If you go to Burning Man and get burned, you assume the risk.

A man who got burned at Burning Man cannot sue for failing to know the fire was hot. Burning Man is an annual event in the Nevada desert that culminates in burning a 60' wooden edifice. It started on a beach in California after a bad divorce.

I've always wanted to go. It is a week of naked people running around drunk or in costumes drunk. My kind of place!

Four years ago the plaintiff went to burning man and attempted to throw a picture of a deceased friend on the fire and was burnt in the process. It was his third trip to Burning Man. Actually he tripped and fell into the fire after throwing the picture into the fire.

He sued Burning Man for his injuries and the appellate court upheld a lower court opinion and said he assumed the risk. The plaintiff's claim was based on the allegation that "negligently allowing people to approach the fire without safe pathways."

See Burning Man survives suit by burned man

Exciting Job Post: working to get Olympics to Chicago and work in the Parks Program

I rarely post job openings, but I thought this one was pretty neat, as well as a great opportunity.

As some of you are aware, I am "on loan" to the Chicago Park District (CPD) from DePaul University in the position of Chief Program Officer (CPO). I am working with Mayor Daley's Office to secure the Olympic bid while overseeing all 6000 programs and 4000 program staff for the city's park system.

I'm in the process of recruiting and hiring a Professional Development Manager for the District. I see this as an excellent opportunity for a Ph.D., ABD or M.S. who is interested in applying their teaching, research, and problem solving skills in one of the worlds largest urban park and recreation systems. I have attached and pasted below the job description. However, there will be a great deal of flexibility beyond the job description, as governmental job descriptions are written with little creativity.

Please share this with friends, colleagues, and students who may interested in this opportunity. Feel free to apply for the position by August 7, 2009 at: http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/ Click on jobs, go to Professional Development Manager. If you have questions, I can be reached at: dan.hibbler@chicagoparkdistrict.com
or 312-742-4868.

Best regards,

Dan K. Hibbler, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & Faculty Mentor

DePaul University

School for New Learning

(312) 362-5275

dhibbler@depaul.edu

How not to respond to a product liability claim or How to turn a mess into a legal disaster.

Isn't here an old saying about dirty laundry in public, or in this case showing the world that your product failed, you don't know why and it wasn't your fault…?

The list of smart-a$$ titles for this piece is long but I figure I better stop and let you know what I mean.

An editor of Velo News was bicycle racing riding on a set of Mavic wheels. Basically the wheel broke and so did he when he hit the ground. He wrote an article about the story. See A shattering experience - A post-recall, R-Sys wheel failure. The wheel had been recalled earlier, but this was a post recall, or fixed wheel. The injured editor did the right thing and called Mavic who inspected the wheel. Mavic decided the failure of the wheel was due to rider error. He hit something.

This was after Mavic sent five people to look at the wheel. It is not know whether Mavic investigated the area where the crash occurred.

Mavic's analysis did not match what the editor thought happened. And being a journalist he investigated. He contacted everyone he could, then contacted everyone they knew and kept going until he had a good idea from third party accounts of what happened. He did not hit anything. The wheel failed.

So he did what anyone who is angry and has the ability does, he wrote about it. Mavic's response he felt was wrong.

At this point the lesson in how not to handle a disaster starts.

Mavic then filed a response. Velo News published the response. At this point in time we can start tracking the Public Relations nightmares that Mavic created. And as I have said numerous times before, the marketing department makes statements the legal department has to clean up.

1. Mavic did not look at or ignored the area where the accident occurred when the decided it was something in the street that caused the wheel to destruct.
   
2. Blaming the rider or the owner of the product for a product failure creates a three year old battle.
   
   1. The battle will go on for three years
      
   2. The battle will look like three year olds are doing it.
      
      1. Yes you did
         
      2. No I did not
         
      3. Yes you did
         
      4. No I did not
         

Mavic's response was to Velo News, not the injured editor. In the response Mavic back peddled and said the cause of the accident had not yet been determined.

1. Once you are in the s$$t it is stupid to say you are not in the sewer. Even worse to say when you are covered in s$$t that you were never in the sewer.
   
2. Being nice when you smell like s$$t helps, but you still smell like s$$t.
   

You got a problem, deal with the problem. Blaming someone else for your problem never works and makes you look stupid in the eyes of the world and any jury. Mavic thought the problem was a possible lawsuit from an injured rider. That would have cost them money. However creating a situation where the problem is brought out in public and you are made to look like a liar is going to kill sales. I suspect the lawsuit might have had less of an effect on Mavic's bottom line.

1. Velo News was not injured in the disaster, why are you writing letters to Velo News.
   

The inured party here who deserves the response is the editor. Writing to Velo News to say we are not wrong, we may not have been right, is not the way to deal with this. If you are worried about the problem deal with the problem. If you are worried about bad press, don't be an idiot to begin with. Write a letter to the injured rider. Remember that second head line, dirty laundry.

1. Dealing with the press about someone's personal problem rather than dealing with them is proof that you are hiding something.
   

Too many times the PR or marketing department starts to deal with a problem then it gets shifted to the legal or risk management department and no matter what the company looks like it has a split personality and looks bad.

Worse there is not legal department and those charged with risk management and usually some other full time consuming job gets scared and speculates on what to do.

Get together. Allow the PR or marketing department to be the front face that is what they are good at. Let legal or risk management review but don't allow fear of litigation to control any response to anything. And never allow the fear of being sued to put you in a position where you look like you lied.

1. If you don't know what happened, never speculate, never guess, be honest and say you don't know.
   
2. Never blame anyone else if you don't know. You become a liar when it comes out that you were wrong.
   

A summary is the writer made most private investigators look lime and got statements from everyone around that said the wheel failed, it did not hit, drop or roll into something. Mavic tried to cover their butt without using its head. The result, writer has a broken bone, bad wheels and Mavic looks bad. The first two things you expect as a cyclist, broken wheels and broken bones, the last is sad.

I suspect that this fight will continue, see 2a and 2b above. That is good for me, I get to write more. That is bad for the industry. It will become a disaster for Mavic.

For more about this mess see: Mavic announces R-SYS recall, A shattering experience - A post-recall, R-Sys wheel failure, and Mavic responds to wheel collapse article.

CALL FOR ARTICLES: PHENex journal/Revue phenEPS (Physical and Health Education Nexus/phénix Éducation Physique et à la Santé)

Physical Health Education Nex (us)/ (phén) ix Éducation Physique et à la Santé

http://ojs.acadiau.ca/phenex/

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new, on-line, open-access, peer reviewed journal focused on research in physical and health education, PHENex journal/Revue phenEPS (Physical and Health Education Nexus/phénix Éducation Physique et à la Santé). Published in Canada, this journal accepts submissions from researchers in physical and health education from around the globe. We invite you to visit the PHENex/phenEPS site at

http://ojs.acadiau.ca/phenex/.

PHEnex/phenEPS publishes empirical, theoretical, and methodological research, and position papers, as well as reviews and critical essays by Canadian and International authors. Research methodologies may be quantitative, qualitative or mixed method and may use data gathered through historical analysis, surveys, fieldwork, action research, participant observation, content analysis, simulations or experience. Articles most appropriate for PHEnex focus on pedagogical, social, cultural, philosophical, psychological, historical, sociological or management issues in physical education, health, dance, recreation, or leisure studies.

Articles may be submitted in English or in French. Abstracts will be translated to appear in both French and English.

If you are interested in submitting to this journal -

Click on About the Journal (http://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/about) for the journal's submission and open access policies.

Find Author Guidelines at: http://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.

Authors need to register (http://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/user/register) with the journal prior to submitting.

If already registered, simply log in (http://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/login) and begin the 5 step process.

Ellen Singleton, Ph.D. Pierre Boudreau, Ph.D. Susan Markham Starr, Ph.D.

English Editor Éditeur francophone
Managing Editor

Nevada family settles lawsuit over death of son swept off Nevada chair lift by Avalanche

A Las Vegas Nevada family settled their lawsuit against the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort. Other defendants named in the suit were Lee Canyon Ski Lifts, Lee Canyon Ski Corp. (the corporate entities that owns the resort) and several employees of the resort. No information has been released on the amount paid or other issues in the settlement.

The victim was 13 years old and sitting on a ski lift at the resort when he was swept away by the avalanche. It took 6 hours to recover his body. The US Forest Service investigated the death and found several safety violations on the part of the resort. The resort has hired avalanche experts, located a weather station at the top of the mountain and purchased a 40 mm canon for control work.

For more information about the settlement see Las Vegas family, resort settle avalanche death suit

Satellite phones are not enough, now anyone can “phone home”

A Nepali telecom company plans to place mobile phone towers at four places around Mt. Everest so you can use your mobile phone about anywhere on the peak. The coverage planned will allow cell phone calls from the summit of Mt. Everest. The work is expected to be completed this year.

I heard Sir Edmund Hilliary, the first person to summit Mt. Everest in 1953 say he best conversation he had with his son was when his son called with a satellite phone from the summit of Mt. Everest.

It took seven days for the news of Hilliary's summit to reach England in 1953, now anyone can check on their laundry from the summit of Mt. Everest.

See Mt Everest to get mobile coverage

Dinosaurs are alive and well in Jefferson County Colorado

Too bad that weren't converted into the petroleum they obviously want to support.

After just passing a bill in Colorado to make cycling a little safer, the Jefferson County commissions want to make cycling impossible. Never mind the cost of gas, never mind the environmental issues, never mind the exercise benefits; cars come first with these ancient relics.

Bicycle Colorado is reporting on its website Possible Bike Ban on Horizon - Can they really do this?! the Jefferson County commissioners are requesting a state law that would allow counties to ban cyclists from roads of their choice. Effectively anyplace that anyone had a commissioner's ear in the state of Colorado could ban bicycles from "their" roads.

What can you do?

1. Join Bicycle Colorado. It's only $30 a year. Spend more money and get socks!

2. Sign up for Bicycle Colorado's emails about the issue. They're not bad; at least you can read them and feel like your money is doing something.

3. Find out who your legislators are if you live in Colorado and let them know you are opposed to any proposal to ban vehicles in Colorado, bikes or cars. If you don't contact the governor and tell him you ride a bike in Colorado when you visit and you visit often, if you do.

Here is the insane thing. You can't ride your bike home on certain roads if this bill passes because bikes would no longer be vehicles, but you can probably still get arrested for BUI (Bicycling under the influence.) Yes Mary, at least two people have lost their driver's license in this state because a drunk bicyclist is dangerous. They might ride into a shrub or a telephone pole and that is……well funny actually.

As much as you may like dinosaurs, sometimes they should be converted into petroleum. That is why it is called fossil fuel.

Duh – Sloshing your drink is dumb

Rafting drunk is dumber and a crime.

The Oregon Court of appeals is a violation of state boating laws in Oregon. The court decided that a raft is covered by the laws regulating boating. The defense argued that a raft was not a boat……… There was also an argument made that the drunk defendant did not have control of the raft at the time he was intoxicated, which in all honesty could be argued about whitewater rafting all the time.

See Court: River rats can't legally raft drunk

But still…..

Continuing Legal Disaster with the New BSA Annual Health and Medical Record

Normally when the media, volunteers and in some cases lawyers get involved in an issue things get better. However there is the old adage that it will always get worse before it gets better, which seems to be the rule with the new BSA Annual Health and Medical Record.

I first wrote about the BSA Annual Health and Medical Record in New BSA Medical Form is a Disaster. The second article I wrote is Response to Comments on the New BSA Medical Form. Here is the third.

The BSA attempted to answer some questions about the Annual Health and Medical Record at a FAQ website. Frequently Asked Questions Concerning the Annual Health and Medical Record. This article will try and clarify some mistakes the site makes.

There are some great sections and answers on the FAQ page. The answer "Q. Do I really need to explain everything about myself or my child, such as learning disabilities or depression? I don't want myself or my child to be treated differently" Is very good. I was working at a summer camp and visiting the rifle range when a youth stood up with a loaded rifle. His parents had decided not to notify us of medication issues.

However in this day and age no one should have any social security number on any document. Health care will never be withheld for lack of a social security number.

Q. Why do I need to put my child's or my own social security number on the record?
A. It is your choice as to whether you fill in this number; however, in many states, medical care cannot be rendered without it.

The part of the form that is receiving the most news coverage is the new height and weight requirements. In effect the requirements ignore generally accepted medical research and are going to severely restrict Scouting. The FAQ restates that position.

Q. Our camp is at least 30 minutes from the local hospital by ambulance or EMS. Does this mean that we automatically have to meet the height/weight requirements for all activities at the camp?
A. While response time for basic or advanced life support should be a consideration for a camp's emergency action plan, it is not the record's intent. If your travels by foot, bicycle, horseback, afloat, or whatever the mode of transportation take you more than 30 minutes off of an accessible roadway where in an emergency vehicle can reach you, you will need to meet the height/weight requirements.

The great comments about this part of the form are that most employees of the BSA national office supposedly won't make the cut also.

Even worse, the requirements are based on a Body Mass Index (BMI) for men. Exploring has been coed since the 1970's and Venturing since the 1990's.

Lawsuit filed over fatality on inflatable kayak trip on Rogue River

In June of last year a women in a kayaking class drowned on the Rogue River. Cynthia Lee Von Tungeln was on a trip with Echo River Trips and running Picket Fence in the Blossom Bar rapids. She hit a rock and flipped the inflatable kayak. She was found wrapped around a rock. It took several weeks for the river to release her body so she her body could be recovered. Many accounts of the accident focused on the fact the woman's body could not be recovered and that others on the river might see her.

According the article, the family of the deceased, are claiming the defendant where negligent in providing a kayak and inadequate instruction. (?) The defendant was also negligent in allowing and encouraging "her to proceed through dangerous rapids without warning." See Family of kayaker who drowned on Oregon River seeks $4 million

It is sad that someone died having fun. But for many of us, that is the very nature of fun for us, pushing our limits, wanting to grow, or feeling the adrenalin surge. See Jon Heshka and the Right of the Individual to Die Doing What We Love and Adrenalin Junkie, Death Wish or Living Life to the Absolute Fullest.

There are several issues with the claims the plaintiff is making. First the deceased was in the inflatable kayak with another woman. She survived. This will throw in a lot of issues about how bad the rapid really was. The training and the instructions were adequate if one person survived the identical accident. I.e. if one person received the exact same instructions then the differences in the survival and the fatality were one person listened and did what she was told and the other did not. Or the deceased had an unknown or unreported issue that increased the chance that she would not survive.

Another issue is the trip was 34 miles long and the plaintiff had to have been in the inflatable kayak for a while. At some point she assumed the risk of the activity.

Both of these defenses would be in addition to any release the deceased might have signed prior to the trip. Oregon law is fairly solid on supporting releases, if they are properly written.

For additional articles about the accident see Rafters may see body that cannot be recovered and Body recovered from rapids.

CELEBRATING OUR 120 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW BRAND

Cassin comes to the US

This year marks the 120th anniversary of CAMP Technical Adventure Equipment. The company remains family owned and operated from its headquarters based in the small town of Premana situated in the pre-Alps of Northern Italy. It was here that the great grandfathers of the current management created the first ice axes and crampons for the Italian military. They named their company after their home, Construzione Articoli Montagna Premana, which translates to Articles for Mountaineering Made in Premana. The history of CAMP is rich with famous first ascents, leading product innovations and a dedication to the alpine realm.

CAMP is well known as the leader in lightweight technical adventure equipment with the lightest gear in nearly every category we offer. We are also known for the breadth of our product line. Whether you are a beginning mountaineer on your first foray on Mount Hood or an experienced mountain guide, CAMP has the equipment you need.

In 1997, CAMP acquired another historic Italian climbing company, Cassin. The company was started in 1947 by another Italian and one of the most accomplished climbers of all time, Ricardo Cassin. Since acquiring the company, CAMP has developed Cassin into a premier and highly technical climbing brand. In keeping with the technical reputation of Cassin, the two categories that will be introduced to the US market in 2010 are Big Wall/Aid Climbing equipment and Technical Ice products. What you can expect from CAMP are upgrades to products in nearly every category including the Nano 23 lightweight carabiner and the award-winning new Stratos harness which blends lightweight and functionality in a way never before achieved.

CAMP USA once again invites you to experience our brands in booth #3000 at the 2009 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. Our new collateral materials will be available and our entire product line will be on display in a new, more interactive way. We are contacting you today to arrange appointments with our experienced and knowledgeable staff.

E-mail a request for an appointment to Tommy Knoll (tommy@camp-usa.com) or call 720-932-779 to set an appointment.

Best Regards,

Tommy Knoll – Managing Director

Commercial drowning on the American River in California

It is being reported that a 20 year old man died of a foot entrapment while training to be a whitewater rafting guide. The victim was in a boat on the South Fork of the American River when the boat tipped or flipped and the victim was thrown in the water. The boat had hit Gunsight (rock) in Troublemaker rapid. The victim got lodged 70 yards downriver of the accident.

For more details see Man drowns rafting American River

A silent auction will be set for Andy Knapp Memorial Fund: A long time fixture and icon in the outdoor industry.

Numerous sources have reported the death of Andy Knapp, an icon in the outdoor industry. A silent action is being held to help defray some of the medical expenses Andy incurred.

Midwest Mountaineering, Andy's employer has information about the Bell canoe and the fund on their website.

A Celebration of Life Party will be held July 17^th for Andy at the Cedar Cultural Center at 8:00 PM in Minneapolis, MN.

The Alpine Club of Canada’s Alpine Journal now Digital

The Alpine Club of Canada has published its Alpine Journal on a DVD. Every issue for 100 years is now available for research or just reading. EverUpward: A Century of Canadian Alpine Journals
includes the articles and the photographs from the journal.

Researching a climb can always be a tedious and ultimately information lacking experience. The information is out there, but finding it is impossible and then getting your hands on it is even worse. Of course this lack of information can also be part of the reason to do some climbs, but for those of you looking for information, this is a great resource.

EverUpward is available for purchase through the Alpine Club of Canada's online store.

Happy Fourth of July

UIAA Medical Commission provides advice on contraception at altitude

OK, maybe the headlines were a little titillating or confusing, but there are real issues with climbing and drugs. As the article describes there are issues with any drug at altitude. Additionally some women take contraception to control the effects of menstruation cycle while they are climbing

No matter how titillating the medical issues and need for the article is real.

See Medical Commission gives advice on contraception at altitude. You can read the actual article at Contraception and Period Control at Altitude