Real Risk Missed In A Rush Of Adrenalin

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday July 30, 1999

By RICHARD MACEY

Glen Nash, operations director with Katoomba's Australian School of Mountaineering, cringes when his world of outdoor adventure is billed as one of "adrenalin-pumping risk sports".

Each year his company trains up to 5,000 people for canyoning, abseiling, rock climbing, mountaineering and ice-climbing. "The word adrenalin is used too much," he said. "Our focus is not about taking risks to get a buzz or a high. We are not about getting stoned on adrenalin. We tell people there is always a risk, no matter how well-trained your instructors are, and no matter how well-equipped people are.

"But it's very rare that you will hear about a professional accident. They tend to involve ill-informed beginners who go out by themselves."

The fledgling sport of ice-climbing around Mt Kosciuszko attracted only a few dozen enthusiasts. "You use ice axes and climb frozen water walls. There are not lots of those in Australia to climb, but what we have are good quality."

Dulcie Norman, owner of Underground Expeditions, at Wetherill Park, also teaches caving. Her company takes novices to the Wee Jasper limestone caves near Yass.

"It's dark. You wear a miner's light on your head and that's your only light," she said. Accidents were "very rare". "It's like crossing the road. If you do it wrong, you can get hurt."

Russell Brown, services manager with the Sydney Skydiving Centre, at Bankstown, said 50,000 Australians would make their first parachute jump this year, compared with 5,000 15 years ago. "I don't think any one of them thinks it is not dangerous, but the risks are acceptable," he said.

He was one of the few adventure operators able to quote accident statistics: "There are about three experienced deaths a year." There were almost never serious accidents involving carefully watched novices. He argued the $25 insurance cover for novices proved the sport's safety.

Mr Tony O'Connor, owner of Bungee Mania, said zealous government regulation had made his sport one of the safest in NSW. "There is risk, as in any sport, but the risk is so minimal," he said, noting bungee jumping was banned for six years following one accident.

"It was the only incident that has ever happened in NSW - a girl broke her collarbone. Footballers get worse than that."