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.

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 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.

In a Daily Post article following an investigation in to tombstoning in North Wales, a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said…

“Go to a place where it’s safe.
“Local knowledge and experience is needed.
“Heed the warnings along the coast, piers and jetties.
“If you see anyone who is at risk in the sea or deep water you should call 999.”

In my opinion this is the kind of approach I think will work better. The adrenaline junkie character doesn’t like being told they shouldn’t do something because someone else (who probably isn’t an adrenaline junkie) thinks it’s dangerous. It’s that feeling that makes them want to try it in the first place.

But (unsurprisingly) not even your free-falling, base-jumping, solo-climbing, stuntman WANTS to be hurt.

They want to get to that fine line where they get their buzz, but don’t get hurt.

See the Daily Post for the full article.

More information regarding one of the incidents on the 11th May has been published.

Mr Andrews, a builder from Plymouth, leapt off cliffs at Sharrow Beach in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, on Sunday.

He downed six vodkas in a nearby pub to pluck up the courage to jump, then ignored coastguards who saw him on the cliff top and warned him to keep away.

A fast-ebbing tide had reduced the sea to a depth of just 3ft and he landed on sharp rocks, breaking his neck and damaging his spine in front of his horrified girlfriend Katie Hart, 22.

This is a truly terrible outcome for a day that started with people just having fun; and many more people could get injured if they don’t take the risks involved seriously. Trying my best not to sound insensitive, the warnings were there to try and avoid this kind of accident, but they were overlooked.

There are many comments on the article that give a good indication of public reaction to such events.

See the Daily Mail for full details.

This weekend it seemed everyone rushed to the coast to soak up some rays and have some fun. But tombstoning is already back in the news after two people hurt themselves in separate incidents yesterday.

BBC News: Man injured in ‘tombstoning dive’

We have briefly mentioned the dangers of diving or jumping off piers, and if you feel the urge to do so you really should check the water depth before you go for it. The safety section will have more information on the dangers of piers very soon.

BBC News: Man hurt in ‘tombstoning’ plunge

Jumping in to the sea from cliffs can be very dangerous. But you can make it much safer with just a bit of preparation. Checking the water below is a must otherwise you have no idea what you are jumping in to.

Dave Scullion, from Brixham Coastguard says…

Tombstoning is madness whichever way you look at it. An individual has no real idea what’s under the water they are jumping in and the tidal flows alter the depth of water dramatically.

I can fully understand his point of view; the more people he can deter from tombstoning, the less likely an accident is. But I disagree with the detail. An individual can have a very real idea what’s under the water they are jumping in, if they just check it out first.