I’ve done more than my share of stupid things in the name of adventure, and the conclusion I’ve come to is that major injuries are just not worth it (they kind of kill the high anyway). You can have fun, be safe, and get that rush at the same time, but you have to think about what you’re doing.

“I think balance again is the word here. James I believe it was President Hinckley who spoke on “extreme sports”, though he characterized it as “thrill seeking”.”

Thrill seeking has nothing to do with the risks I have taken. Its more like control seeking, or beauty seeking.

“But I had a conversation with some friends late last week about this, and there was some disagreement about whether it’s appropriate for people with dependent families to take such risks.”

I have had numerous friends and acquaintances who continued to take substantial(and in my mind unnecessary) risks in the mountains after getting married and having children, they are now dead. When a parent / spouse dies a violent, tragic, and unnecessary death of their own making it effects those who loved them for a very long time.

“Would you do it if they seemed like competent instructors and sky diving school?”

I think I would be willing to try that and I would feel fine about a spouse doing it as well. I’ve considered it before, but I do have issue with heights. I have noticed I have been getting better with heights though and I am not sure why. Maybe it gets better with age!

I can agree with you to a point. If the marriage entails children, including the expectation that Mr. (or Mrs.) Extreme Sports provides the necessities while his/her spouse cares for the Children, then I find his prior behavioral patterns irrelevant to the question of is it still irresponsible. In which case I say yes it is, particularly if there is no real provision taken for his death – adequate life insurance (that will pay in the event of death by dangerous hobbies), etc. Not only is he irresonsible but a complete jackass to boot. On the other hand, if there are no kids then I can go along with your reasoning.

Jeff Spector: Well done

#20 – With a name that includes B.C. Rich, I would have to guess that you play guitar. This is an all time favorite hobby for me as well.

I knew someone would say that!!! For me, once two people get married, you take the good, the bad and the ugly. Come what may, you do your best to work it out. Honestly, if my spouse decided to start taking extreme risks, I would do my best to discourage him and try to get him to focus on something else he enjoyed but had less risks. I know that people change after marriage, but from what I do know about extreme sports and people involved in them, it is usually something they do from a young age and tends to be a significant part of a person’s personality. I think it would be something that was fairly obvious about a person before marriage compared to something less obvious, like whether a person would lose their faith later in life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9xgXmEt11A

7 JRo Being handy sounds like a great hobby – I am useless!!!

8 Steve S Healthy pursuits- When I was back in salt lake I met Barbara Sherwood one of Utahs best triathlets do you know of her?

9 Cowboy can your find that article? Tried googling it but didn’t find the talk

10 Jen what if the person became a thrill seeker after marriage? Its like they didn’t plan on it but they just got the bug. Its sort of like marrying someone in the church then all of a sudden they lose their testimony and become an atheist.

11 Mr Spector we need YOUTUBE proof of the you are truly a rocker, not just a wanna be!!

Nothing real risky there unless you find skeletons in the family closet

Since there are comments on the Nutty Putty incident, I want to throw in my two cents. I read that the man who discovered the cave actually got stuck in the same place as John Jones and a friend helped him out. Also, several years back there were two other rescues from the same spot. I think it was irresponsible for them not to close off that part of the cave with several other incidents in the past having already occurred. It seems obvious to me that the size of the person makes a difference in whether they would get stuck or not, so it was risky to leave that section open not knowing who would attempt to go through that part again. I don’t think that John was taking irresponsible risks, but I do believe there was irresponsible behavior with management not warning others of people having been stuck in that spot in the past and needing to be rescued.

I agree with you Cowboy that it is irresponsible to take risks if you have people dependent on you. But, I also think that if a person is one that takes extreme risks and does so on a regular basis, that this should be a consideration if a person is thinking of marrying them in the first place. I don’t think it is fair to ask someone to change if that is something they truly desire and want to do. In other words, I wouldn’t want to be the cause of another person’s unhappiness by asking them to stop doing what they love. I would have to probably pass on marrying that person altogether.

I think balance again is the word here. James I believe it was President Hinckley who spoke on “extreme sports”, though he characterized it as “thrill seeking”. I believe this is an entirely appropriate way of looking at our activities and determining what is reasonable and what is stupid. I know of two instances where in High School football, injuries were incurred that resulted in either death or serious disability and lifelong dependency. Even so, I am not about to advocate that people should not play football. On the other hand, I also know of a man who died in a hanggliding accident. He left behind a small family with only moderate resources, that depended entirely upon him. So, in response to the question, if you are a father and husband it is absolutely irresponsible to take risks. Every time a father and husband calculates the risk of a stupid thrill, they should also take into consideration the impacts of those who directly depend on them. I will not be jumping out of a plane anytime in the near future.

Side note: I have been in the nutty putty caves several times, and what happened to this man is sad and unfortunate. However, given how recent this event was I should make special mention that my comments have no applicability to him whatsoever. I believe he is the first fatality at the caves in the forty years that countless people have been exploring them. As far as caves go, Nutty Putty caters quite nicely to amateurs and so he should have had little expectation that such an outcome was likely. I would chalk this circumstance up to the freak football fatality. It is unfortunate, my heart goes out to his family, but I don’t think there is the classic “valuable lesson” to be learned here, as he conduct was not unreasonable.