After watching the 2022 Beijing Olympics and seeing all of the winter sports, I have decided to rank the sports by how scary and dangerous they are. The Olympic Committee has fifteen recognized winter sports, with some having subcategories. For simplicity, I have ranked the overall name of each sport and considered difficulty, danger, and fear as factors in the ranking. So, without further ado, here is my ranking of the winter Olympic sports from least to most terrifying.

15. Curling
Honestly, this sport seems to be the most chill (pun intended) and something that anyone could do for fun on the weekend. The only way you could possibly be injured is if you trip on the ice. That’s it.

14. Ice hockey
You’re probably wondering why ice hockey, a sport notorious for major injury, is so far down on this list, but in comparison to the rest of the list, it’s one of the least terrifying. At least hockey gives you safety gear beyond a helmet. You have layers of protection between yourself and the ice and all harm comes from other people, so it can be relatively controlled.

13. Speed skating
Speed skating is basically running track but on skates. While there is room to slip, it isn’t a long fall and there aren’t any flips involved. Speed skating is competing against the clock rather than against an entire ice rink full of competitors. So there isn’t any risk of being pushed down or trampled either.

12. Short track speed skating
Short track is more dangerous than just regular speed skating because athletes are competing in a race against other athletes on the same track. It’s athlete versus athlete instead of trying to beat a certain time. There’s more risk of injury due to collisions, but again, said injuries aren’t as bad as in the sports further on this list.

11. Figure skating
Figure skating, while dangerous, isn’t as deadly as the other sports. The sport is in a controlled indoor environment where the athlete has almost total control over their body and equipment. The jumps are what scare me the most because if you fall there’s nothing between you and the ice, but the injuries aren’t as bad as other sports.

10. Snowboarding
Snowboarding actually looks like a lot of fun and something that I would enjoy competing in. While the flips and tricks are dangerous and can lead to injury, I feel that the board is much easier to control than skis.

9. Cross-country skiing
There are athletes that have been chased by bears while practicing cross-country skiing. At this past Olympics, one athlete experienced some major discomfort after having some of his more sensitive body parts completely frozen. Still, there aren’t any major jumps or flips, making cross-country skiing less dangerous to me.

8. Biathlon
Biathlon, for those like me who didn’t know what this sport was at first, is a cross-country skiing race interrupted by a rifle shooting competition and then finished with the back half of the skiing race. It’s extremely difficult because you need both speed and accuracy. Cross-country skiing, as I’ve already mentioned, isn’t exactly a cakewalk, so adding the shooting aspect makes it even harder and scarier for me.

7. Alpine skiing
This form of skiing involves intense downhill slopes and cutting around sharp angles. One athlete had to be brought off the slopes on a stretcher after falling during a turn. While there aren’t any flips, the speed and angle of skiing isn’t something that I want to experience.

6. Freestyle skiing
Freestyle skiing includes aerials, moguls, half-pipe, slopestyle, and big air. All of which involve jumping, flipping, and nearly dying on skis. While it isn’t as terrifying as ski jumping, freestyle skiing is definitely still scary.

5. Ski jumping
Imagine standing at the top of a 20 story building with two pieces of wood on your feet about to jump over the edge. That’s ski jumping. Skiers can reach speeds in the range of 60 miles per hour going down a thirty-degree slope before launching themselves into the air to basically fly for as long as possible. That’s a nope for me.

4. Nordic combined
In case you weren’t aware, Nordic combined consists of both a ski jumping competition and a cross-country skiing race. As if one sport alone wasn’t hard enough. Ski jumping is terrifying alone, but add in a cross-country ski race and it’s a recipe for disaster. It’s just double the danger.

3. Bobsleigh
This sport has the same concept as luge and skeleton, but the sled is a little nicer. The world record is 125 miles per hour but average speeds are consistently over 90 miles per hour. While the sled itself offers more safety, it also can become a danger if it falls on the athlete. Still a scary sport.

2. Luge
Luge is only slightly less terrifying than the sport if first because you compete feet first instead of head first. Still, you’re going down an ice track on a sled at 90 miles per hour. But at least if you crash you’ll only be wiping out your legs instead of dying from a head collision.

1. Skeleton
Why someone thought putting someone on a sled and sending them head-first down a track was a good idea is beyond me. This sport is terrifying. Athletes can reach a top speed of 81 miles per hour with only a helmet as their protective equipment. There’s a reason it’s called the skeleton: it’s terrifying. You couldn’t pay me to compete in this event.