It is hard to come across a person, regardless of his interest in snowboarding, who has not heard of Shaun White. A two-time Olympic gold medalist for the United States and winner of nearly every snowboard half-pipe and slopestyle competition, he is in a class of his own. What most people do not know is that leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, there was one person who beat him on seven different occasions and stood a chance to steal his gold medal. His name is Kevin Pearce, and 53 days before the Olympics, during a training run down a half-pipe in Park City, Utah, he sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). He didn’t leave the hospital until May 2013; he will never compete again, and he continues to suffer from the aftereffects of his injury.

Pearce is considered one of the lucky ones in the extreme sports world, where concussions and TBIs are occurring at such an increasingly alarming rate that they are no longer an anomaly but the norm. While viewers, and undoubtedly athletes, are drawn to the sport for its daredevil nature and need to push the limits of physics and the human body, there is a point at which we need to re-evaluate where extreme sports are heading.

Speaking specifically about snowboard/ski half-pipe, competition ramps increased from 10-12 feet in height during the 1980s and early 1990s to 18 feet in 2001 and finally to their mammoth size of 22 feet in 2009. With these 22-foot half-pipes, athletes at the top of the ranks are expected to average another 18 feet in the air with each jump out of the pipe while performing multiple rotations. Helmets of the highest caliber cease to be effective at greater than around 30 feet, and even at lower heights, serious head injuries are still possible. Who is to say that once athletes have mastered the 22-foot half-pipes, there will not be a push to increase the challenge?

In the 1990s, Formula One racing officials noticed an alarming number of deadly accidents due to increased car speeds and a lack of human drivers’ ability to react at these speeds. In response, limits were imposed on engine types and capacities. While there was opposition, it has clearly made Formula One no less challenging or entertaining while forcing drivers to think strategically and not to just rely on outright speed.

In addition to this incessant need to create bigger jumps and structures to force longer airtimes and tricks, there is also the recent inclusion of these extreme sports into the prestigious Olympic ranks and a consequent increase in interest in the sport. Bigger jumps, in combination with increasing popularity among novice athletes without the funds for proper safety equipment, could create serious safety issues. At this point, athletes are beyond just needing helmets. There are foam pits and air bags at the end of jumps to perfect tricks, and even then, athletes are still experiencing life-threatening head injuries.

At any rate, extreme sport athletes are not going to stop, and no one has the right to tell them that their lives are worth more than the challenge and adrenaline that they derive from their sport. One issue that still exists is the aftermath of these inevitable injuries. For example, a large percentage of extreme sport athletes do not have any of the necessary insurance or personal funds to cover hospital bills, let alone the rehabilitation required for a TBI injury. When Sarah Burke, a half-pipe skier, crashed during practice on Jan. 10, 2012 and suffered a TBI, she was immediately rushed to the University of Utah Hospital where unfortunately, she died nine days later. Her family was left with a medical bill of half a million dollars. Obviously, with health care reforms being overhauled, changes will be made in the next few years, but it still will not be a complete solution.

With the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics drawing near, athletes are undoubtedly stepping up their training, pushing their limits and looking to master the next biggest trick, especially in snowboarding. Their performances will be exhilarating, with thousands looking forward to the inaugural snowboard, slopestyle and ski superpipe events. However, it will be hard to forget that Burke, the one who is the reason ski superpipe is in the Olympics, will only be there in spirit, and Pearce will only be watching from the sidelines. How many more will it take to realize that sometimes even the sky has a limit?