The string of tragic action sports deaths in Tahoe has the community understandably rattled and wondering what to do. These events have inspired a coalition of locals to organize an event at the Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema with the focus on helping guide parents through the process of evaluating the high-risk action sports climate in Lake Tahoe.
“We want parents to develop their own sense of awareness of risk and help transfer that awareness to their kids,” said Dr. Robb Gaffney, psychiatrist and author of Squallywood, who will present with a 30-minute discussion at the event.
Gaffney helped form the coalition, called the Go Bigger Coalition, which is behind the event. The GBC aims to offer insights into the often sexy, and sometimes subtle outside influences, that sway us toward disproportionally high-risk situations. It also has the goal of giving parents and children the tools, knowledge, and inspiration to make well-informed decisions not only about how they participate in sports but what is most meaningful to them.
The death of action sports star Erik Roner in September during a skydiving performance at Squaw Valley was the catalyst to action for the Art Haus event, but Gaffney points out that the concern has been around for a long time, being further fueled by each tragedy. The goal is to get parents knowledgeable and thinking about risk and their options from the start.
“We want to go into parenting strategies to try and decrease risk from the beginning of life, and we aren’t just looking at risk from action sports, but all sports that are available in Tahoe,” Gaffney said.
Supplementing Gaffney’s presentation will be short insights from a variety of GBC members. These include John Walsh, former US Ski Team athlete and Squaw Valley ski coach; heads of Squaw Big Mountain and Freestyle Ski Teams, Alenka Vrecek and Jason Dobbs, and local fire chief Alan Whisler. Guest speaker Tamara McKinney, a World Cup skiing champion, will also share some thoughts, plus additional speakers.
Additionally, a five minute video made by Tahoe kids will be presented before a 45 minute panel discussion with a Q&A will close the night.
“By the end of the night, we hope to help parents understand the various underlying forces that effect their children’s decision-making in the sports they do,” Gaffney said, who also founded the website sportgevity.com in 2012 to help athletes make their sports last as lifelong endeavors.
The GBC plans to use this event as a jumping off point for other events in the future. They would like to become involved with the schools, though no plans are yet set. And although the roots of the discussion are of a most serious nature, the coalition aims to walk the fine line of supporting athletic progression and the excellent opportunities Tahoe provides while staying as safe as possible.
“I am not coming from a place of squelching fun,” Gaffney said, who has been featured in several ski films. “We want to motivate people to take action.”
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