Caving Vs MTB - which is more dangerous?
- Thread starter tdobson
- Start date
Each to their own. I love mountain biking and find that it has a fair bit in common with caving - mud, cold, wet, hard work etc. I enjoy the amount of skill needed on those wet rocks and the feeling of travelling through fantastic countryside. Trouble is, at my age, when I fall off, I crunch rather than bounce.
Regarding Lancaster - County, 30% is probably about right although Fall Pot, Stake Pot, Stop Pot, Poetic Justice and the whole of County Pot entrance series are liable to cause some difficulty.
afraidofthedank
Member
I know you’ve asked for data but I think a simple way to put it would be: Caving has a higher consequence of an accident, and MTB has a higher likelihood of an accident.
As an aside, when planning outdoor activities I’m required (when doing it “officially”) to consider not just the likelihood of an accident/incident of a specific nature, but how quickly we can get the casualty pre-hospital emergency care (paramedics for example), and how quickly we can get them to a hospital. Obviously there’s potentially a big difference between caving and MTB in that respect, and it varies by venue.
Edited for clarity: to add to that, the longer it could potentially take to get them medical care, the higher the risk is assessed to be.
As an aside, when planning outdoor activities I’m required (when doing it “officially”) to consider not just the likelihood of an accident/incident of a specific nature, but how quickly we can get the casualty pre-hospital emergency care (paramedics for example), and how quickly we can get them to a hospital. Obviously there’s potentially a big difference between caving and MTB in that respect, and it varies by venue.
Edited for clarity: to add to that, the longer it could potentially take to get them medical care, the higher the risk is assessed to be.
PeasusCrisp
New member
This article is from 2001 and identifies 84 patients with zero deaths. The same period the data covers records 3 cave related deaths but initially I can't see number of hospital admissions for each from my googling. I have only spent a few minutes on this question at the moment but I think the difficulty will be determining the size of the population of cavers vs MTB riders, then finding the admissions to hospital related to each sport. I fear that the sample size for cavers may be far too small to not have a skewed statistic.
As far as personal experience goes I have had 50+ accidents on a mountain bike suffering a couple of broken bones, lots of bruising, and a few cuts and bruises.
Caving wise I have hurt my finger and slightly twisted an ankle, but have not done as much time underground yet as throwing myself down hills at speed (which I have given up on all forms of as I find however fun it is, the healing seems to take longer and longer).
I have just completed an application for life insurance which did ask if I did mountain biking or cave diving but not caving, so that might be an indicator.
As far as personal experience goes I have had 50+ accidents on a mountain bike suffering a couple of broken bones, lots of bruising, and a few cuts and bruises.
Caving wise I have hurt my finger and slightly twisted an ankle, but have not done as much time underground yet as throwing myself down hills at speed (which I have given up on all forms of as I find however fun it is, the healing seems to take longer and longer).
I have just completed an application for life insurance which did ask if I did mountain biking or cave diving but not caving, so that might be an indicator.
langcliffe
Well-known member
From one hospital...
Assuming that the data covers the year 2000 (it doesn't say in the article, but it was published in 2001, so it's a reasonable assumption), the only caving related death I know of for that year was that of Howard Rothwell, who got caught out by a flood pulse in Lancaster Hole.
I would be interested to know what the other two were.
Last Active Lives Survey reckoned 2.2 million over 16s did mountain biking & 55,000 caving / potholing in that year (I reckon a much higher percentage of the latter were in led groups):
www.sportengland.org
Active Lives | Sport England
Our Active Lives surveys measure the physical activity levels of adults and children and young people across England, providing a wealth of data.
The article was published in May or June by Shrewsbury hospital, so presumably covered ireby fell that February.
BBC News | HEALTH | Mountain bikers 'risk serious injury'
news.bbc.co.uk
langcliffe
Well-known member
With respect, the data covered January to December of an unspecified year, so it was unlikely to have included 2001 data.
langcliffe
Well-known member
Why would he? I'll wait for his answer to my question.
shotlighter
Active member
A nice cross section of MTB "incidents" here, Including one that appears to be in a mine!
cap n chris
Well-known member
MTB.
hyweldavies
Member
I think I know more mountain bikers who've been hospitalised, in some cases seriously, than I do cavers who've been injured caving. I have had three people hospitalised mountain biking; merely trail riding in one case who worked directly for me. Two of the three were repeat offenders to the extent I'd plan for the inevitable broken bones after any holiday, or in a coma following one incident. Thankfully he did calm it down a bit after that, though perhaps foolishly I introduced to caving as well
I think I may know more cavers who've hurt themselves mountain biking than caving too. I'm not counting cavers I didn't know prior to meeting them in a stretcher on a rescue !
OK anecdote isn't data, but still ...
I think I may know more cavers who've hurt themselves mountain biking than caving too. I'm not counting cavers I didn't know prior to meeting them in a stretcher on a rescue !
OK anecdote isn't data, but still ...
