The traumatic injury to 22-year-old Vermont snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, has a lot of eyes focusing on the snowboarding world right now. While Pearce was attempting a difficult trick only the top riders do some say it is a shocking reminder that this is a sport that comes with inherent risks.

Burton Snowboards founder, Jake Carpenter, calls the news of Pearce’s fall and brain injury “disturbing.” Carpenter has known Pearce since he was a child. He says Pearce was working on a half-pipe run that could have won him the gold medal in the 2010 Olympics.

“The way the sport has progressed and the tricks that they’re doing and the amplitude and the speed you know every time they take off that wall it’s a leap of faith and it just didn’t come up right for him,” Carpenter adds.

Even for riders who are not attempting major leaps off the halfpipe the sport can be dangerous. Snowboard blogger Luke Stafford found video of a teenager breaking his wrist at a local ski resort by typing “snowboarding Vermont” into the ”Search” box on YouTube.

“You know they weren’t laughing about it but they were kind of taking it lightly and it prompted me to write a post about just how serious this sport is,” says Stafford.

His latest post includes an X-ray image of his own arm after he broke it several years ago. He reminds other boarders to wear a helmet, respect the mountain, and listen to their inner-voice if something seems to dangerous. Stafford says it is also important for riders to know terrain park etiquette and safety. Parks are becoming more common at ski resorts are more accessible to boarders and skiers alike.

“There are people who just come into the terrain parks without knowing the park etiquette and the responsibility code and they think they can just jump on a rail or huck themselves of a jump without having the proper skills and knowledge of how to fall safely,” says Stafford.

Even that knowledge sometimes is not enough. Pearce is considered one of the best snowboarders in the world and was doing everything right when he fell.

“It’s that same determination and that same love of the sport that got him to where he was that will get him through all this,” says Carpenter.

Carpenter says all the well-wishes from fans are helping too. Though he is still in critical condition Pearce’s condition seems to be improving. Carpenter says Pearce is no longer on a respirator and he has moved his arms.

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