# Why don't ski long jumpers go splat? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329 "2012-01-31T19:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/21 "2012-02-01T14:48:48Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > It [does happen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiO2AWXec0E) occasionally. Including Ahonen who overjumpes the slope in Panica. [small nitpick] Planica [/small nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/22 "2012-02-01T15:07:11Z")
Ski jumping is one of those activities where the learning curve seems so, well, steep that it’s hard to imagine how one gets started in it. How does a novice ever take that first jump, when the consequences of an imperfect landing are so severe? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/23 "2012-02-01T15:13:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Ski jumping is one of those activities where the learning curve seems so, well, steep that it’s hard to imagine how one gets started in it. How does a novice ever take that first jump, when the consequences of an imperfect landing are so severe? You start on a really small hill and work your way up. It’s actually not all that dangerous a sport. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/24 "2012-02-01T15:25:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You start on a really small hill and work your way up. It’s actually not all that dangerous a sport. Unless your name is “Eddie the Eagle”. I looked on YouTube without success for it, but I once saw a short documentary where “Eddie” was on a practice run on one of those matting snowless ski slopes that are for some reason considered a reasonable approximation of snow in the UK. He hit the slope wrong and went _crash_crash_crash_crash\* all the way down the hill. The next shot in the documentary was of Eddie lying in a hospital bed in a full-body cast. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/25 "2012-02-01T15:27:46Z")
What percent of splatteries end up with massive injuries (or just broken bones)? I’ve only been on skis once or twice, so my experience wiping out is with a sled … and wiping out on a sled is half the fun. Some of those splatectaculars in Polar Bear’s link look fun. Or is missing a landing a sure-fire way to end up in the hospital? On preview: Oh, I’m not trying to be morbid here. Consider that a car crash–about _any_ car crash is a horrific thing to contemplate. Yet bumper cars are so much fun. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/26 "2012-02-01T17:03:33Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > What percent of splatteries end up with massive injuries (or just broken bones)? I’ve only been on skis once or twice, so my experience wiping out is with a sled … and wiping out on a sled is half the fun. Some of those splatectaculars in Polar Bear’s link look fun. Or is missing a landing a sure-fire way to end up in the hospital? > > On preview: > Oh, I’m not trying to be morbid here. Consider that a car crash–about _any_ car crash is a horrific thing to contemplate. Yet bumper cars are so much fun. Well, their speed on the bottom of the run up (just before they jump) is usually between 90 and 100 kph (53-60 mph), depending on the size of the hill. The snow you land on is also pretty hard I’d think, so I don’t expect it to be much ‘fun’. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/27 "2012-02-01T17:27:08Z")
The falls can look spectacular but severe injuries aren’t that common. Unlike ski racing, falls are pretty much always with the slope, not against it. Ski racers tumble, fall, and hit things at a really high rate of speed. Also, racers ski bindings are adjusted to not release unless they get struck really hard, or else they’d pre-release during a run. So you get lots of twisting injuries to the legs. Jumping skis aren’t subject to torsional forces so they can release easily and quickly when needed. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/28 "2012-02-01T21:11:05Z")
She’s not a long-jumper, but sometimes [splats kill you](http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/story/_/id/7466421/sarah-burke-dies-injuries-suffered-utah). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/29 "2012-02-01T22:31:40Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > She’s not a long-jumper, but sometimes [splats kill you](http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/story/_/id/7466421/sarah-burke-dies-injuries-suffered-utah). So can [falling over on the bunny hill](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/story?id=7119825&page=1). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329/30 "2012-02-02T00:06:37Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Oh, I’m not trying to be morbid here. Consider that a car crash–about _any_ car crash is a horrific thing to contemplate. Yet bumper cars are so much fun. Hey, we’re guys, most of us. Managing to not die is much of the fun in life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-ski-long-jumpers-go-splat/611329.md?page=1)