Quote: (Originally Posted by
Mary)
The current argument in my family is which is more dangerous, diving CCR or paragliding (my sister's sport of choice).
Last summer I was halfway up a mountain when some random paragliding club offered me a lift down to bottom. I took the chance, and left my girlfriend to walk down.
It was brilliant. If I couldn't dive then I would consider taking up paragliding (although not at the moment as one dangerous and expensive sport is enough). However, back at work it turns out that my boss lost a couple of friends a few years back when their canopy collapsed. This is obviously just anecdotal evidence and not statistically significant, but my gut feel is that paragliding is more dangerous.
Mind you, the most dangerous sport in the UK (in terms of fatalities per participant) is actually fishing. Mainly because some people have too many beers and fall overboard, often when having a widdle. Horse riding comes in at number three.
On the OC / CC debate, I think that in the UK, OC is safer to 20m. CC is safer below 40m. Between 20m and 40m is a grey area.
Janos