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Topic Date User

Travel insurance: ihi Bupa policy wording change 10-Jan-2012 At 6:58:28 PM J.C.

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On 10/01/2012 nmonteith wrote:
>Problem is an insurance company doesn't separate a death/injury from an
>objective danger or a bad user decision. If they have to pay out more than
>they can get people to pay for policys then its not worth the risk for
>them. After watching 5 guys at Tonsai last week jumping from above Humanilty
>I sure know I wouldn't be willing to insure them! Triple sumarsalts and
>pulling up within metres of boat and bars looked about a million times
>more dangerous then the hundreds of sport climbers. Problem is I don't
>think there is what one could call a totally safe version of base jumping
>- whilst top-ropers and sport climbers are almost risk free (apart from
>a few minor sprained ankles mostly). So if lots of topropers and sport
>climbers pay for insurance and never claim (including the myriad of guiding
>compaines) then it makes financial sense for the insurance company.

I actually believe that BASE can be practiced quite safely, just as safely as top-roping in fact. Popular perception would indicate otherwise but I've been exposed to a lot of climbing and a lot of jumping and I believe that to be a justified claim. Just as in climbing there is a very wide range of degrees of danger and difficulty & you choose to participate at your own level. There is a fringe at both ends of the spectrum.. guys who are out there every night on technical and committing jumps in poor wind conditions and pull as many flips and spins as they can before opening as low as possible, or the guys who will only do easy jumps on sheer cliffs with big landing areas in perfect conditions and will be open with plenty of height. As with climbing, most of us find a balance somewhere in the middle. While it doesn't factor into the equation that an insurance company would consider, my argument for the safety of BASE is that you choose your level of involvement and you are in control of your exposure to risk... you can stand on the edge for as long as you want and decide whether you are ready for that particular jump, and if not you can do an easier one or walk down. In the greater ranges, as soon as you set foot on the mountain you are exposed to a whole list of dangers totally out of your control. Sure you can temper your exposure by choosing a good line, only climbing in decent conditions but ultimately you are throwing the dice to a large extent. I'd be interested to see some statistics for alpine climbing deaths if anyone knows of any?

I think both pursuits are very rewarding, I'm just throwing out some food for thought :)