Watch This Skier's Heart-Stopping, Mid-Air Terrain Park Save
There comes a time in every skier’s life when, as they’re schussing down hill, another person slides into their vision, dangerously close.
During these moments, quick reflexes are the only thing that prevents a collision. Sometimes, those reflexes prevail. Other times, they don’t.
Either way, hopefully both parties learn a valuable lesson—situational awareness goes a long way in preventing the slopes from transforming into a demolition derby.
Snowboarder Ned Daly caught a now-viral video of one of these near misses. Rather than taking place on the snow, though, it involved air time and one very, very lucky kid.
Check it out below.
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The skier made an aspirational save here. Rather than flailing like a dead fish, he executed an expert, perfectly timed spread eagle, saving the little snowboarder from what probably would have been a nasty concussion.
If you’ve ever been hit by another skier, you know that while humans weigh less than freight trains, they certainly feel like them when they smash into you at 45 miles per hour. Taking that force to the head only makes matters worse.
This happy ending, then, is heartening to see. But in a perfect world, the kid probably shouldn’t have been in that landing in the first place.
The areas below jumps should, effectively, be treated like a blast zone. People standing above a jump often can’t see what comes after it. This is especially true in large or extra large terrain parks.
As general rule, in these zones, landings are assumed to be clear, unless someone is standing on the knuckle with their poles in an “X” formation, or another skier obviously crashed.
Now, it’s hard to tell what led up to the close call Nely captured, so assigning blame to the skier, the kid, or the kid’s parents is pointless.
Here’s what parents can take away, though: terrain parks are full of flying objects, and there are specific areas to avoid.
Our advice? If your kid wants to lap through the park, start with the beginner zone, where the jumps are smaller and easier to see over, first. If they want to check out the medium or large offerings, keep a close eye on them. Unless they have the skills to go over those jumps, they shouldn’t be hanging out below them.
You look both ways before crossing the street. You can say the same about getting to the bottom of the terrain park in one piece.
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