Slide of death = burns!

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:47 pm

AntiM wrote:I could have been hallucinating. I do that.

Either that or Simon had the sign tattooed on his ass next to the bar ad. Not that I'd know anything about that, mind you

misfit · Post by **misfit** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:36 pm

de-evoulution slide,,, hopefully we have evolved enough to make the correct decision and not blame BM. to answer the question, "why didn't BM shut it down,,, the safety team was having too much fun with the slide. personally i couldn't resist and took a backboard down, then put on some turnouts and went down again.........

klondike_bar · Post by **klondike_bar** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:03 pm

the slide was tons of fun. Dangerous to all hell, but thats why its the DARWIN wedge.

I went down it about 10 times in all manors of position (standing, sitting, and bellyslide), with the only injury taking place when i made the decision to ride on of the "safety cubes" down the slide.

the ride was a struggle, as i wasnt staying on the cube properly, and at the bottom was sent sprawling across the turf, resulting in a somewhat painful burn to my elbow and knee, which scabbed up later.

my opinion: Totally worth it.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:35 pm

klondike_bar wrote:.....I went down it about 10 times in all manors of position (standing, sitting, and bellyslide), with the only injury taking place when i made the decision to ride on of the "safety cubes" down the slide.......my opinion: Totally worth it.

Theres a right way to ride the cubes down? Garbage can lids worked well.

There was one gal - smoking hot too! that came in for assistance, I dont know ASL and she doesnt hear. but, she could type on a pda almost fast enough to make it melt.

I swear I saw at least 10 rug burn cases in one evening shift at Station 9

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:34 pm

You think it was bad with the astroturf?? You should have tried before they put the turf down! Talk about needing first aid, OUCH!

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:01 pm

Surely Maybe - I have started this response several times and just can't find the appropriate words to tell you just how offensive I find your attitude about your burned "ass". There is just so much wrong on so many levels. Yes, of course it is your fault. No, Burning Man is not responsible IN ANY MANNER for your ass.

Close down the slide? Oh HELL no.

If you really think that your environment should be sanitized to minimize danger, please stay home. Burning Man is what it is and if you feel the need to make it less edgy, I do not wish you luck.

AND - If some day I have my face burned off, I hope I have the grace to accept responsibility for my own actions (maybe standing in front of a fire breathing dragon was not the smartest thing).

So, I'm curious - just how many lawsuits HAVE you been part of???????

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:55 pm

Maybe most of he people going down the slide had never seen one of the big carnival slides and the big pieces of carpet or jute used to go down those?
And those were slick and waxed.

I used to love the 4 story high spirals.

DoriumLux · Post by **DoriumLux** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:50 am

Surely Maybe wrote:I did read my ticket - but just because it says you assume all responsibility doesn't mean that Burning Man doesn't have some responsibility too. I went down the slide and did burn my ass. Was it my fault? I guess I shouldn't have forced the guy in front of me to veer into my path.
I went to the medical tent (they were AWESOME!!!) and heard the same thing about how many injuries there were. I asked why didn't Burning Man shut it down? OK - I'll take my share of responsibility, but if there is a "known" hazard - that is causing over 50% of the injuries at one spot - where is Burning Man's responsibility to ensure that it doesn't continue? Saw a guy break his shoulder right after I burned my ass.

I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.

This was "willful negligence" on BM's part; it made me wonder if the dragon was burning people out on the playa if they'd shut it down too. All those responding to defend BM on this - what if you had your face burned off by something that BM knew about, knew was hurting people, knew was a hazard and was something they could have prevented? I think you'd think about it in a different way if you had no eyelids.

The argument that "read your ticket" is the "final answer" is ridiculous.

[/i]

Before I rode down the slide I contemplated the potential injuries that may arise from it and I concluded it was worth it and if anything did happen to me that it would be my own damn fault. I would never dream of blaming someone else for my stupidity. I fought in Thunderdome on Thursday and concluded the very same thing. I did sustain an injury along with my partner who fought with me. Untop of not blaming Burning Man, we did not blame each other, just ourselves. We made the concious decision to fight. Learn to take responsibility for your actions. I appreciate that at Burning Man I am given the concious ability to make decisions about my safety and well being and proceed with the appropriate action. It is something too often taken away in a law suit happy society.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:00 am

gyre wrote:Maybe most of he people going down the slide had never seen one of the big carnival slides and the big pieces of carpet or jute used to go down those?
And those were slick and waxed.

I used to love the 4 story high spirals.

If you're ever in St. Louis you really need to check out City Museum. Their spiral slides are even taller than 4 stories. And with two of them side by side it's a blast to race your friends down them. I've never seen so many slides in one place before...and these are not kiddie slides....these are serious slides that you'll have a ball on. I love that place and won't apologize for tossing in a shameless plug...

http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:03 am

*Yawns, looks at watch, pulls up lawn chair, cooler, and opens beach umbrella*

AKAparttime · Post by **AKAparttime** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:16 am

Surely Maybe wrote:I did read my ticket - but just because it says you assume all responsibility doesn't mean that Burning Man doesn't have some responsibility too. I went down the slide and did burn my ass. Was it my fault? I guess I shouldn't have forced the guy in front of me to veer into my path.
I went to the medical tent (they were AWESOME!!!) and heard the same thing about how many injuries there were. I asked why didn't Burning Man shut it down? OK - I'll take my share of responsibility, but if there is a "known" hazard - that is causing over 50% of the injuries at one spot - where is Burning Man's responsibility to ensure that it doesn't continue? Saw a guy break his shoulder right after I burned my ass.

I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.

This was "willful negligence" on BM's part; it made me wonder if the dragon was burning people out on the playa if they'd shut it down too. All those responding to defend BM on this - what if you had your face burned off by something that BM knew about, knew was hurting people, knew was a hazard and was something they could have prevented? I think you'd think about it in a different way if you had no eyelids.

The argument that "read your ticket" is the "final answer" is ridiculous.

Cheese... an excellent source of calcium.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:25 am

Kinetic V wrote:
gyre wrote:Maybe most of he people going down the slide had never seen one of the big carnival slides and the big pieces of carpet or jute used to go down those?
And those were slick and waxed.

I used to love the 4 story high spirals.
If you're ever in St. Louis you really need to check out City Museum. Their spiral slides are even taller than 4 stories. And with two of them side by side it's a blast to race your friends down them. I've never seen so many slides in one place before...and these are not kiddie slides....these are serious slides that you'll have a ball on. I love that place and won't apologize for tossing in a shameless plug...

http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp

I went through St. Louis on the way back.
I would have stopped for that.

Wasn't even tempted by the slide of death.

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:32 pm

I think you would have had more fun at Disneyland. Quit yer' cryin'!

makoona · Post by **makoona** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:09 pm

There are things about burningman I'd like to see saved, but seem to slowly get eroded away. In a culture where we are almost grotesquely coddled by safety laws, self reliance is one of the most precious of these things, and it's what makes the event a right of passage for so many people. An opportunity sorely lacking in American culture, save drug abuse and divorce. You can see the start of the erosion with more rules and advice to put safety first. That's why I was so overjoyed to find the slide out on the playa. And it seemed so perfectly designed to allow for a goodly level of consequential injury, but nothing awful like death. I have seen pieces of art I've climbed all over show up in defaltia with yellow do not cross tape around the base: stripped of it's genius by what, fear? Interactive art, even dangerous interactivity is a cornerstone of bm that I think goes back to the very start. (Not sure, I wasn't there)

However, the BORG people are not stupid, they shut down "the ladder" when stress fractures were found and it was felt that the structure could collapse suddenly.

If you want to remain in the illusion of complete safety, please consider staying home and abiding by all your local, state and federal safety laws.

dr.placebo · Post by **dr.placebo** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:56 pm

Surely Maybe wrote:I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.

Now go try to sue your school system because they did not warn you about gravity and friction.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:30 pm

dr.placebo wrote:
Surely Maybe wrote:I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.
Now go try to sue your school system because they did not warn you about gravity and friction.

*Thunderous applause*

klondike_bar · Post by **klondike_bar** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:46 am

if you see a gigantic astroturfed slide called the Darwin wedgeat burning man, you should have the intelligence to appraise the potential risks of riding. at least sit around and watch for a few minutes as other people faceplant and rugburn thier way down if you need proof.

nonetheless, i watched several children safely ride it, using stuffed animals to sit on.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:09 am

I decided to go down before the astroturf was installed. There was a rope to hold on to that I kept with me and I kept my feet down to keep from going to fast. Well I let myself start going a little too fast where I could no longer slow myself down and didn't want to take the rope burn on my hand, so I decided I'd just run when I hit the bottom. Well there was a non-flush board at the very bottom that the heel of my boots caught, so instead of running, I went flying face first. No injuries but it was still a lot of fun.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:01 am

BAAAAA hahahahaaaaaaaaaaa

almost as f'ing funny reading these as actually watching the people go down!!!!

And yeah, geeze not even worth looking back through to find ms/mr. cry about it screen name.....whaaa....

Your life could end tomorrow, and all you have is the small story of your life inside a glass house. BORING!!!!!

I made a life choice to attend BM, I made a life choice to do alot of things that border on my womans intuition of might be the last thing I attempt.
I unfortunately couldnt get up the damn ramp, bm 2008 I threw my knee out and in 2009 my hip was playing havoc with me...so when I put my first foot down on the ramp...it was a no go...damnit!!!
YES...I really wanted to go down that crazy ass shit.

Then to make me really whimper about being self told I couldnt accomplish it...some gorgeous gal in fucking 7 inch stelletto's went up without so much as even touching the damn rail....
But I knew my limitation and just fucking smiled from ear to ear enjoying watching everyone come down...some good landings so radically crazy ouch thats gonna leave a mark landings...blood and all these playa peeps went back up.

Thats living!
That is not a lawsuit in action....that is what the real world should be about...but its not.
So I shall call you " Surely Sue " go crawl back in your momma's womb, where its nice and safe and non-threatening!

go live your boring life...leave the "wake up calls that TELL us we're alive" to those who can handle it!!!!

Mosin · Post by **Mosin** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:08 am

Wow. After reading about all the injuries people experienced/acquired (?!) I feel both lucky and a bit stupid... yet still glad My wife and I went for it. On Tuesday while doing our ice cream cart run a burner told us he was there and saw people getting "compound fractures, burns and shit" (which I assume was assorted other injuries rather than scat) which I interpreted for some reason as a BRC/Urban Legend. Hence, when we finally got out there on Thurs night we just grabbed a piece of sheet they had sitting at the bottom, climbed the damn thing, and went for it without thinking twice. I was surprised how fast we got going, and the mild thrashing at the bottom hitting the blocks/burners/spotters in a mass, but no burns to speak of. The Man protects babies and fools.... (?)

I totally disagree that the slide should have been shut down, but I do think it might have been a good idea for someone to briefly tell folks how to best get down without hurting themselves if they wanted to play it safe(r). For example, "OK kids! Bare hands, feet and asses off the slide unless you want it to stay on the slide permanently!! Have fun!" We had no such warning, although I can't say I wasn't informed in advance of the "compound fractures, burns, and shit."

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:16 am

You guys should've been smart like the guy going down the slide in a kayak, he didn't get hurt, cause he was wearing his life vest...

halffast · Post by **halffast** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 2:20 pm

[quote="Surely Maybe"]I did read my ticket - but just because it says you assume all responsibility doesn't mean that Burning Man doesn't have some responsibility too.
[/i][/quote]

well... technically, if you actually assume ALL responsibility, then Burning Man actually doesn't have some, too. but let's ignore that for the greater issues at hand...

one of which is... Burning Man didnt build the slide. they didnt tell you it was something you could slide on.

but the slide folks arent responsible for you sliding down either.

you made the decision to go down some astro turf at high velocity. a LOT of people i went to the slide with chose NOT to go down. they made a choice.

some chose to have fun at risk.
some chose to not have fun because the risk was too great, either because they didnt like the speed and situation of sliding down itself, or they didnt like doing it with the other folks who they couldnt control

encouraging people to analyze situations for themselves is a great thing

Lisa_M_Davies · Post by **Lisa_M_Davies** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:46 pm

I am so proud of my scar from the slide, it is a constant reminder of the amount of fun we had on it. We tried all moves and stunts, pretty much all resulting in a bit on a scratched arm/bottom/leg... no big injuries... just huge beaming smiles from so many people that I will always remember! I love that it was your own risk, and that you could see it was a risk. It puts all the health and safety stupid and ridulous rules from the real world into perspective. I am thankful that Burning Man did not close the slide... that thought must have gone through many, many people's mind "why have they not shut it down?!" I had such AMAZING fun with loads of my friends and strangers!!!

THANKYOU creators of the slide! Next year could you build an oversized play park for us please??!

FrankA · Post by **FrankA** » Fri Sep 18, 2009 11:35 pm

he he I think the whole place was an oversized play park.
speaking of which, was the giant teeter totter ever operational?
I also found a merry-go-round that people were graciously spinning up to speed...that was fun too.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:35 am

I want pictures! Big, nasty rashes and make shift bandages!

Post by **Elderberry** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:41 am

Surely Maybe wrote:I did read my ticket - but just because it says you assume all responsibility doesn't mean that Burning Man doesn't have some responsibility too. I went down the slide and did burn my ass. Was it my fault? I guess I shouldn't have forced the guy in front of me to veer into my path.
I went to the medical tent (they were AWESOME!!!) and heard the same thing about how many injuries there were. I asked why didn't Burning Man shut it down? OK - I'll take my share of responsibility, but if there is a "known" hazard - that is causing over 50% of the injuries at one spot - where is Burning Man's responsibility to ensure that it doesn't continue? Saw a guy break his shoulder right after I burned my ass.

I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.

This was "willful negligence" on BM's part; it made me wonder if the dragon was burning people out on the playa if they'd shut it down too. All those responding to defend BM on this - what if you had your face burned off by something that BM knew about, knew was hurting people, knew was a hazard and was something they could have prevented? I think you'd think about it in a different way if you had no eyelids.

The argument that "read your ticket" is the "final answer" is ridiculous.

[/i]

Surely Maybe, there is no Maybe about it...Surely Burning Man is not the event for you. You just don't get it. I agree with the person that suggested you should try Disney Land next year.

BTW In any of the law suits I have read against burning man, the court does recognize the warning on the back of the ticket as the final answer. A recent case involved some other idiot that got burned running in the ashes of the man after it burned. Do you expect BM to not burn the man because it has the potential to injure someone?

What is so hard to understand about "Participate at your own risk"? YOUR OWN RISK!

How is it that everyone in our society has come to rely on some big brother to look after them?

I think I might sue BM for getting a sun burn. They didn't warn me that this could happen in the desert while attending the event.

JK

mars · Post by **mars** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:12 pm

FrankA wrote:he he I think the whole place was an oversized play park.
speaking of which, was the giant teeter totter ever operational?
I also found a merry-go-round that people were graciously spinning up to speed...that was fun too.

Side note (or should I say Slide note?)

Under the slide, in the back there was an oft-missed swing.

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:52 pm

Surely Maybe wrote:I did read my ticket - but just because it says you assume all responsibility doesn't mean that Burning Man doesn't have some responsibility too. I went down the slide and did burn my ass. Was it my fault? I guess I shouldn't have forced the guy in front of me to veer into my path.
I went to the medical tent (they were AWESOME!!!) and heard the same thing about how many injuries there were. I asked why didn't Burning Man shut it down? OK - I'll take my share of responsibility, but if there is a "known" hazard - that is causing over 50% of the injuries at one spot - where is Burning Man's responsibility to ensure that it doesn't continue? Saw a guy break his shoulder right after I burned my ass.

I lost all faith in the "spirit" of BM after I went to the medical tent. BM DOES have a responsibility to fix something if it's hurting people and they have knowledge of it. Too many people were unnecessarily hurt and I do blame BM for those injuries after the first day. YES - they could have burned down / shut down that slide and they should have.

This was "willful negligence" on BM's part; it made me wonder if the dragon was burning people out on the playa if they'd shut it down too. All those responding to defend BM on this - what if you had your face burned off by something that BM knew about, knew was hurting people, knew was a hazard and was something they could have prevented? I think you'd think about it in a different way if you had no eyelids.

The argument that "read your ticket" is the "final answer" is ridiculous.

[/i]

Hey S & M, at least the slide did'nt look like this one

vargaso · Post by **vargaso** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:50 pm

One of the things I most love about Burning Man is that the event treats us and expects us to act like responsible adults. Not a warning sign or yellow tape in sight, and my God, it's silly how refreshing that is. It speaks volumes about our nanny state existence during the rest of the year. For instance, fences on the Golden Gate Bridge? Fuck no! And yet, they most likely will be installed.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 5:40 am

Burning Man should shut down things that are dangerous to innocent bystanders who didn't choose to participate in whatever specific activity/proximity that causes injury. People aren't allowed to drive 50MPH through camping areas, or build fire cannons on mutant vehicles without proper hardware that passes inspection.

That slide didn't hurt anyone that didn't look at it and decide they were crazy enough to go down it!