Statistics for a worried parent

[jtval 0]

goose,
was that thier site you attached? I would like to see that agian. I have educated my friend/ siblings/ parents as I learned.
My bro asked..."isnt that dangerous?"
my reply started with ." dude, I'm in the military."..Then went on to explian the safety precautions...he has ALWAYS wanted to jump and did after I explained it to him.

the last weekend I was in the states My mother and her new husband came down to Ga. and jumped tandem in thomaston. my father didnt b/c he had back surgery but I got him in the wind tunnel...I think I did a good job explianing to them to aspects oif skydiving...

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[goose491 0]

That's really cool, getting your folks into the air... How did they enjoy it?

Yeah the website is http://ushga.org
I don't know exactly where the comparisons are but if they are no longer on the site, I'm sure you could just email them via the "contact us" portion.

So you are in the military? I spent two years in an Arty-reserve regiment here in Canada... It was a great experience... well several really

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[jtval 0]

my reply started with ." dude, I'm in the military."..
that was siad to my bro BEFORE civilians became targets too.(just felt I hadda clear that up.)

That's really cool, getting your folks into the air... How did they enjoy it?
They loved it. my brother is gonna go again when I get back to Long Island.(NY)

So you are in the military? I spent two years in an Arty-reserve regiment here in Canada... It was a great experience... well several really
USAF 5.5 years good travel opportunity but Its getting old!

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[OliShann 0]

WHAT AN EXCELLENT SUBJECT !

Instead of trying to get an answer in books or websites with obsolete data, I would suggest the following (we need an actuary here) :

some people must be maintaining such databases we are looking for : our insurers, their reinsurers, or their brokers.

I don't know how this is organised in USA, but I suppose USPA make you pay some mandatory insurance to get the licence. And then a broker works for them to get the best insurance conditions on the market, going to big companies for who will insure the risk (death/loss of income) for the whole association.

So the best thing to do would be to contact USPA and ask them who is their broker or insurer (the broker should be Marsh or Aon), and then ask them for stats.

What do you think ? Let me know anyways.

[jtval 0]

the USPA is very easy to get ahold of...
ive corresponded with them many times...lowly lil me.YOu may have an idea there. the in surance company may noe want to release the info though for some reasons..

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[MarkM 0]

Quote

The U.S. Parachute Association says there are about 30 skydiving deaths per year in the United States. Americans make more than 3 million jumps a year, meaning the risk of death is about 1 in 110,000.

Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune

1 fatality per 100k-ish jumps sounds about right.

[Deuce 1]

I went whitewater rafting this past Sunday, and the guide told us that of recreational sports the most dangerous was horseback riding, and the second was snow skiing.

Anecdotal, but interesting.

[reprobate 0]

There are not many sking fatalities each year but many, serious injuries. Anyone that has skied for several years can recount all sorts of horror stories. It is practacally impossible to get statistics out of the ski industry. I am convinced the association that covers them also covers them up. Sking is a bigger business than skydiving, does not have the apperance of risk and is socially acceptable.

Carl

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Skiing has more fatalities than many would guess. In the early 90s I was a volunteer ski patroller for three years and a pro for one year up in Lake Louise Canada and it wasn't uncommon to have 4-6 fatalities/year at Lake Louise alone. Humans, trees and rocks just don't get along very well.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[MarkM 0]

I remember when Micheal Kennedy slammed into a tree and got killed skiing.

[reprobate 0]

True, True. I also should have added that USPA also doesn't keep injury data, only faltalities. That said, as a concerned student/parent (my kids don't want to lose their meat ticket ) I talked to staff at 3 area DZ's and all of them were very candid about injuries that happened at their respectiove DZs. I have asked ski run managers about accidents that had happened to friends while I was there and they would all but deny any accidents happened. "Sking is a safe, fun, family oriented sport". Their quote.

Carl

[flyhi 24]

Quote

I remember when Micheal Kennedy slammed into a tree and got killed skiing.

Yes, but was that a skiing fatality or a football one?

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.

[Remster 30]

Yes guys, skiing is more dangerous then skydiving..... if thats what it takes to make you go to sleep at night, great...

Remster

[FliegendeWolf 0]

Quote

Yes guys, skiing is more dangerous then skydiving..... if thats what it takes to make you go to sleep at night, great...

Only except that a skydiver puts WAY more faith in his or her equipment than a skier needs to.
Funny you should mention getting sleep at night. I found myself wide awake last night thinking of all of the different sort of malfunctions that could happen. The scariest thought for me was getting a pilot chute in tow on your reserve. What do you do then? This probably goes right up there with a post on Talk Back about how it's not until after a couple of jumps that people start to get freaked out!
Steve

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[PhreeZone 20]

<-- Closest icon to a tongue in cheek responce I can find.

Yes... Skydiving is dangerous... yes.. Skiing is dangerous.

But anyone relying on the statics to prove that one is more dangerous then the other needs to wake up and relize that there is little that the statics prove other then its easy to die skydiving.

What I'd be more interested in seeing is injuries. I'm willing to bet for every skydiving death there is 5-8 broken bones and many many more injuries then most people are willing to admit. If people relise how easy it is to not only get killed but hurt... I think we'd see less people taking up the sport only to auger in less then 200 jumps into their career.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[ernokaikkonen 0]

> The scariest thought for me was getting a pilot chute in tow
> on your reserve. What do you do then?

That's pretty unlikely. It's easy to get a PC in tow with your main, but with your reserve the container has to be open before the PC even gets out! Not much of a possibility for it to tow with an open container... Unless the reserve packer forgot a packing pin inside.

More likely(?) would be a reserve total malfunction. Nothing out after pulling the silver handle. The usual response on this seems to be "beating the hell out of the container with my elbows" or trying to reach the reserve container by hand and open it (And I think the latter could be practically impossible).

One that actually can happen and does happen is a horseshoe. Getting the reserve bridle and/or PC entangled with your arm/leg/ring-sight. Easiest to achieve with an unstable body position while the reserve is deploying(and that's BTW the main argument against an RSL). What to do? Hopefully nothing; the reserve bridle is wider than that of the main, and is supposed to induce enough drag to pull the reserve out even if the PC is entangled somewhere.

Erno