Safety-Conscious Design of Terrain Park Jumps: Ethical Issues and Online Software

Abstract

Many snowsport resorts now have terrain parks and decades-long epidemiological evidence correlates terrain park use with injuries. Engineering design of jumps could reduce injuries by limiting equivalent fall heights, which are proportional to dissipated landing impact energy. No evidence refutes making terrain park jumps safer in this way. We discuss case studies illustrating that large equivalent fall heights are significant factors in traumatic injuries on terrain park jumps. We argue that it is the ethical responsibility of engineers to ensure the safety, health, and welfare of the public when performing and presenting research on snowsport safety. Developing standards and adopting design tools for builders can make jumps safer. To reduce injuries, we introduce an online tool that can evaluate existing jumps as well as design jump profiles with safer equivalent fall heights.