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Overconfidence and a lack of training and a habit of not wearing safety gear, especially helmets, help cause more than 40,000 head and neck injuries nationally a year in sports like skateboarding.

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Much of the chatter during Sunday's Super Bowl will undoubtedly be about how the rhetoric is heating up over long-term head injuries in football. But Coloradans needn't look any further than our own backyard mountains for discussion on a similarly dangerous development.

Snowmobiler Caleb Moore died Thursday from injuries to his heart and brain after a violent crash during last weekend's Winter X Games in Aspen in which his 450-pound snowmobile landed on top of him during a competition.

Just hours before his accident, Moore told The Denver Post that his snowmobiling career was launched "after barely a month of practice."

As a trend, most snow sports for amateurs have ostensibly gotten safer over the last decade, with helmet use up over 171 percent and 67 percent of skiers and snowboarders opting to protect their heads, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Despite that, serious injuries on the slopes have increased while the number of annual skier days has decreased by more than 6 million.

While the NSAA cites just a one in a million chance of incurring a serious injury on the slopes, the movement on the mountains is still to be better, higher, faster and more daring and treacherous recreationally, in competition, in the backcountry - and perhaps with less experience - than ever before.

There were 54 in-bounds skiing and snowboarding fatalities nationwide in the 2011-12 season, plus 51 serious injuries. In the 2002-03 season, there were 37 fatalities and 33 serious injuries.

Chris Nowinski, a former WWE wrestler and founding executive director of the nonprofit Sports Legacy Institute, which aims to advance the study, treatment, and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes, says while safety is the purpose of helmets, they actually encourage risk-taking behavior "because they can limit immediate consequences like pain and lacerations."

The International Ski Federation has made significant changes in equipment rules in order to make the sport safer for professionals, but while athletes are competing at the same venues as past generations with more secure measures in place, the risks are still larger as the push in competition is to go bigger. The 100 miles per hour World Cup downhill ski barrier was broken for the first time during the Wengen downhill in Switzerland last month, for one. And Powder magazine recently questioned the future of women's slopestyle after most of the U.S. team was sidelined with injuries like concussions and a torn ACL at last year's U.S. Grand Prix.

Über-snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist in the halfpipe, Shaun White is roundly praised as a showman with tremendously intricate skills, although he also has the benefit of sponsors to pay for a state-of-the-art, incredibly safe practice facility. In a 2010 "60 Minutes" profile, he gave a tour of his training camp, which includes a foam pit and 500-foot super pipe in the San Juan Mountains, which was built expressly for him by a sponsor and only accessible by helicopter. Most other athletes might have the benefit of safer equipment, but they still don't have that kind of entrée to such protective care.

Access to safer equipment also tends to make more casual snow riders feel perhaps prematurely qualified to attempt to emulate their professional icons. The popularity of events like the Winter X Games in Aspen, Burton Open in Vail and the Dew Tour in Breckenridge and extreme athletes like Tanner Hall help contribute to a precarious culture that some argue is getting out of hand.

Ted Mahon, a career skier who has skied all of Colorado's fourteeners as well as climbed Mount Everest, said that while in all sports there is a progression wherein prior generations try to build on the accomplishments of their predecessors, "in the case of skiing, the progression has gotten to a point where to move forward to the next level, the margin of error has grown very thin."

He also believes that much of the field at events such as the X Games is just too young to understand the gravity of their attempts towards X gold.

"If you're 16 and they dangle prize money, sponsorships and the chance to star in a Red Bull video, it's no wonder the kids want to do it," Mahon said.

Gadgets like GoPros, the helmet cameras that Men's Fitness magazine praises as "just the device to capture whatever it is that gets your adrenaline pumping" aid and abet tweens and adolescents who try imitating the extraordinary tricks they see in competitions and commercials in an effort to impress their actual and social-media friends - while in terrain parks. Without age minimums and extra monitoring from ski patrol in the parks, the chance of injury is great.

Still, two-time extreme skiing world champion Chris Davenport commends the ski industry as a whole, including the resorts, for trying to make the sport safer and thinks families who ski recreationally aren't doing it much different today than, say, 20 years ago. Yet he agrees there's an alarming inclination on the professional side to push the envelope to near-fatal extremes.

"You have to do the new trick, go bigger in the pipe, flip the snowmobile - this is what keeps franchises like the X Games going. Otherwise it wouldn't be as interesting."

Mahon agrees, and believes to an extent that contenders like Moore are just answering the demand of the crowds - and likely ESPN.

"People watch snowmobiling because they know there's going to be a crash. It's not such an interesting event," Mahon said. "It's actually kind of silly. Everyone's just waiting for the wipeout."

Nowinski believes the biggest concern with events like the X Games is that there's no one setting limits to the risks athletes can take.

"If the sport's leadership doesn't have a firm hand in telling athletes not to kill themselves and to take reasonable risks instead, there's no limit to how much damage they can do to themselves," Nowinski said.

National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell is attempting to make that league safer after a highly publicized spate of head injuries and suicides, even if some players and fans don't necessarily appreciate the increased number of fines and flags for hits that referees deem dangerous.

Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard told CBSSports.com that while he thinks Goodell is killing the league, he still worries "there's going to be a death on the field one day because of the direction we're taking." Ultimately, he said he agrees that something has to be done about player safety.

Tanner Hall last year told HBO's "Real Sports" that "a lot of the consequences can be death because that's just where the progression of skiing is going," but he wasn't on the same page as Pollard about whether he thought that any kind of intervention was in order.

"The answer is to keep going," Hall said.

Whether the prize is the highest ratings on ESPN, the most lucrative energy drink endorsement deal or the best amateur GoPro video to share on Facebook on Twitter, one thing is clear: Few appear to be interested in applying the brakes.
Meredith C. Carroll of Aspen writes a weekly column in The Denver Post. Contact her at meredithccarroll@hotmail.com or on Twitter @mccarroll.

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M. Carroll: Extreme sports: Higher, faster and more treacherous

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Much of the chatter during Sunday's Super Bowl will undoubtedly be about how the rhetoric is heating up over long-term head injuries in football. But Coloradans needn't look any further than our own backyard mountains for discussion on a similarly dangerous development.

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Part 5: Children ride bulls, drive monster trucks with parents' encouragement.

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The Extreme Sports Addiction [Infographic]

"The more fearful a certain sport makes you, the greater the release of chemicals. The greater the release of these chemicals, the greater the addiction-like symptoms." -Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, Professor Emeritus, University of Delaware CHASING THE HIGH WHAT IS THE E TREME SPORTS ADDICTION? What is it that drives risk-takers to pursue dangerous situations willingly and repeatedly? Who are they and what makes them keep going back for more? Does this "addiction factor" contribute to the advancement of action sports as well? Krush takes you behind the scenes of the extreme sports addiction to give you some answers! WHAT ARE THEY ADDICTED TO? THE ADRENALINE RUSH Adrenaline, aka Epinephrine A hormone released from the adrenal gland in the body when faced with stressful or dangerous situations (fight or flight response), elevating your heart rate and giving you a boost of energy and alertness. It can give people a sense of superhuman strength, HO speed, and other abilities that allow them to respond to traumatic situations. OH но The release of adrenaline (the adrenaline rush) stimulates the brain's reward system, triggering the release of dopamine... THE REWARDING BUZZ Dopamine A chemical in the brain that is responsible for the "high" or euphoric feeling you experience when you overcome danger or perceived extreme risk. When dopamine is HO released it provides feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Chronic risk-takers or extreme sports enthusiasts tend to have a higher saturation of dopamine in the brain. HO DOPAMINE LEVEL IN RISK-TAKERS VS. NON RISK-TAKERS Normal Level Risk-taker -the amount of dopamine released in the brain due to a rewarding experience + "In high novelty-seeking individuals, the brain is less able to regulate dopamine [thus releasing a greater amount], and this may lead these individuals to be particularly responsive to novel and rewarding situations that normally induce dopamine release." -Dr. David H. Zald, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University THE EUPHORIC FEELING DOPAMINE GIVES EXTREME SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS WHEN IT FLOODS THE BLOODSTREAM WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE ? "TYPE I" 10-15% | * Type T (for thrill-seeking) personality types of the population are classified as Type T. can be described as "risk-takers and adventurers who seek excitement and stimulation wherever they can find or create it." (Psychologist Frank Farley) * These types of people tend to seek out unique experiences, the theory being that they need to stimulate low dopamine levels. Sensation-seeking trait is about bU% genetic THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF TYPE T PERSONALITIES DRUG ABUSE ALCOHOL ABUSE GAMBLING Using stimulating drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine synthetically raises the amount of dopamine in the brain, producing a short-lived artificial high. EXTREME SPORTS ADDICTION LEADS TO PROGRESSION THE ENDLESS PURSUIT... * Sensation seekers can become addicted to the "high" they get from the adrenaline and dopamine rush. This addiction drives them to chase the next high repeatedly. * Tolerance builds as the body gets used to the same rush over and over, which is why extreme sports athletes are constantly pushing the envelope and upping the ante. "You need risk to trigger reward and the body gets used to risk. In other words, just like drug addicts who need to take more and more of a substance to get back to the level of high they desire, action sports addicts need to up their danger quotient to achieve the same effect." -Dr. Greg Berns, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neuroeconomics at Emory University THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT BIG THING, THE NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE TRICK, IS WHAT DRIVES THE CONSTANT PROGRESSION OF EXTREME SPORTS A FEW EXAMPLES... THEN NOW fmx 2X WHAT'S NEXT Ist Backflip Double Backflip 2006 2002 skydiving WIHAT'S NEXT Became a sport BASE Jumping Wing Suit Flying 128,000 ft. jump mid-1950's 2012 snowhoarding Double Alley-Oop Rodeo & Double McTwist 1260 2012 McTwists & 1080's 720's & 900's 1998 2005 3.5x SPINS 2x FLIPS WHAT'S NEXT 15 IL 11.5 t HALFPIPE WALL HEIGHTS HALFPIPE TRICKS & AIR HEIGHT WITH EXTREME SPORTS ATHLETES CONTINUING TO CHASE THE ELUSIVE HIGH AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES, IT'S NO WONDER WE VE SEEN THE TRICKS BECOME INSANELY MORE TECHNICAL AND THE LEVEL OF RISK RAPIDLY INCREASING. WE CAN ONLY WONDER, WHERE WILL THE EXTREME SPORTS ADDICTION TAKE US NEXT? SOURCES KRUSH K http://www.jneurosci.org http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7802751.stm https://dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=23620 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748420/pdf/nihms85634.pdf https://dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=23620 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-177868123/action-sports-participation-consumer.html http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869106,00.html?iref=werecommend?id=perma_share http://www.livestrong.com/article/532699-dopamine-sports/ http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2008/12/risk-takers-drug-abusers-driven-by-decreased-ability-to-process-dopamine-69546/ -seekers-chasing-a-craving/ w.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200803/the-addicitve-nature-adrenaline-sport .ca/2012/01/thrill- http://www. http://www. http://www.summitpost.org/living-on-the-edge-extreme-sports-and-their-role-in-society/214107 http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13126284 http://www.springerlink.com/content/j7578873352trx0g/ http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/extreme-sports-whats-appeal?page=2 .charlatan. "The more fearful a certain sport makes you, the greater the release of chemicals. The greater the release of these chemicals, the greater the addiction-like symptoms." -Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, Professor Emeritus, University of Delaware CHASING THE HIGH WHAT IS THE E TREME SPORTS ADDICTION? What is it that drives risk-takers to pursue dangerous situations willingly and repeatedly? Who are they and what makes them keep going back for more? Does this "addiction factor" contribute to the advancement of action sports as well? Krush takes you behind the scenes of the extreme sports addiction to give you some answers! WHAT ARE THEY ADDICTED TO? THE ADRENALINE RUSH Adrenaline, aka Epinephrine A hormone released from the adrenal gland in the body when faced with stressful or dangerous situations (fight or flight response), elevating your heart rate and giving you a boost of energy and alertness. It can give people a sense of superhuman strength, HO speed, and other abilities that allow them to respond to traumatic situations. OH но The release of adrenaline (the adrenaline rush) stimulates the brain's reward system, triggering the release of dopamine... THE REWARDING BUZZ Dopamine A chemical in the brain that is responsible for the "high" or euphoric feeling you experience when you overcome danger or perceived extreme risk. When dopamine is HO released it provides feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Chronic risk-takers or extreme sports enthusiasts tend to have a higher saturation of dopamine in the brain. HO DOPAMINE LEVEL IN RISK-TAKERS VS. NON RISK-TAKERS Normal Level Risk-taker -the amount of dopamine released in the brain due to a rewarding experience + "In high novelty-seeking individuals, the brain is less able to regulate dopamine [thus releasing a greater amount], and this may lead these individuals to be particularly responsive to novel and rewarding situations that normally induce dopamine release." -Dr. David H. Zald, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University THE EUPHORIC FEELING DOPAMINE GIVES EXTREME SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS WHEN IT FLOODS THE BLOODSTREAM WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE ? "TYPE I" 10-15% | * Type T (for thrill-seeking) personality types of the population are classified as Type T. can be described as "risk-takers and adventurers who seek excitement and stimulation wherever they can find or create it." (Psychologist Frank Farley) * These types of people tend to seek out unique experiences, the theory being that they need to stimulate low dopamine levels. Sensation-seeking trait is about bU% genetic THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF TYPE T PERSONALITIES DRUG ABUSE ALCOHOL ABUSE GAMBLING Using stimulating drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine synthetically raises the amount of dopamine in the brain, producing a short-lived artificial high. EXTREME SPORTS ADDICTION LEADS TO PROGRESSION THE ENDLESS PURSUIT... * Sensation seekers can become addicted to the "high" they get from the adrenaline and dopamine rush. This addiction drives them to chase the next high repeatedly. * Tolerance builds as the body gets used to the same rush over and over, which is why extreme sports athletes are constantly pushing the envelope and upping the ante. "You need risk to trigger reward and the body gets used to risk. In other words, just like drug addicts who need to take more and more of a substance to get back to the level of high they desire, action sports addicts need to up their danger quotient to achieve the same effect." -Dr. Greg Berns, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neuroeconomics at Emory University THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT BIG THING, THE NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE TRICK, IS WHAT DRIVES THE CONSTANT PROGRESSION OF EXTREME SPORTS A FEW EXAMPLES... THEN NOW fmx 2X WHAT'S NEXT Ist Backflip Double Backflip 2006 2002 skydiving WIHAT'S NEXT Became a sport BASE Jumping Wing Suit Flying 128,000 ft. jump mid-1950's 2012 snowhoarding Double Alley-Oop Rodeo & Double McTwist 1260 2012 McTwists & 1080's 720's & 900's 1998 2005 3.5x SPINS 2x FLIPS WHAT'S NEXT 15 IL 11.5 t HALFPIPE WALL HEIGHTS HALFPIPE TRICKS & AIR HEIGHT WITH EXTREME SPORTS ATHLETES CONTINUING TO CHASE THE ELUSIVE HIGH AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES, IT'S NO WONDER WE VE SEEN THE TRICKS BECOME INSANELY MORE TECHNICAL AND THE LEVEL OF RISK RAPIDLY INCREASING. WE CAN ONLY WONDER, WHERE WILL THE EXTREME SPORTS ADDICTION TAKE US NEXT? SOURCES KRUSH K http://www.jneurosci.org http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7802751.stm https://dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=23620 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748420/pdf/nihms85634.pdf https://dana.org/media/detail.aspx?id=23620 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-177868123/action-sports-participation-consumer.html http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1869106,00.html?iref=werecommend?id=perma_share http://www.livestrong.com/article/532699-dopamine-sports/ http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2008/12/risk-takers-drug-abusers-driven-by-decreased-ability-to-process-dopamine-69546/ -seekers-chasing-a-craving/ w.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/200803/the-addicitve-nature-adrenaline-sport .ca/2012/01/thrill- http://www. http://www. http://www.summitpost.org/living-on-the-edge-extreme-sports-and-their-role-in-society/214107 http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13126284 http://www.springerlink.com/content/j7578873352trx0g/ http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/extreme-sports-whats-appeal?page=2 .charlatan.

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The Extreme Sports Addiction [Infographic]

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"The more fearful a certain sport makes you, the greater the release of chemicals. The greater the release of these chemicals, the greater the addiction-like symptoms." -Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, Professor Emeritus, University of Delaware CHASING THE HIGH WHAT IS THE E TREME SPORTS ADDICTION?

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The X Games is an extreme sports competition that is presented twice a year by ESPN, the sports television network. Athletes from around the world compete for gold, silver, and bronze medal s, as well as money and prizes.

The X Games consists of two versions: a summer competition and a winter competition. The first summer games were held in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, in 1995. The winter competition was added two years later, at Big Bear Lake, California. Currently, the winter games are always held in Aspen, Colorado, and the summer games are always held in Los Angeles, California.

X Games events can vary from year to year, but generally consist of skiing, snowboarding, BMX biking, and skateboarding. Many X Games athletes compete in world championships. For example, Sarah Burke, from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, has been named one of the best freestyle skiers in the world. She is a three-time X Games gold medalist. Other X Games athletes represent their countries in the Olympics. Shaun White, who has won Olympic gold medals in snowboarding, is also an X Games athlete. White, a native of Southern California, has won X Games medals in both snowboarding (at the winter games) and skateboarding (at the summer games).

Winter Games

The Winter X Games is held in a snowy mountain environment and features winter sports such as snowboarding, skiing, and snowmobiling. Competitors in those sports face off in a variety of different ways.

In Skier-X (also called ski cross) and Snowboarder-X (also called boardercross), athletes do not race individually, the way they do in most sports competitions. Athletes in Skier-X and Snowboarder-X race head-to-head, going down the mountain four-at-a time. The courses feature a variety of terrain, including jumps, moguls, and bank turns. Ski cross was an Olympic sport for the first time in 2010, when the Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

In a Winter X Games event called slopestyle, skiers or snowboarders individually choose their own route through a course with many of the same features and obstacles as Skier-X and Snowboarder-X. But instead of trying to get down the course as fast as possible, they use the features to perform tricks and are judged on how well they perform them. There are also competitions to see which athlete can perform the best trick or get the most air, or height, off a jump. Travis Rice, who learned to ski near his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a snowboarder who competes in slopestyle events.

The X Games snowmobiling competitions include Snocross, in which competitors race on snowmobiles around a track with steep jumps and obstacles. Snocross competitions are held outside the X Games, too, with the world championships held in Falun, Sweden.
Summer Games
The Summer X Games is held in a warm environment and includes competitions in skateboarding, BMX biking, motorcycling, rally car racing, and surfing.

Skateboarders compete in the half pipe, a hollow semi-circle made of concrete. Athletes skate up and down two opposing ramps and perform tricks when they reach the top. There is also a competition for the best trick and most air off a jump. In "street" competitions, skateboarders skate around a park of obstacles and perform tricks. Skateboarder Tony Hawk, from San Diego, California, is probably the best-known X Games athlete in the world. In addition to having an outstanding sports career, Hawk has a successful skateboarding video game series.

BMX bikers also compete on a half pipe and a street course. They also perform tricks. Anthony Napolitan of Youngstown, Ohio, for example, landed the first double-front flip on a bicycle at Summer X Games 15 in 2009.

Motorbike riders have similar events, along with a "supercross" race around a dirt obstacle course with steep jumps. Travis Pastrana, from Annapolis, Maryland, is one of the top motor sports athletes and competes for Team Puerto Rico in international competitions.

Athletes from around the world compete in the X Games. There have been X Games athletes from such countries as Brazil, Japan, Belgium, Australia, and Italy. In 2003, athletes from six different regions-the United States, Europe, Canada, South America, Asia and Australia-competed in the X Games Global Championships in winter and summer sports. The United States, Europe, and Australia placed first, second, and third.
XGE
X Games Environmentality (XGE) is a program to make X Games fans and viewers aware of environmental issues. The program promotes recycling and waste reduction. In addition to promoting recycling at events, X Games organizers use biodegradable cups, plates, and napkins. These materials are made from corn and potato waste. The paper used at the games is made from 100 percent post-consumer waste.

The X Games "Get Caught Recycling" program gives fans an added incentive to recycle. At the events, fans who are caught recycling are rewarded with token s that can be used for goods and services.

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The X Games is an extreme sports competition that is presented twice a year by ESPN, the sports television network. Athletes from around the world compete for gold, silver, and bronze medal s, as well as money and prizes. The X Games consists of two versions: a summer competition and a winter competition.

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