Slide of death = burns!

Post by **mdmf007** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:45 pm

So - the slide out on the deep playa kicked much ass. But, ass cheeks and astro turf at 20MPH equals nasty rug burns.

While working ESD for 4 evenings, i had opportunity to clean and dress dozens of wounds. Some required stitches, and lots of care. Please post some post playa pics if your lucky enough to have been marked this year!

later

Post by **Sham** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:55 pm

I watched in amazement as person after person and group after group took turns going down the Slide of Death. I think half the people headed for first aid after the trip down the slide. My pleasure was watching them and trying to figure out just what the fuck they were thinking.

I videoed one of my campmates going down the slide and he was not injured on it, but several others were hurt. I guess this is how some people need to learn!

Token · Post by **Token** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:38 pm

Funny that. I went down a dozen times in my utilikilt wilh no injury. Our art car stopped twice a nite with 40 sliders and no injuries.

Was daytime more prone to injury?

FrankA · Post by **FrankA** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:58 pm

The slide of death was awesome. I went out there 2 if not 3 days and, made several trips down the slide on various objects without injury. I had great time out there every trip I made out there. I did see several people get burned and must say the naked folks are brave.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:31 pm

Read your ticket.
2 passes down without a scratch.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:36 pm

Yeah, I made it down the first time ok. Then decided I should try face first in observation of the direction of my kilt pleats. The result you can see here on my chin as it bonked me good when I hit the bottom:

yellowdog · Post by **yellowdog** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:01 pm

FWIW, the guys at the 3:00 medical station said that the Slide was the site of more injuries than any Burning Man art installation EVER.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:42 am

Well, at least this means the legalese on the back of the ticket actually means something. "You assume the risk of injury...." Considering the ever expanding efforts to sanitize the event in the name of safety, I see this as good news.

makoona · Post by **makoona** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:05 am

I heard that 14 people visited the med tent in one day following a ride on the slide, early in the week. 14 one day, I'm sure numbers went up as population and general absurdity rose. My favorite part of the Slide was the speed rail mounted at the top at mid thigh height. Amazingly nobody flipped over that. Burners have a higher than average survival instinct.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:07 am

You gotta love anything that even Lloyds Of London wouldn't touch!

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:32 am

MyLarry came down without incident. He wore his kilt and a pair of leather gloves. Walked right up the ramp without clutching the rail. I think he had a scrap of sheet too, someone had brought some out. There was a sign at the bottom saying don't slide down this slide, it is dangerous.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:07 pm

At the bottom?

My bottom doesn't have one of those signs.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:12 pm

Warning signs? I didn't see any warning signs!

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:22 pm

I could have been hallucinating. I do that.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:12 pm

We treated a friend by coating her back with lard, an old home remedy.

She went downhill rapidly after that.

dr.placebo · Post by **dr.placebo** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:38 pm

Kinetic V wrote:Warning signs? I didn't see any warning signs!

In my experience, a sudden and large decrease in altitude looming before me constitutes a warning sign.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:40 pm

dr.placebo wrote:
Kinetic V wrote:Warning signs? I didn't see any warning signs!
In my experience, a sudden and large decrease in altitude looming before me constitutes a warning sign.

Living in Colorado I see sudden and large decreases in altitude almost on a daily basis....

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:41 pm

pretty sure I remember "Do not ride this ride!" etc written on the stairs. This was early in the week, maybe not there later. Not to say AntiM might not have also been hallucinating....

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:57 pm

gyre wrote:We treated a friend by coating her back with lard, an old home remedy.

She went downhill rapidly after that.

I have heard of that happening.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:43 pm

Well...it doesn't need refrigeration making it almost perfect for the playa.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:46 pm

Did anyone die?

Shit! False advertizing! That's why I hate Burning Man!

brcprincess · Post by **brcprincess** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:35 am

I declined to slide when I found out the surface of the slide was astro turf.

I watched countless people fall/crash/pose their way down that thing and everyone seemed to have some degree of injury &/or carpet burn.

Hilarious.

If you build it.. they will come.

bigbluedoggy · Post by **bigbluedoggy** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:44 am

I slid down on one of the plastic sheets that were handed around. I didn't get burnt, but it was certainly warm even thru my jeans and the plastic. My friends gf got a serious bloody rug rash that kept her from sitting right the rest of the week. Med tent for her the next morning... ouch!

Surely Maybe · Post by **Surely Maybe** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:29 am

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]

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:36 am

yeah, if you stick you hand in the guillotine, and, it gets cut off, blame someone else.........it's easier......don't take responsibility for seeing the potential hazard, and then, deciding to risk it anyway, "knowing" it won't happen to you. If it does "happen to you", blame another......

much safer and easier that way.....

"it's not my fault, 'they' should have known"............

If the dragon is breathing fire, and, is pointing at you, perhaps, "RUN".........

if it sneaks up on you, blame the operator, not the event........
you only look to the "event" for blame, IMHO, relating to how deep their pockets may be...........

Orchid · Post by **Orchid** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:54 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.

Out of curiosity - what did you think would happen? It's a giant slide covered in astroturf. Sure, you might get down uninjured - but you might not.

Radical Self Reliance = Own your choices.
If you get hurt, go to the med tent and get over it.

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 8:58 am

Why not close all the bars where people got hangovers too?

I looked at the slide, the astroturf, the incline, watched a few mishaps and said NFW. You had access to the same information and chose to take the risk. Accept the responsibility for your actions.

mars · Post by **mars** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:14 am

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. [/i]

Good. You should lose all faith in Burning Man. You should have faith in yourself. Why give your trust over to an organization, any organization?

I'm a big "YES" person...I'll do almost anything...I went to that slide with my entire camp. The other people I was with all went down the slide. This was one of the only times I have said "no" to something at BM. Why? Because it was our first night and I didn't want to have an injury to deal with the rest of the week.

I didn't need "Burning Man" to tell me whether or not I should go down that slide. If I was out there on my last night I might have done it, because I wouldn't care as much about getting an injury or an "experience scar", but I think the choice should be MINE.

You want to make Burning Man like the default world? You want to be told we HAVE to wear a helmet? We HAVE to wear a seat belt? If that's how you want to live, do it at home, don't come to Burning Man and impose your rules on me.

If you do come back, don't try to have "faith" in Burning Man...instead, use your own wits and decision-making abilities and take responsibility for yourself.

mars · Post by **mars** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:15 am

Oops. Accidental double posting. See? Accidents happen.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:32 am

Perhaps next year you should book a Disneyland vacation where everything is safe and sanitized for your protection.