tombstoning.com

Rosie Allan-Jones has posted a very interesting article in The Independent, about a perfectly sober and careful visit to the coast, still ending in disaster. The danger here (as with the Durdle Door incident nearly a year ago) was the height of the jump. A quick search on YouTube for ‘tombstoning foot‘ shows that people are jumping from higher and higher.

In previous posts and when we’ve had the chance to talk to the media, we have always stressed the point that you should check water depth before jumping. A massive percentage of the accidents recorded whilst tombstoning have been as a result of people hitting the seafloor.

However, the competitive nature of the human-being has pushed tombstoning to heights that are dangerous no matter how much water lies below. Entering the water properly becomes crucial the higher you go (see the safety section) and this skill only comes with practice.

It’s very easy to analyse an article and pick holes in people’s thought processes or actions, long after they were looking down at the water from 90ft above. And that is largely unfair as most people will concede they have been in situations they haven’t felt completely comfortable, but have been pushed by their peers. But in an attempt to draw some safety advice from the article there are a few things that should be highlighted.

Take your time when increasing the height of your jump
Working your way up to higher jumps is an important learning process. Practice improves your technique and first-hand experience gained is essential.

Don’t let others push you out of your comfort zone
Jumping from a height someone else has successfully managed, but you are not feeling confident about will lead to mistakes. Panic takes over from calculated thought and you are more likely to enter the water badly. While you will get away with this below 40ft, as you go higher the water becomes much less forgiving.

Practice, practice, practice
The fact remains that in the article a boy had been doing it since he was 10 and hadn’t hurt himself. Nowhere in the article does it state the previous experience of the author, so it’s unfair to blame a lack of it on the accident; but practice and personal experience is the key to safer tombstoning.

See the full article at The Independent.

When ‘The Times’ newspaper came to interview us and take part in some tombstoning, we left the camera behind and focused on making sure everyone stayed safe. After all, they had brought a professional photographer to capture the moment. These pictures have been made available by the newspaper and were taken by Russell Sachs.

I was hoping to add a comment to the timesonline article, but couldn’t succinctly fit it in 300 characters. The Lulworth Estate has recently posted on the article and I am keen to offer a personal response.

Comment on timesonline:

This article is inaccurate. Stair Hole is NOT a safe place to
tombstone. There are many rocks just under the surface of and it is shallow. It is DANGEROUS on this coast and we hope there will not be an increase in deaths and serious injuries as a result of irresponsible newspaper articles.
The Lulworth Estate, Lulworth Cove, UK

I fully agree that Stair Hole can be a dangerous place. Some of the examples used on tombstoning.com clearly show rocks that are just below the surface at higher tides, hiding from un-prepared visitors to the area. This article shouldn’t be seen as a recommendation to jump from Stair Hole, making the assumption it is always safe; more an example of how tombstoning can be made safer by taking the necessary precautions.

I believe drawing attention to tombstoning and trying to educate people about the measures they need to take to improve safety is a better approach than trying to ban them from doing it; as with many other things in our society, banning something increases its profile and attracts the more rebellious to take part.

I feel incredibly privileged to have Stair Hole and Lulworth Cove so close to my doorstep, as I consider the Jurassic Coast some of the most beautiful in the country.
And through years of enjoying the area I feel confident in what is achievable on any given day, factoring in weather, tide depth, sea current etc.

My hope for the article was an attempt to promote all the necessary precautions that can make tombstoning as safe an activity as possible, so more people can enjoy the coast in a way the want to.

Regards,
Dan

The tombstoning feature penned by Tom Whipple when he joined us just over 3 weeks ago, has been printed in today’s paper and published on their website along with video of the day.

See the timesonline article.

A spokeswoman for Brixham Coastguard said the 15-year-old local boy had apparently jumped from the roof of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Madeira Road on the Hoe, and plunged 60 feet into just three feet of water.

Even on a neap tide at Plymouth, when the difference between high and low tide is the least, the variation can be as much as 2.5 metres. (You can check the current tidal variation at Plymouth using the Easytide website.)

In this instance, the water depth and tide may not have been checked by the group before they started jumping; it may have appeared safe to begin with, but they probably didn’t realise conditions were changing. This is when you have to be at your most vigilant; familiarity often brings with it a lack of respect for the possible dangers.

The changing tide means you should treat every jump, with the thought and awareness it deserves. We often leave Stair Hole up to 2 hours after high tide, when the top jumps are out of bounds due to water depth. There is always a part of you wanting to do one more jump and that last jump could be just that.

See the full article on the thisisplymouth.co.uk.

It seems like any water based accident these days has some connection with tombstoning. The Portsmouth News decided that Keith Appleton’s freak accident last April involving rocks and water was close enough to send another warning out about tombstoning dangers.

Last April Keith, 19, was running into the sea with friends when he fell and hit his head in the shallow water, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.

While I think people should be made aware of the risks involved, tagging tombstoning to any article about people being hurt near the sea is crazy.

See the full article, titled “Tombstoning: It beggars belief, says mum Kim”

I was contacted about five weeks ago by a journalist from The Times who was interested in writing a piece on tombstoning. This had happened a few times before, but this time was different; he wanted to meet us and have a go. This sounded like a great idea, and from the initial conversation it sounded like it would be a well balanced article focusing on the fun you can have when tombstoning safely.

So Tom Whipple caught the train from London to Bournemouth, along with a video journalist (Ariadne Zanella) who was going to be documenting the day and creating a piece for TimesOnline. We were also meeting a photographer (Russell Sachs) at Stair Hole who would be capturing the day in pictures.

It was a fantastic day; sunny with maybe a little too much wind, but crucially the tide was at its highest while we were there. This allowed us to show Tom nearly all the jumping spots we use, and slowly build his confidence to the highest point on the day, 40ft!

Unfortunately we couldn’t go higher due to the choppy sea varying the water depth so much below us. But a 40ft jump from someone on their first day (having researched all the horror stories in the media) was a great result. I’m sure Tom felt safe at all times, and look forward to seeing the finished article in The Times newspaper and on the TimesOnline website.

Here is one of Russell’s pictures of the 40ft jump, and once the article is completed and ready for print we hope to be able to show more on the site. The Times are planning to release the article this summer.

We had some friends visit us from London on the weekend, and they were very keen to join us for some tombstoning on the Saturday. The water depth wasn’t really in our favour as the only time we could make it down there was just after low tide. This did give us the chance to show them the ropes from smaller jumps though and after an hour or so the water was deep enough to start jumping from higher.

We also met a few of the guys from Jurassic Coast Kayak Tours who were visiting Stair Hole and taking part in some Coasteering at the same time. If you are interested in seeing the Jurrasic Coast up close then I highly recommend you check them out and book yourself a tour.

We have been contacted a few times in the past by TV, film or other media companies and organisations that are working on pieces regarding tombstoning and want our input. I had a brief slot on the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast Show towards the end of last summer, along with Nick Biddlecombe, discussing the dangers and what we (my friends and I) were doing as a group to mitigate those risks as much as possible when we were tombstoning.

We have recently been contacted by a writer for a well known and respected news site, who is drafting an article regarding this ‘craze’ and wanted to be better informed before starting the piece. The thing that really stood out though, was this person wanted to join us for a day and take part in tombstoning to see how we prepare, check the area and finally, get jumping.

Understanding that people who tombstone aren’t idiots, but some idiots tombstone, was a refreshing change and we can’t wait to show someone new the experience and thrill we get tombstoning.

Photos and hopefully some video will be up shortly after the event, along with a write-up of how the day went.

A 14-year-old boy was in hospital last night with suspected spinal injuries after falling on to rocks while tombstoning.

See dailymail.co.uk.