A small but determined group of adventurers decided to spend an afternoon braving the more technical confines of Vedder Mountain downhill mountain biking. With two experienced mountain bikers in Mr. Loewen and Mr. Radons guiding the trip the group traversed down Sunnyside Up, learning how to control their speed and transfer their weight while negotiating uneven terrain. On the second trip up the mountain the group split up based on ability level, with some climbing up the mountain to traverse more difficult terrain, and others staying on the introductory run. Unfortunately an accident cut the trip short and the first aid abilities of the supervisory team had to be put into action. The biggest lesson learnt by all participants was a stark reminder that outdoor education trips always come with a degree of associated risk, and while we do our best to mitigate it, accidents can always happen. In the end our thoughts are with our injured adventurer and we hope that he gets back on the mountain soon! Outdoor Education students please leave a 100 word blog response below.
Mouat Extreme Outdoor Education 
Oh my, did this trip get interesting. It started off normal, Rahe drove us up and we unloaded our bikes. We went down an easy trail which I don’t remember the name of, and it went really well. I learned that you need to take the U-turn corners on the outside and not the inside. We then shuttled back up in another truck, this is where things take a turn for the worse. Me and a few other people decided to do a climb and try some different trails. Als we go up, we come around a corner and cross a little bridge, but on this bridge I lost control of my front tire. I went over the side of the bridge and landed on my face. This trip ended short for me, with Mr Radons taking me back to school and then to the ER. Turns out that I fractured my spine 😦
A scary moment indeed but definitely highlights how outdoor adventures, while a lot of fun, carry a risk that we always need to be aware of. Glad that you’re ok!
Accidents happen. By the very definition of the Accident which is “.an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.” in that it is something that was not foreseen nor wanted that can result in things happening to use that could end up setting us back. It can happen in any time or place it can be as big as you could possibly imagine it could be so small that it is even hard to notice. It could have lasting impacts, it could have impacts that only last a few seconds. They could change the course of lifes it might not change a life at all. We might have been prepared for them to happen. We might have not been prepared at all. But what is important is that we all look at what accidents have happened in the past and look at the future to see how to handle them differently so we can better those accidents that come. Because reality has it that Accidents will come and if we do not give the time to prepare for what could happen they will have their full impact on our lives. That does not mean that we should live every day in fear of what could happen. What it means is that we got to live our lives hoping for the best and preparing for the worst knowing that every day could be our last. The key is to look at how to minimize risk and what the minimum risk is for a given activity to ultimately decide on whether a certain activity should be done in what ways. For example an activity such as mountain biking is a perfectly fine activity for most to do to some level. This Outdoor Ed trip was a bit more advanced than the average mountain biking trip. Which was known prior to it occurring. What was not known though was how advanced it was going to be until we got on the trip. The level of advancement that we thought was lower than reality. We made preparations based on the prior perceived risk of the trip such as making sure to bring decent bikes and good helmets. What ended up occurring was that during the trip one of the participants apparently fell off a bridge and got hurt and we had to leave.That participant would have benefited from wearing a better helmet and some other mountain biking gear. That gear would have not prevented the Accident from happening but would have reduced the extent of what resulted. With that said I was wearing similar gear and I would have needed to follow the same advice. Even though that accident happened I do not feel that I should not be doing those activities just that I should be more prepared. The thing to watch out for is the difference veriablestic risk and calculated risk. With veriablistic risk is where there are many unknowns whether they be known unknowns or unknown unknowns leading to there being a wide variability in what the probability of certain accidents happening. While with calculated risk the odds of certain accidents happening are typically much more under control. Like in a pandemic at first it is much harder to wrap our heads around what is happening leading to prevention having to be rolled out that are far beyond what may have actually been needed in hindsight. But as time moves on and we get a better and better idea of how to handle the pandemic, precautions can be lifted, sometimes they are lifted too quickly. But eventually the only kind of prevention that is needed is the one to get the vaccine. For the covid-19 pandemic we are not quite at the point yet but it is in our foreseeable future. But in similar light to as what was introduced today by the government of british columbia it is time to start working are way back to the lives that we use to have prior to covid-19 with the mind set that mind set that we should do everything that we can to be safe but with the recognition that “Accidents happen.”