Luge athlete killed in Whistler during training - Page 6 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

GreatWhiteEbola · 02-12-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Too brilliant for canadian engineers to think of. C'mon now.

Although Plexiglass probably wouldn't have done much. You'd need Pyrex or something and that would've probably killed him anyway.

Plexiglas would have kept him on the track.

dj_patm · 02-12-2010, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

Plexiglas would have kept him on the track.

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

FiftyBelow · 02-12-2010, 01:48 PM

Its a good thing there were no spectators as well. The guy was going around 150 Km/h.

photon · 02-12-2010, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Komskies

Tried that. Using Firefox I hit 'Save Link As..', saved it, and when trying to open it with WMP it says WMP does not support the file type. or the codec used to compress the file.

Hm, plays on WMP for me but I'm on Windows 7.

You could use VLC to play it (I use VLC most of the time anyway).

calculoso · 02-12-2010, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peanut

Yeah, this is the part that really baffles me too. I get that a person doing 140km/h could fly a far distance through the air, but to put the poles like, 5 feet from the track?! Just doesn't make sense.

My friend used to luge and he broke his leg in Europe a good number of years ago. Steel poles along the side of the track, no matter how stupid, is a lot more common than you'd think.

browna · 02-12-2010, 01:50 PM

That Herald picture IMO is creepier then seeing the video in some aspects.

If you're a luge/skeleton/bobsledder and you now have to go past that point where a colleague has just gotten killed, in the biggest race of your lives, can't not be a distraction...when 000's of a second are at stake too.

Simple solution...there's a world class track 1000km east that hasn't had anywhere near these problems.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducay

Hey HOOT, still think its a "freak accident"?

This is after 2 days

Quote:

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

There've been over a dozen crashes this last week during training runs and mounting safety concerns.

Yes I do think it is a freak accident that a luger flies out of the track as most analyst have never seen anything like it. Is the track dangerous? Yes. They said before the event started this was the most dangerous track in the world. If you don't like the risks involved with it you don't go.

What happened was horrible. But to go and sue people for negligence is ridiculous. What's next NHLers suing each other for getting hit with slap shots? It's part of the game/sport, everyone should know the risks involved with it.

pylon · 02-12-2010, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

Not intrested in giving a physics lesson here, but a body has much more surface area to distribute force, and a body is softer and has no sharp edges on it like a puck. The same as why the glass is rarely broken by body checks. It is usually only if there is a flaw in the glass anyway.

GreatWhiteEbola · 02-12-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

I have no idea what the strength of Plexiglas vs Pyrex. From the video, it can be determined, the injuries resulted from the abrupt stop when the Luger collided with the support beam. The forces upon the Plexiglas, or other type of barrier, would not have been that great.

HOOT · 02-12-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

A puck and luger probably go the same speed with a slap shot. However a body would spread the hit out over the glass most likely not breaking it.

photon · 02-12-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

Pucks also are heading straight towards the glass, and have a much smaller surface area.

He was going down the track for the most part, so the actual impact with the plexiglass would have been far less than the 150km/h.

Like if I'm driving along at 100km/h and I weave into the meridian concrete, it'll damage the car but not a lot, and not like I hit it full on at 100km/h

Scoopdogg · 02-12-2010, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

I don't think it would have broke. Pucks hit the glass dead on and in this case the glass would have just re directed him back onto the track where he could have (hopefully) just slid down the rest of the track without a fatal injury.

Russic · 02-12-2010, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Wouldn't it have broken. Pucks shatter plexiglass going much slower.

Pyrex wouldn't break but it would've been like hitting a brick wall.

I don't think it would have broken because of the way he would have hit it. If the glass was where the beam was he probably would have, but I have to think if the wall was just extended it would have contained him. Still would have been a massive injury, but it may not have killed him. Even if he did smash though I would imagine breaking through a sheet of plexglass would be much better than going head first into a giant slab of steel.

Byrns · 02-12-2010, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

Yes I do think it is a freak accident that a luger flies out of the track as most analyst have never seen anything like it. Is the track dangerous? Yes. They said before the event started this was the most dangerous track in the world. If you don't like the risks involved with it you don't go.

What happened was horrible. But to go and sue people for negligence is ridiculous. What's next NHLers suing each other for getting hit with slap shots? It's part of the game/sport, everyone should know the risks involved with it.

So in professional football they don't put padding on the goal posts?

This is the same thing, and I'd say a lawsuit is justified.

dj_patm · 02-12-2010, 01:56 PM

Yeah makes sense.
Still don't really trust plexiglass.

They should just move those events here. It's to dangerous.

Edit: Pyrex is the really thick, almost break proof glass that is used in Science labs and other heavy duty situations.

SeeGeeWhy · 02-12-2010, 01:58 PM

Man, he just barely clears that wall....

Tragic.

RIP, young man.

Barnes · 02-12-2010, 01:58 PM

One of the corners (not 16) is named 50/50 because you have a 50/50 chance of making it out.

pylon · 02-12-2010, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Yeah makes sense.
Still don't really trust plexiglass.

They should just move those events here. It's to dangerous.

Then never sit front row, behind a net at an NHL game. And laminated glass is trusted for bullet proof applications. Do you research any thing you type?

GreatWhiteEbola · 02-12-2010, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_patm

Yeah makes sense.
Still don't really trust plexiglass.

They should just move those events here. It's to dangerous.

Edit: Pyrex is the really thick, almost break proof glass that is used in Science labs and other heavy duty situations.

I don't trust pig farmers, I empathize.

SeeGeeWhy · 02-12-2010, 01:59 PM

A few ideas...

Move the posts for the awnings back, or make them swooping arches/curves so they're not so damn close to the track.

Raise the wall height by another 8" along those 20 feet.

Put padding on the posts.

Such an awful thing to have happened.