Experts and operators in the adventure tourism industry watched in horror as a video went viral of a young woman in Brazil plunging to her death this month.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, died after rope-jump instructors tossed her off a bridge without securing her equipment.In the video, Eduarda is lifted into the air by two instructors while a third looks on.She spread her arms wide like an airplane as the men launched her headfirst off a bridge.Eduarda tumbled to her death with no safety ropes attached to her equipment.“It’s just heartbreaking — it didn’t have to happen,” said Ute K.
Finch, general manager of Kapalua Ziplines in Maui, Hawaii.“That’s just sheer negligence.”On the same weekend Eduarda died, 11 skydivers and a pilot were killed in Missouri when their aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff.
In Utah, two BASE jumpers, including one who performed alongside Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, died during a tandem jump.All three fatal accidents occurred within 24 hours last weekend, renewing calls for stricter regulations in an industry that is largely responsible for regulating itself.“It’s all over the map,” said Shannon Stowell, CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, or ATTA, which helps to promote and develop best practices in adventure tourism.“The default is that there are not a lot of specific regulations simply because there’s such a wide variety of activities.”The world of extreme sports and adventure travel has long courted thrill-seeking people looking for experiences that range from the hair-raising to the awe-inspiring.
For some, a weekend camping trip doesn’t offer the same rush as whitewater rafting or zip-lining through a jungle.But with a few exceptions, there are no universal regulations governing adventure tourism or extreme sports.
Some established activities, like skydiving...