 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Just seen it on Youtube...................
very graphic, very disturbing.
Thoughts with his family and loved ones.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Brutal. I'd encourage people not to follow up reading this post with a visit to Youtube.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Last I heard on the radio was he was in serious condition going to hospital.. not good news..thats a massive head and neck breakage judging by the pictures
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Very brutal. Looked like massive neck damage.
RIP.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Condolences... It's a bad year for losses in snowstorms 
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Bode Swiller,
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It's on Youtube but I sincerely hope they take it off.
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Me too.
 Another loss of a very talented young athlete
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Don't think I'll bother watching it!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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So sorry to hear Canada has lost another talented skier this season. RIP.
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The Canadian ski team says Nick Zoricic has died after crashing in a skicross event.
The International Ski Federation says he died a result of "severe neurotrama" after crashing into the safety nets after the final jump.
Organizers canceled today's World Cup event in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
"Nick Zoricic fell heavily just before the finish in the round of eight, crashing directly into the safety netting and thereafter lying motionless," FIS said.
Zoricic, 29, has raced on the World Cup circuit for more than three years and was eighth in the 2011 World Championships held at Deer Valley, Utah.
Ski cross - a downhill race of four skiers around hairpin turns and over jumps - made its Olympic debut in 2010 at the Vancouver Games.
Zoricic is the second Canadian Ski Team athlete to die after a skiing accident this year. Freestyle skier Sarah Burke crashed on a halfpipe in Utah and suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen and blood after cardiac arrest. A four-time Winter X Games champion, Burke died Jan. 19 at the age of 29.
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Definitely not going to watch it - why does anybody, after that warning?
What a very sad loss. Extreme sport is like that, I suppose; extreme.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Well no matter how it sounds, but I hope they won't take video off... So that it will stay as constant reminder to idiots designing and securing course this way... I know ski cross is still pretty young discipline, and if it would be any other, not skiing/FIS related sport, I would say ok organizers don't have experience yet etc. But all these guys came from alpine skiing, racers, coaches, servicemen, organizers and officials. So there's 50+ years of experience to use, afterall in general it's not so different then alpine skiing. Yet they still do something like this... Sure it was Nick fault... he took wrong line. But for christ sake, you do course so, that taking wrong line or making mistake, doesn't cost you your life!
In my mind, ski cross and they way they run it is bad thing waiting to happen, and that's one of main reasons, why it's so interesting and popular. But one thing is if athletes get injured or even killed due accidents during race, and there's completely different thing if athletes get injured or in this case killed, because course and safety around course is designed badly. There's 50m wide finish with no hard things inside of course on every downhill/sg World cup. With a reason! Here, they put b-net (god I hate this fuc** b-nets...) 1m off the ideal line...
I was really hoping such days were long time history in ski sport, but unfortunately I was wrong... RIP Nick, you will be missed
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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RIP Nick Zoricic. Very sad and totally avoidable.
primoz, I agree. He was let down badly by the placement of the safety netting after the jump. I'm not sure of the competitors elect one of their own to do a pre race safety inspection but that should have been picked up.
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You know it makes sense.
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AndAnotherThing.., I don't know enough about ski cross WC to say anything about that, but on alpine side, nettings are done way before racers even come to town. And moving netting is not 10min work, so there's normally no complains about that from racers... and even if they are, noone listen to them. As I wrote, I don't know enough about ski cross WC to say about this with any degree of certainty, but I would assume it's similar to alpine WC, so I would say no, noone gives a sh** what racers think...
On the other side, I would assume noone really considered this area as dangerous one, before this sad accident happened. But even then, you take some extra precautions, and leave few extra meters just in case. As I wrote, I don't remember when would be for last time, someone would crash in DH/SG on finish straight, yet they still have really wide place without any hard parts (finish line banner is hanging on wire which is attached 20+m off the nettings, time cells are protected and behind nettings etc.) Just in case, even if noone crashed there for quite some time. So as soon when I saw that video (unfortunately it was more or less news even in press center in Kranjska gora on men alpine WC), I was like "wtf??!! Which idiot put those nettings so narrow and so close to ski line". And I'm not safety expert, but then again you don't need to be one, to see difference between alpine DH finish area and this one. And speeds are not all that different, so I really don't find any excuse for this...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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primoz, very interesting, and sad. Perhaps things will change - but it shouldn't need a fatal accident. I can see there are lessons to be learnt from the video - but it could be watched by those who can do something about it, rather than by rubberneckers.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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primoz, I've wondered if there isn't a better solution to netting these days for racing, but that's for a different thread.
pam w, With luck public outcry will motivate the people involved to change things. Before seeing the video I assumed it was a typical 'elbow to elbow' ski cross accident, but watched it to see if there was anything to learn from the dreadful event .
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Very sad
Having watched the video, there seems to be a serious issue with the take off ramp being much wider than the landing area, allowing for the racer to land way outside the course.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Very sad day.
I should have listened and not looked at the video. It's pretty graphic and nasty.primoz, I think you are right with the video being left on, Very serious lessons need to be learnt, and quick.
I also feel for the designer, I bet he/she is in bits. That will be horrible to have to live with.
My thoughts go out to Nicks family and friends
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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AndAnotherThing.., there's a-netting, which, in some cases works much better then b-netting. But there are few problems with a-netting. First, and most important, it's about 1600eur/running meter. Considering you have about 10+ km of nets around normal DH course, you can do calculation. Second, they are scared of using it since Beltrametti accident years ago, but, at least in my mind, this issue (cutting through with ski edge) could be solved easily. And third, a-nets don't stop you, but basically bounce you back on track, which in same cases is not right/optimal solution.
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Very serious lessons need to be learnt, and quick.
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That could indeed justify people who are involved in course/design safety seeing the video - what's everybody else's excuse. 
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pam w, I ski pretty fast (no-where near as fast as anyone race trained), I also do big kickers. I watched this video to see how a course, a pro and more importantly a 'skier' can be killed instantly. Not rubber necking and no excuse needed.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| flangesax wrote: |
| pam w, I ski pretty fast (no-where near as fast as anyone race trained), I also do big kickers. I watched this video to see how a course, a pro and more importantly a 'skier' can be killed instantly. Not rubber necking and no excuse needed. |
+1 (although I'm scared of big kickers)
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A sad day for skiing, but these are the risks top athletes take. Thoughts are with his family and fellow racers.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Absolutely tragic. Just shows that this is a dangerous game, not to be taken lightly at all.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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With regard to safety on ski race courses it's only through such accidents that changes are made, from personal recollection at Wengen on the Lauberhorn race several changes have been made over the years, some areas that used to have nets now have nets with crash mats over them to prevent people hitting them at high speed becoming entangled and snapping limbs, one of the biggest changes however occurred post 1991 when Austrian skier Gernot Reinstadler on practice day misjudged the last corner, hooked a ski into a net and ended up impaled on the low level fencing at the finish, this used to be old fashioned chestnut paling that was just unrolled, now not only have the netted areas got crash mats over to prevent people being hooked by them but the finish area uses metal barriers covered with a thick layer of padded protection.
Sadly we can all be wise after an event but it is only by these tragic accidents occurring that people realise the dangers and make changes, Skiing is not the only such sport, Motor racing has over the years only brought about safety improvements due to fatal accidents
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D G Orf, Very true.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, I wish I hadn't seen it to be honest.
RIP and condolences and all that.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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It's a bottleneck on a jump landing you can't see from above, at speed with tired racers.
And somebody signed this off. Wow.
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Poster: A snowHead
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D G Orf, I would agree if this would be some other non-skiing sport. It's young sport, so they don't have experience, and yes unfortunately such things bring those experiences. But in this case I don't agree with it. Sure ski cross is young sport, but everyone from racers, to coaches, organizers and other officials are coming from alpine skiing. And in this case it's hard to say they are missing experience, since there's 50+ years of experience there. So there wouldn't need to be such tragic accidents to find out things, which are very similar in very similar sport, and on top of that, under same roof (FIS).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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primoz, You'd think so but I'm not so sure, often you find the basic course is laid out by locals and that includes safety barriers and so on, it might (probably is) inspected by an FIS official before the race but I suspect that the course was within standards, the Swiss especially are very precise when following requirements like this, As I said wise after the event...
The Lauberhorn course accident I mentioned above occurred on one of the oldest Downhill courses in the world, right at the end of the longest Downhill course, it probably occurred because of the sharp bend right before the finish jump, the chap just went a fraction wide, his skis caught in the net and he flew onto what would normally have been a safe fence if he hadn't been coming at it from a height
Perhaps in this case people should have taken more care, hopefully in the future they will, apportioning blame will not bring the young man back to life, but maybe the event organisers will learn from this tragic accident and his death will mean that others are far safer in future
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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It was a sad day for the sport, although if there was no risk or crashes it wouldn't appeal as much to the riders or spectators. I suppose there is always a balance between excitment and safety. As someone else said about this accident, any sport where you are required to wear a helmet is going to carry some risk.
Attached is a link to another type of skiercross/snowboarder cross race, the Rahlves Banzai series in Lake Tahoe, California that concluded yesterday. I was over in Tahoe in February and had planned to enter a leg of the tour but that round at Alpine Meadows was postponed. This event is organised by Daron Rahlves but the courses all look super difficult as it's an offpiste race four at a time across mainly mogulled terrain. I'm no safety expert but this looks more dangerous than regular skiercross because of the roughness of the courses.
Below is footage of last week's Squaw Valley leg http://video.tahoetv.com/tv/427/index.php?mid=57051&vid=427
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