What reason leads a person to climb K2 in winter, to dive with white sharks outside the cage, or to surf 25-meter waves? The glory, the fortune, the posturing, the poison of Instagram, the unconsciousness, all of the above? Most of the people will assure that there is a lot of irresponsibility in practicing outdoor sports, and some psychologists that those who risk the most may suffer from mental disorders. For Claudio Coelho, what is really dangerous is the daily routine.
However, I believe that we should seek reason in our own nature as a species. Thousands of years ago, when man was just another animal within the ecosystem, and not precisely at the pinnacle of the trophic pyramid, which was organized in groups of gatherer-hunters, risk was a constant to survive. If a hunting party came across a mammoth, the most daring could step in front of the mastodon, venture to be trampled or rammed by the formidable animal, and knock it down from a certain thrown in the eye (I suppose it would be done that way, more or less ). The adrenaline, dopamine and endorphin rush the hunter would experience would be brutal, he would turn to his fellow tribesmen and cry out in victory. Maybe because of avoiding death, maybe because of the feeling of dominating nature, or maybe because of becoming the best hunter in the tribe. The truth is that natural selection favored our prehistoric grandparents to be intrepid. These specimens were not only rewarded with pleasant sensations when taking risks, or obtaining food for long periods of time, they were also chosen by the women of the tribe, thus facilitating the transmission of their genes to the next generations. Taking risks is a genetic factor that pushed humanity to save deserts, cross seas and explore arctic regions. It pushed her toward today’s success.
Does this imply that reckless athletes love risk? I don’t think so, at least mostly. I don’t think climbers go up the mountain saying “what a wonder I can crash against the rocks down the ravine!” or that divers dive thinking “two meters more and I increase the probability of nitrogen narcosis by 45%, great!”. Nobody, or almost nobody, wants to die or get hurt. Risk in adventure sports is a factor but not the reason for practicing them. Contact with nature and the harmony between our genetic condition and our actions if it is. When an athlete is out there he experiences the joy of his true nature.
This is evident in nature. The zebras come to the river to drink, despite the presence of crocodiles, so as not to die of thirst. And lions take down buffalo for food at the risk of being gored or kicking their jaw, which is the same as a death sentence for the feline. Nobody would think that zebras or lions are lovers of risk, but of staying alive. It would be logical to think that zebras prefer a life without crocodiles, without fear that no animal can devour them and that lions would choose to lie in the shade waiting for someone to bring them fresh meat. But then in the zoo, where these animals “have managed” to lead a life with zero risks and “all the comforts”, they are seen to be depressed, not very shiny, listless and little interested in eating or reproducing. Quite the opposite of their free congeners, and exposed to all kinds of dangers, in the middle of the Great Limpopo Park of Africa.
The author diving with lemon sharks in Moorea. Contrary to popular belief, divers have the fewest incidents with sharks.
Sergio Hanquet (Balder)
The risk of dying while hiking in the mountains is 1 / 15,700 and the risk of dying while working on the computer in home security is 1/100 million. For society, the normal behavior is to stay at home, the one that seeks security, which is emphasized as a primary and innate need. Nevertheless, Recent studies from Chonnam Hwasun University Hospital suggest that office workers experience much higher levels of anxiety and depression that outdoor workers and a study from the Zhejiang Hospital, China, found that levels of inflammation (associated with a wide range of diseases such as immunodeficiency, intestinal inflammation, depression and cancer) were reduced with a simple trek through nature, even in older patients a simple weekend was enough. Stop working in the office and practice an outdoor activity 6500 times more dangerous and it will not only improve your health, but also your happiness. Who is the crazy one now?
Of course, a simple trekking is not ascend the K2 In winter. Mountaineering in the Himalayas above 6000 meters is the most risky activity in the mountains: 12 deaths for every 100 mountaineers. And of course not all of us have the same genetic predisposition to tolerate the high level of risk, and to experience life-affirming sensations in very dangerous activities. It is what has genetic variability.
For example, I don’t really appreciate risk in my outdoor activities. I reduce it to a minimum and try not to bite off more than I can swallow. Surely my prehistoric grandfather did not risk much, he would throw stones at the mammoth already downed from a safe distance or he would only be a wild apple picker, but I did inherit from that primitive human the love of contacting nature. For me it is more important to immerse myself in the wild life than to achieve challenges. If I were given the choice between beating the mountain records in the Himalayas of Kilian Jornet, with all the respect and admiration I have for this super sportsman, or to be able to have an encounter with a snow leopard, I would choose the latter. Which by no means means that Kilian is crazier than me … or vice versa.
Hiking through the Aletsch Glacier (Switzerland)
Marta Font (Balder)
The assumption of risk is marked by different reasons, apart from the genetic endowment and hormonal rewards. In the case of Kilian Jornet and the professionals who climb the K2, for example, there is the technical expertise, physical strength and knowledge of the terrain gained from thousands of hours of training and preparation to face these titanic challenges. The risk in the Himalayas above 6000 meters is high, but it is not assumed by crazy people, but by highly trained professionals.
Another reason to take risks is ignorance. Factor to take into account, because it plays in many of the outdoor activities that are practiced today. And this includes both those who go up in the middle of winter to the Madrid mountains equipped with shirts, jeans and tracksuit jackets, and then must be rescued from hypothermia, as well as instagramers who try to take a spectacular selfie and end up unfortunately badly (in 2018 259 deaths were recorded since 2011). Although it also affects professionals of extreme sports such as the cyclist of BMX TJ Lavin, who stated “I had no idea that we could hit each other like this” after breaking both legs while participating in the X-Games. In reality, the one who has fallen the most or the least into this category “daring / ignorance” at some point in his life. I certainly do.
And the last reason is the one that makes psychologists raise an eyebrow, and spike most people’s hair. At Sedona, Arizona, there is what is known as the White Line Trail, which is nothing more than a white sediment that runs along a very narrow ledge hanging over rock cliffs, for some, the most dangerous MTB Trail in the world. It cannot even be considered a single trail for mountain biking, at best a mountain goat trail, and yet it is covered every year by dozens of riders. A slip of the wheel, a gust of wind, a badly calculated stop and you fall into the void. One of the cyclists who completed it defined it as “the most terrifying experience I have ever had in my life.”
It would seem that you have to have a mental problem to want to travel the White Line Trail, for psychologists there is a high probability that it is suffered, but that is still a subjective perception of risk. This is where probability comes into play. No one doubts, for example, that the freeski skier Aymar Navarro It faces enormous risks when it is thrown down the slope through narrow channels lined with pointed rocks, saving falls of tens of meters and always exposed to possible avalanches. But due to his physical preparation and his excellent technique, in addition to the detailed study of the route of the descent and the climatic conditions, most skiers who go down the red slopes in any ski resort are more likely to suffer an accident than Aymar in his challenges (in the video above Aymar escapes from an avalanche)
However, many psychologists think that limits attract people who may have a personality disorder and that “the probability of affective alteration or diathesis is much higher in the group of extreme athletes” (Psychiatric Aspects of Extreme Sports). Of course you can find cases that border on suicide, even among the most famous athletes such as Fred Beckey, a mountaineer who opened most of the climbing routes in the US, the author of 13 books, but who in his personal life lived as an antisocial hermit. OR Dean Potter, one of the pioneers of BASE jumping known as the “dark magician”, who declared to the media “Playing with death feels so good”. Potter suffered a very difficult childhood and had visions where he saw himself as a shamanic raven. He was self-centered, impulsive, and in 2015 he died during an illegal jump while trying to get past a crevasse in his flight suit in Yosemite National Park.
For psychologists, extreme athletes experience comprehensive motivational sensations such as “conquering the” death wish “(Thanatos urge), overcoming paralyzing fear, and seeking transformation or” life wishes “(Eros urge). And you can distinguish between “high risk impulsives” and “experts, pioneers and advanced.” The latter have developed common sense “to handle the frustration associated with delayed gratification and have learned to channel rather than be controlled by their impulsiveness.” In other words, those without a disorder may coolly analyze a situation and abort the activity if they consider it dangerous beyond any control, while those with a disorder will fall prey to their impulses and continue the activity no matter what the conditions. .
For me it is much easier. Outdoor athletes are nothing more than primates, adulterated by civilization, who reconnect with our nature when we go out there, and that makes us feel alive. And yes, some of us are crazy, but … is there perhaps a community that does not have crazy people among its parishioners? In fact … Aren’t we all a little bit?
Probability that you are like a shower according to the sport you practice (from more to less)
The author swimming in open water.
Meritxel Figueras (Balder)
- Base jump. The most dangerous sport with 1 death for every 60 practitioners.
- Mountaineering in the Himalayas above 6000 m. 12 deaths per 100
- Climbing in Nepal. 1 in 167
- Ala delta. 1 in 560
- Rock climbing. 1 in 1750
- Canoeing. 1 in 10,000
- Hiking in the mountains. 1 in 15,700
- Scuba diving. 1 in 34,400
- Skydiving. 1 in 101,083
- Cycling. 1 in 140,845
- Open water swimming. 1 in 1 million
- Running. 1 in 1 million
- Ski. 1 in 1.4 million
- Snowboard. 1 in 2.2 million
Source tentongravity.com