Risky Stuff

E_Dawg

Moderator
Hey I was just wondering who enjoys doing things other than flying that could also be considered risky - like snowboarding; surfing; even backpacking; anything like that.

I'm not talking about being on Fear Factor or anything... just if you constantly find yourself doing things like that even in day to day circumstances....
 
I like computers way too much sometimes, or hate them depending on the current situation. My girlfriend has gotten me into skiing, and it seems to be fun. The most dangerous thing I probably do is music. I'm a drummer and I'm always worried about blowing out my hearing. I wear ear protection whenever I can, but I wonder if it's going to be enough.

That's about as dangerous as I get.

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
Well, I drive my car almost every day, and that is statistically riskier than flying...
 
I'm into rock climbing and scuba diving. Neither are technically more dangerous than flying, but there is still the chance of something terrible happening to you in both.
 
snowboarding. I did get a mild concussion once, while snowboarding with my CFI, but now i always wear a helmet.
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I started riding dirtbikes when I was 4. Since, I have raced: motocross, snowcross, snowmobile drag racing (grass, ice), snowmobile ice oval, snowmobile hillclimb, boardercross and big air comps (snowboarding). I gave this stuff up when I started flight training.
My "risky" recreational hobbies are: snowmobiling, dirtbiking, snowboarding, search and rescue
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, wakeboarding, waverunnering (is that a word?), going fast, jumping high whatever. I also like flying big expensive simulators in a risky-like fashion.
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I've only had one major injury. During a snowboard big air comp. I went way to big, overshot the landing and basically landed on level ground composed of ice. Blew out both of my knees, had surgery on my left one (ACL,medial meniscus (sp?)). Overall though, I'd say I've been lucky.
 
Snowboarding, wakeboarding, windsurfing, rafting
I want to try kite boarding however I'm sort of mellowing out and just forked out for some golf clubs
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My other employment: Firefighter- Wildland, Structural, and Aircraft CFR qualified.
 
I've been a whitewater kayaker for almost ten years, and have paddled some slightly scary stuff, like this. A lot of kayaking is very similar to flying in that while the activity itself is risky, with enough training, experience, and safety you can make difficult whitewater relatively safe.

<Shameless plug> Check out my web page for photos and video from my recent trip to New Zealand.

-Zach
 
I enjoy backpacking, rock climbing and bungee jumping, and would like to try skydiving and hang-gliding. I've aslo been para-sailing. That is very relaxing.
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Up until recently I made my living as a rock/ice climbing guide and also had a sail charter business (I guess some would consider off shore sailing to be a bit risky). I taught snowboarding for 7 winters but now I am so sick of the ski industry I never ride or ski anymore. Probably my most dangerous occupation was working with a forester felling big trees (for land management not harvesting), stuff had a tendency to get nasty from time to time even with the best safety practices.

You know now that I think about it I have mellowed out a bit, but I have had my worst injuries working on my garden and house. That damn gardening business is dangerous stuff.
 
I enjoy hiking (backpacking portions of the Appalachian Trail) and I used to scuba.

I haven't been able to find the time to do either in quite some time though.... wonder why?
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I used to love a bunch of stuff, white water rafting is great fun, but I still really enjoy a nice little sailboat cruise in a 2-3 place boat. Haven't been out in a few years though.

Camping, Sailing, White Water Rafting, Rock climbing.. done it all.. just not in awhile, probably since I got this PC
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[ QUOTE ]
nothing like being at terminal velocity....jumping into the biggest "pillow" on the planet.....Skydiving

[/ QUOTE ]

I love skydiving!!! Operator is right, there's nothing like jumping out of a plane and floating like a cloud!
 
I snowboard and a lot of times just do really dumb stuff that is pretty dangerous, such as: cliff jumping, urban cliff jumping (jumping off balconies.). What I would really like to do is do some whitewater kayaking, I cannot get enough of whitewater rafting. The only limit I have had on whitewater is parents saying "Oh level 5 is too hard to do, lets do 4 and lower..." Personally, I am tired of 4 and lower. And ZMiller, I got a ? about that pic, the way it looks like your landing would compress your back, am I right? I know you have to go nose first so that doesn't happen.
 
kostcoguy,
There's a number of factors to consider running waterfalls. Anything above about 15-20ft is not good to land flat. The higher the drop, the more vertical you want to land it. However, if there's a big boil--funky, aerated water--at the bottom, the landing's softer so you can land it flatter. That waterfall is about 30ft, and the landing is somewhat soft. I'm actually hucking my weight forward as that photo was taken, so I landed at about 45 deg. Any steeper would have been bad; any shallower and I would have gotten kicked back into the fall, possible behind the curtain.

Sorry about the detail,
-Zach
 
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