Taking risks is part of the thrill of outdoors

N.S. NOKKENTVED

Originally published Tuesday, January 29, 2002

A fatal accident last week brought another grim reminder of the inherent dangers that lurk in the outdoors.

A young man fell to his death while snowboarding in the backcountry outside the Alpental ski area at Snoqualmie Summit.

Danger and risk are part of the attraction of the outdoors. Proper preparation and equipment can reduce the risks, but even experienced and well prepared outdoors enthusiasts sometimes get hurt or killed.

Every year, more skiers and snowboarders head into the backcountry outside of ski area boundaries in search of untracked powder. For many, that risk is part of the reason they pursue skiing or other outdoor activities. Part of the thrill is knowing it's dangerous.

Skiing in a closed area, though foolish, brings the heightened thrill of forbidden fruit. And sometimes you just don't know enough to know you're in over your head -- others have done it, and they survived.

Skiing and snowboarding are no more dangerous than other outdoor pursuits -- in fact, within ski areas they are safer than some others -- and fewer skiers and snowboarders are killed than divers, boaters or bicyclists.

Statistics, however, show that most of those killed or seriously injured are males -- not entirely, but predominantly.

Taking risks seems to be part of growing up for us guys. Growing up is a process of testing your limits. Unfortunately, some limits are self-enforcing.

I know I did plenty of things a lot dumber than snowboarding out of bounds -- so maybe I was lucky. But it never occurred to me that I might get into trouble.

I remember being a teen-ager. A friend and I stalked each other with pellet guns -- we hiked barefoot in the desert east of Salton Sea, with the scorpions and rattlesnakes, and we tried to see how fast my parents' 1955 Buick Roadmaster would go.

I'm surprised I survived.

While learning to surf in Southern California, I paddled out in waves bigger than I knew I could handle. I got dumped in the surf and hit on the head by my board. My friends dragged me up on the sand.

We tend to think stuff like that is just not going to happen to us -- and if it does, we think we're tough enough to survive.

I thought so too, until I found myself lying on the sand disoriented, puking up saltwater and wondering what happened.

But it's a really hard lesson when one of your friends gets killed doing something you've done yourself or done with him. And my heart goes out to the parents and family members.

I hope the recent accident will remind others to stop and think when they head into something dangerous. I hope it will remind them to be easier on their friends who are reluctant to take the risk.

Sadly, it probably won't. Accidents in the backcountry will continue. You can get away with a momentary lapse of judgment most times, but, at the wrong moment, it can mean injury or death.

So, I've been lucky. But I still take risks, and I still go outdoors. Maybe those past close calls have taught me to gauge the risk a little better.

Maybe I'm finally growing up.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He's traded his surfboard for a canoe, but he's still willing to try a new adventure and can be reached at 350-754-5445.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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