My concern is not the amount of risk, but that the amount of risk is unknown.
Someone who has done a lot of skiing / parachuting can estimate well the risks of offtrack skiing and base jumping, plus lots of people have done it before and can inform you, plus the technology used (skiis / parachutes) have very long track records and known performance.
(Mountain biking doesn't seem to be in the same category, but whatever.)
> It's not too different from people testing the first hot air balloons, planes or helicopters (albeit much less risky, still).
> My concern is not the amount of risk, but that the amount of risk is unknown.
It's not really unknown: it's really high and you better hope you don't mess up or you're dead/maimed. Sure here the “don't mess up“ happens mostly at design/build time instead of during the execution, but at the end of the day you're risking your life hoping you're not making a mistake. That's definitely not for everyone.
Someone who has done a lot of skiing / parachuting can estimate well the risks of offtrack skiing and base jumping, plus lots of people have done it before and can inform you, plus the technology used (skiis / parachutes) have very long track records and known performance.
(Mountain biking doesn't seem to be in the same category, but whatever.)
> It's not too different from people testing the first hot air balloons, planes or helicopters (albeit much less risky, still).
Yes, good analogies.