2 dead & 6 injured as teens take after hours sled ride down Winsport bobsleigh track

[Zarley]

What a sad story.

But also, what an incredibly stupid thing to do - youth is no excuse.

[surferguy]

I don't know if this is the outcome that I would expect. This was not a great decision to do this. That said having been down this track in the past (in a bobsleigh) I "THINK" that wearing a regular winter jacket and jeans one could bail off a plastic tobaggon sled and flatten out and slow down - maybe keep a bit of control. Maybe not - actually it's been 15 yrs since I made my runs - perhaps Locke can chime in here, I am likely remembering it wrong. Without knowing details of the incident it is very unlikely they were on steel runners - letting them achieve Olympic speeds. None of them expected a gate on the track - they probably all went at the same time In succession and the result was very sad.

[burn_this_city]

Shame they didn't walk the track for obstructions first. I can't imagine blindly hurtling down an olympic bobsled course in darkness not knowing if the path is clear.

[FlamesAddiction]

I don't think anyone is saying that youth is an excuse. Just that it makes us think of all the bullets we dodged.

When I was a teen, we used always do the thing where you tie a GT or ski behind a moving car. Incredibly stupid and dangerous now that I think back on it. And at the centre of it, there were usually girls that we were trying to impress.

[nik-]

"due to their injuries, police have not been able to identify many of the victims"

yikes

[Locke]

Originally Posted by surferguy

I don't know if this is the outcome that I would expect. This was not a great decision to do this. That said having been down this track in the past (in a bobsleigh) I "THINK" that wearing a regular winter jacket and jeans one could bail off a plastic tobaggon sled and flatten out and slow down - maybe keep a bit of control. Maybe not - actually it's been 15 yrs since I made my runs - perhaps Locke can chime in here, I am likely remembering it wrong. Without knowing details of the incident it is very unlikely they were on steel runners - letting them achieve Olympic speeds. None of them expected a gate on the track - they probably all went at the same time In succession and the result was very sad.

Oh man, I could tell you pretty much every twist in that track.

But no, once you start going down you're going down. All the way. There really isnt any slowing down or stopping until you get to the runway at the end.

I dont know the details of what these kids did but that track is fast, without the proper equipment...I cant even imagine.

A plastic toboggan is a death trap on a toboggan hill, down a professional track? That would be terrifying.

I feel bad for these kids, I mean, I'm thinking about this with what I know about the track and I get that from an outside perspective it sounds like tobogganing down it would be hilarious but it really wouldnt be.

Whatever happened to those kids on the way down would have been awful.

You would very, very quickly realize that you are out of control in a completely unforgiving environment.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Locke

Oh man, I could tell you pretty much every twist in that track.

But no, once you start going down you're going down. All the way. There really isnt any slowing down or stopping until you get to the runway at the end.

I dont know the details of what these kids did but that track is fast, without the proper equipment...I cant even imagine.

A plastic toboggan is a death trap on a toboggan hill, down a professional track? That would be terrifying.

I feel bad for these kids, I mean, I'm thinking about this with what I know about the track and I get that from an outside perspective it sounds like tobogganing down it would be hilarious but it really wouldnt be.

Whatever happened to those kids on the way down would have been awful.

You would very, very quickly realize that you are out of control in a completely unforgiving environment.

That is fair - I back down from my original statement of thinking it would be possible to "keep control" just using the friction of your jacket and pants.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by nik-

"due to their injuries, police have not been able to identify many of the victims"

yikes

If what Hot Hot Heat suggested is true, it would be a high speed collision without restraints.

So unfortunate.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by surferguy

That is fair - I back down from my original statement of thinking it would be possible to "keep control" just using the friction of your jacket and pants.

Yeah man, sorry but theres likely just no way. Once you're past the starting gate you're in God's hands.

It being slippery and a slope is the whole point. Its how its designed.

[CliffFletcher]

How do eight people even fit on a plastic toboggan? Were there a couple toboggans?

Sure, it was dumb. But come on people. These kids died. It might be bit of justice if they had come out of it with collectively with a broken a leg and a few sprained wrists. Got nabbed by security and brought home to their parents. But don't pretend it serves them right when the consequences were death before their lives got started.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by underGRADFlame

First off I will state I feel horrible for everyone involved teens/family/CPS/EMS/CFD/COP. The families going through this loss, i can't even imagine. The first responders having to deal with the situation sucks, and COP, god knows because of this security and many other things will have to change because of this senselessness.

Thank you.

[dino7c]

sad story, I did a lot of dumb things as a kid but this is another level...wonder if they were trying get a viral video out there or something

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by doctajones428

So because you guys have done stupid thing like this and lived that makes their actions ok? If these guys were 30 would you be saying "Oh, we've all done stupid things as adults too"?

I don't feel much sympathy for people who piss their lives away and take them for granted with delinquent behaviour when I've had to suffer and fight so many times to have mine at an age not much older than theirs

I don't feel these kids deserved to die, but I'm not going to excuse their behaviour because it happened to kill them

Condolences to their friends and families

I'm not sure anyone is saying it makes it OK, just that we can understand how it may have happened and relate to doing some really dumb stuff when we were their age. And, uhm...10 years later.

[Peanut]

Awful. I can't believe they haven't been able to notify all the next of kin yet. And police are saying the surviving boys are severely traumatized and haven't even been able to speak to some of them. Just terrible.

Obviously it was a very poor decision by the kids but it does make me think of all my stupid teenage decisions which thankfully didn't have such tragic consequences for me or my friends. Teenagers are reckless, teenage boys especially so.

[dino7c]

Track has been there for 30 years...lots of dumb kids over that time and to my knowledge this is a first

[The Ditch]

Can't believe there are literally people in her comparing this to drunk driving, way to show that the stupid redneck Albertan isn't just a generalization.

Your brain isn't even fully developed till you're later in your 20s, have any of you black and white they deserved to die people ever talked to a teenager? Because if you have you would understand that their capacity to critically think is not like someone 30+, there's a reason everyone is saying oh I did really outrageous acts as a teen.

How this should have played out was there should be a security guard who catches them, probably police get involved, parents called, and then the families could have their own conversations with their children about what they were doing, how 8 teens could access an Olympic bobsled course and not be caught is ridiculous.

Sometimes consequences to actions are much worse than they should be, nobody deserves to die for stupidly sledding down a track, this is a true tragedy and I hope some of you they deserved to die people have your own children and can learn that not everything is black and white and in western society we have an expectation to help children not make poor decisions (ie security guards) so that they can grow to be productive members themselves.

[GirlySports]

Im surprised its taken this long for kids to sneak onto that track.

Unless the other cases had no injuries. Is that barrier always there?

[dino7c]

not saying they deserved it but you can't blame lack of security

You could ride a tube down the bow river at night, or jump off a bridge, there are a million dumb things you could do to kill yourself

This goes beyond a stupid teen thing...yeah we all did dumb stuff but like I said the track has been there for 30 years and this is a first

Its still a tragedy for sure but blaming winsport is not the answer

[Nage Waza]

Unless things have changed, there isn't a lot of sneaking required. You used to be able to walk right onto the ski jumps, no sneaking required. I can't imagine the massive track is much different.

COP might be responsible for some of this.

[Ryan Coke]

Has anyone in this thread said anything remotely close to 'they deserved to die'?

Being young isn't an excuse for being stupid. It is an absolute tragedy. I'm sure nobody thinks they deserved it.