What's going on in your head?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Docta P on November 20, 2009 at 2:07am

Great question.

I've had a couple of these experiences, but none so harrowing as a gnarly busted up lowhead dam at flood stage in NZ a few years back. Josh and I have both documented the experience (he in explicit detail) on this site somewhere in the archives, but suffice it to say, in my mind, it was relief that the other guys behind me had missed the cutoff and gone the other direction (which was incorrect - Josh hit the line and was going through the same experience) and a "never say die, I won't quit until I have nothing left to get out of this" mindset. We were both VERY fortunate to survive, as an aside...

I've had a couple of other extended beatdowns since then that were relatively peaceful - one because I wasn't scared, as there was an enormous safety crew around the shoot, and in the others, I simply relaxed into a ball, knowing that my best bet was to let the current flush me out, and if not, there was no need to fight, as I couldn't beat the current and I was done at this metaphysical level, and c'est la vie...

P

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alicia Anne on November 20, 2009 at 10:33am

I think everyone reacts to the knowledge of their own death a bit differently. But I believe that when you ask a community of people that do the things we do, you will find more commonality in our responses, simply because we all know in the back of our minds that death is a very real consequence. I think before most people get into an extreme sport they do realize the dangers, and the risk of death. We may not think about it all the time, but it definitely resonates loudly when we hear or witness a death, or epic beatdown.

I've had one experience where I was getting chundered underwater and had no clue where I was, or where I was going, and I knew there was a huge undercut downstream, but I was totally at ease. I was actually thinking calmly in my head, while swirling around "the black room" (I was pretty deep), "This is it, the river finally got me. Hmmm, I wonder where that undercut is? If I go under there I'm really screwed!" I swam down and eventually out and was fine, but I definitely recall being totally cool with what was going on and not freaking out. Had I really started running out of air, or had gotten pinned, I can't say how I would have reacted though.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alicia Anne on November 20, 2009 at 10:50am

I also heard a story about a skydiver whose chute failed, and his reserve wasn't functioning properly and he was coming at the ground FAST. In his mind he knew he was going to die, but he said he didn't freak out, just thought, "Ok, this is it." He actually ended up surviving, but is now in a wheelchair. He said he now dedicates his life to helping others. I'll have to find his name, it was on some tv show on extreme sports.

I am very glad to hear your friend is okay! :)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Waterboarder1 on November 20, 2009 at 12:00pm

Yeah, Chris is OK, but he is not thinking of replacing his missing boat & paddle anytime soon.
I'll try to get him on a riverboard next spring...

Seriously though, at the "never say die, I won't quit until I have nothing left to get out of this" moment, as Peter put it, did you feel the mind take on some strange state that allowed you the peaceful concentration and clarity to try the superhuman?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by J. Young on November 22, 2009 at 4:56pm

I don't think I've ever such a close call on the river. The closest, I suppose, is dropping into something or other and thinking, "Hmm... I'm not sure what's about to happen now." While rock climbing, though... hoo boy. However, the worst for me is always the anticipation of what's about to happen. Too many times to count I've been far above my last protection and glanced down to find that my belayer looked an awful lot like the Grim Reaper. Once it's happening, though, I'll report that my state of mind is, thankfully, typically like that of your friend. Once it's over, I'm usually pretty astounded at the clarity of purpose that can exist right at the edge.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rochelle Parry on November 23, 2009 at 12:29am

I watched a show on Animal Planet called I Shouldn't Be Alive, stories of personal survival in impossible situations. I want to watch more of these as they recount brushes with death. The one episode I watched featured a sea kayaker who got separated from his boat and his friend. I tuned in late so missed how it happened, only that he was alone, floating around in Rosario Strait (off the coast of BC) in a drysuit and pfd at night, and had a lot of time to think about his impending doom. He thought mostly about his family. He saw a light house and was able to follow the light and swim to shore but thoughts of people worried about him, plus the miracle of his survival, kept him from sleeping.

I haven't had any underwater frights that were too bad but getting beat down in a hole brings up mostly panic and thoughts of "I really didn't want to die this way." Probably because I'm still relatively new at all this.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by BrianJ on November 23, 2009 at 4:38pm

ive been lucky enough not to get too serious of a beatdown on the river... yet. but there have been a few times in extreme ocean conditions where i thought I was done for. most of which involved being held down by a large wave against the bottom or just spinning round in deep foamy water with neautral bouyancy. all of these times i just think to myself relax as much as possible, dont struggle or youll use up our air. there have been a few times where the lungs were burning and i was literally milliseconds away from inhaling copious amounts of water. very very scary. and i did have the thought in my head of "wow this could be it this time, just hold on a little bit longer, maybe I can make it to the surface soon..."

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rochelle Parry on November 24, 2009 at 3:15pm

Near flush drowning

Nicely narrated video of kayaker who went for a very bad swim.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kevin Yount on November 25, 2009 at 5:04pm

For me, I didn't get scared until I was reeled back into a waterfall in New Hampshire and diving deep out of it simply caused me to resurface on the boarder of the boil line and get reeled in again. The water was too aerated for kicking to do any good and grabbing at the wall proved the be equally fruitless. Then came the throw bag and the rope slipping through my gloves. It was at that point that I abandoned my board and took the rope with both hands. I still had one more dunking left before I would resurface on the boil line again, but this time I was able to swim to safety without my hydrospeed encumbering me. I learned from that experience not to run rapids like that again, where the line is easy to hit, but has a nasty recirculation potential, and where the risk doesn't outweigh the fun/challenge.

I also agree with others that since that point, other beat downs have seemed like nothing and it will probably take a worse experience to freak me out.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Waterboarder1 on November 25, 2009 at 7:20pm

Kevin, what was your state of mind as you were being worked? Panic? Calm? Indifference?
Did you have doubts about making it out of the recirc right then?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kevin Yount on November 25, 2009 at 7:38pm

Panic when the first recir and dive did absolutely nothing, and then worsening as I was waiting for a rope that was slow in getting thrown (I was a little under the overhang that my safety was standing on), and then really so when the rope slipped through my fingers. I knew that if I didn't get pulled out of that one that I was just going to get recirculated until I ran out of gas.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Dembinski on January 12, 2010 at 9:36am

I have also heard of this phenomenon, as well as experiencing it for myself (of course not riverboarding :P ). I have been in a couple situations, both parachute related and not, where I have had this occur to me. I won’t go into details, but it is quite interesting how the human body works (ok, well at least for some people). When I was faced with a critical situation, rather than feeling panic, I felt complete calmness, and clarity. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but I believe your brain realizes just what kind of situation you are in, and just spits out the solutions. It’s just as if you know you have to do A, B, C to fix this, and you do it. It probably happens faster than you can process it and counteract with fear or panic, even though it seems to happen in slow motion. Anyhow, it’s good to know that the brain can work through difficult situations, especially when you play high-risk games. :)

▶ Reply to This

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page