Youth is wasted on the young

A 16-year-old Minnesotan drove his snowmobile off a precipice in Canada down a 1500-ft., 50-to-60-degree decline. (Just to refresh your knowledge of geometry, 90 degrees is straight down.)

The accident happened Thursday when Bruce and Adam Bartie, along with family friend Brian Axdahl, were snowmobiling in the Keystone Mountain area. Adam said he was exploring the area when he went through some trees and started sliding very fast. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Adam drove his snowmobile off a 1,500-foot bluff. Adam said it was more like a slope of perhaps 900 feet.

"I was in control for most of the way," he said.

I love that statement, uttered as the hapless yet still-in-one-piece youth was wheeled through the Minneapolis airport. My first thought was, "Yeah right, let's see what he says when Dad gets hold of him." Then I read it again and realized his father -- an orthopedic surgeon -- was with him (though not on the same snowmobile). His father dug him out, splinted his leg, started a fire, and kept the kid awake all night with requests to wiggle his toes. One of his partners in the orthopedic practice fixed the kid's leg, using a metal screw. All's well that ends well, huh?