Society

More adventurers hurt, push limits

By Jiang Xueqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-05 07:38

A lack of supervision also poses a serious problem, according to experts from the industry.

Some well-known outdoor sports forums like Lvye and Sanfo have their basic requirements for tour leaders, including how many years of hiking experience are needed and requirements about the places leaders have visited, whether they know how to use sports gear, and whether they have received medical training.

A growing number of outdoor sports activities, however, are organized by individuals on all kinds of Internet sports forums. Many organizers are either inexperienced or unable to manage risks. As a result, a large number of outdoor accidents happen because of negligence on the part of organizers, said Yan of Sanfo Tigo Sports Management.

For example, it is impossible for the administrators of the forums to fact-check each post, although they can issue a statement to remind all visitors to guard against such things or even delete posts that do not provide the necessary information, such as detailed explanations of the route and evaluation of the challenges.

To avoid deletion of their posts, some organizers just leave messages on the forum, saying they plan to go mountain hiking at the weekend and asking people who are interested to talk to them via instant messenger. Such posts are sure to fall out of the circle of supervision, Yan said.

In June 2010, a group of 10 netizens attended a hiking trip organized by the administrator of Tiegao Outdoor Online Forum. They went to the Xiate ancient trail in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The trail, which is surrounded by glaciers and cliffs, is highly dangerous and rarely visited by travelers except for the most adventurous.

While they were trying to cross the Muzat River by walking in line and holding the backpack of the person in front, a 41-year-old female team member was swept downstream by rushing torrents and dragged the others into the river. She and a 28-year-old hiker drowned.

The tour leader was later sued for not being fully prepared for the trip and failing to foresee its intensity and dangers, but the court found him not guilty because he had warned attendees about the possible risks of the trip, purchased essential rescue equipment, and made all efforts to rescue his team members.

"Most of the previous cases found the tour leaders not guilty for two reasons: First, they did not make a profit through the activities, and, second, they did not mean for the tragedy to happen," said Lv Zhonghong, captain of the Lvye Rescue Team. "But personally I think the court should first make a judgment about whether the accident could have been avoided. If a tour leader pitches camp in a river course and his team is later hit by a flood, he should be held responsible because the danger could have been avoided if he had more experience."

At present, there are no regulations forcing outdoor sports instructors to get a certificate before teaching or leading group activities. The Chinese Mountaineering Association offers certified professional training, although it is not mandatory. By March 21, only 861 outdoor sports instructors, 60 outward-bound trainers and 18 rock-climbing instructors had received certificates issued by the association.

"Our country is planning to list mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing and outdoor sports as highly dangerous programs," said Ci Luo of the association. "A series of regulations will be made for these programs to standardize the organizers, activities and sports fields. By that time, it will be illegal for unqualified clubs and corporations to organize such activities."