where I have an audience. If you talk to pro skiers, they enjoy getting paid for what they do, and occasionally the fact that there's money involved causes them to push a bit harder (read Simon Dumont's account of his attempt at the biggest quarterpipe air ever to get a feel for how this works), but it's far from the only motivating factor. Kids have been doing crazy stuff in their backyards just to see if they can for years!