Sarah Burke

Risk Takers

By: Martha Smith

Freestyle skier Sarah Burke dies from crash

In the X-Games and Olympics some of the most exciting events to watch are the freestyle snowboarding and skiing.  On January 10, Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died after sustaining injuries during a training run in Park City, Utah.  This was the same half-pipe, and same side, that snowboarder Kevin Pearce crashed in December 2009, resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

So then some questions arise; what is it that makes these thrill seekers continue to take to the slopes?  Is this thrill worth the potential life ending and changing accidents?  What kinds of precautions are being made in order to reduce accidents?

Before I answer these questions a broader knowledge of the events surrounding Burke’s and Pearce’s accidents is necessary.

Less than a week before the Olympic Qualifiers Kevin Pearce flew to Park City, Utah to practice.  On December 31, 2009 Pearce was snowboarding, and after several simpler warm-up tricks he decided to attempt a double cork, similar to a front-side 1080 where the rider rotates his body three times on a single plane.  The double cork takes those twists and inverts them.  This move is especially dangerous due to the fact that the rider does not see his landing until the last second.  As he flew up into the air something started to go wrong, he was flipping too hard and over rotating, yet he continued with the twists.  Pearce struck the ice right above his eye and slid down the half pipe wall.

Snowboarder Kevin Pearce in action

Pearce had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, breaking his left eye socket, and leaking blood within his brain.  The doctors were not sure if he would even wake up, and if he did the expectations were low.  Traumatic Brain Injuries are often associated with loss of speech and mobility. 

Sarah Burke was also training for her upcoming event, the X-Games when her fatal accident took place.  Burke was going through the routine motions of any practice run when she started to execute a 540 flat spin, this was no special trick, it was a stunt that she had performed many times, yet something went wrong.  Burke “flipped over – awkwardly, but seemingly innocuously – hitting her head on the ground” this fall ruptured her vertebral artery.  Because the artery was torn this led to an intracranial hemorrhage, she then entered cardiac arrest.  She then lost her pulse and stopped breathing.

Burke’s official cause of death was hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.  This condition occurred because Burke’s brain was deprived of oxygen.  She was taken to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City and placed on life support and the next day surgery was done to repair the ruptured artery.  The operation was successful but “subsequent tests revealed Burke had sustained irreversible damage to her brain as a result of the cardiac arrest.”

So why do these thrill seekers continue to take to the slopes after accidents such as Burke’s and Pearce’s, and is that risk worth it? The answer, I believe is a combination of things.

These devastating accidents are impossible to predict, yet those involved in these extreme sports continue to push the limits.  Both Burke and Pearce were striving to push themselves into the number one position in competition.

Half pipe skiing accident

Kevin Pearce was focused on training to win the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver after a frustrating loss to snowboarding legend Shawn White at the X-Games in January of 2009.  With the loss Pearce knew he needed to push the limits, saying, “the thing about snowboarding is that no one really knows where the limits are.”  It was after this loss that Pearce made the decision to work towards nailing the double cork.  This complicated trick was a major factor in his accident.

Burke was projected to be one of the favorite gold metal contenders in the free-style skiing at the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia.  The event was making its debut appearance in 2014.  

Peter Judge, the CEO of Canada’s freestyle team described Burke as “pioneering Canadian Freestyler[s she] helped get skiing super pipe accepted into the Olympics.” Judge went on to describe Burke as a dedicated skier who strived “to define her sport but not define herself by winning.  She had been about making herself the best she can be rather than comparing herself to people” 

Not only do thrill seekers continue to ride for the thrill of a win, these riders who dedicate so much time to the sport have a true passion for it, and love like that for a sport is not something that one gives up easily.  This makes the risk worth it.  

As Burke once said in an interview, “because we love it and want to be the best.”  

Jake Burton also also commented that these sports are “self-policed by athletes who knew where to draw the line,” and that, “’if the sport got to the point where half pipe riding became really dangerous, I think riders would do something about it. It wouldn’t be cool anymore.’”

Because those involved in the sport are not likely to stop there must be precautions for the safety of all involved.  The sport’s leaders defend the record, saying mandatory helmets and air bags used on the sides of pipes during practice and better pipe building technology has made this a safer sport, even though the walls of the pipes have risen significantly over the past decade.  They now stand 22 feel high.  Riders also will often fine tune new maneuvers in foam pits.

Skier Sarah Burke during competition

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said, “thorough research has shown that freestyle skiing is no more dangerous than many of the other winter sports.”  

Snowboarder Kelly Clark explained that experienced athletes don’t break their wrists as much as novices because they are “well-trained at falling, you know how to fall well, [or] fall safely,” adding that, “there are actually more tools, and it is safer than it has ever been to learn tricks and progress your riding.”

It is obvious that the sports such as freestyle skiing and snowboarding are not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.  Although there are devastating accidents and they are heartbreaking to hear about the truth is, accidents happen, and those involved in the sport believe the risk is worth is for the thrill.