Thoughts I've been musing on today while I've been working.
In the past, season ending injuries have usually resulted in people pushing the physical limits of jumping on skis - Tanner on Chads gap, Simon overshooting the PC kicker, etc. I think in the past few years though, thanks to the help and influence of jump builders (including everyone, from Mr Olsson to your local park crew), jumps have become quite a bit safer. Gone (mostly anyways) are the days of sketchy narrow BC booters with stick it or break your neck landings. I think this is also in part due to the fact that its not as impressive to land a 360 on a monster 90 foot sketchy-ass stepdown anymore... a kang 12 over a 60 foot JOI style booter is kinda cooler. For more evidence of this, just check out the shape of the booter that Durtschi and pals build on Chads last season - its mammoth, took days to sculpt, and it way more professional and 'safe' (though we are talking about a 120 foot gap) than previous builds, especially compared to what Candide D-spin 7'ed from.
So if skiing has really hit the barrier on large jumps (and it kinda has, anything over 130 feet requires so much speed and has so many variables, plus the fact that landing anything that size is rather impressive in itself), its obviously been progressing in the technical trick direction. And its getting pretty crazy. When you see guys like Sammy and Bobby almost carelessly flipping triple inversions, you kind of forget that if you throw your rotation just a little to hard or little to slowly, you've got a huge chance of pancaking headfirst into the landing. I'm not saying that these guys arent extremely skilled athletes, they are, and its DAMN impressive. But the hardest tricks being done by park skiers today have SUCH a thin margin of error... and if we keep pushing the limits of technicality, I have to predict that the next major injury in our sport, or worse, will happen on a perfectly sculpted feature, something that for all intents and purposes is a 'safe' jump. The only cause will be a split second misjudgment of setting a proper rotation or a slightly askew body position when the landing come around.
I kinda dont know where to go from this prediction, its just been lurking at the back of my mind. I think its skiings nature, no, human nature, to push the boundaries and limits of what is thought to be possible. And I have no doubt that the stuff people are going to do this year will be mind blowing. And I dont really have any solution or advice to forestall this prediction. Help?