I’ve been the first responder to faaaaaaaaar too many “cliff dives” than anyone would consider my fair share – and I’m not an EMT, I’m just frequently there for bad times. Sudden stops & big drops, that’s what mother nature’s race tracks have as far as run off.
The last one was a 70’ steep drop with a broken leg, dislocated hip & several broken ribs. I came up on this by seeing a motorcycle parked at a cliff. I knew there wasn’t anything but a big drop there. I looked down, didn’t see anything and called out. Still out of view I heard a guy call back that they needed emergency response. I set that in motion and then made my way down there. Guy had come to a stop propped up by his broken leg from another 50+ foot drop and his Ducati was about 20’ above him in a tree.
Took myself and several EMT’s a good hour+ to get him out on a board with ropes and chainsaws (for shrubs/small trees that impeded our ascent).
What sticks with me is if he was riding alone, he’d have gone unnoticed until a forest creature got hungry…
