Helmets

In the last couple of seasons I have noticed a marked increase in the number of adult skiers and boarders, of all ages, wearing helmets. Are they 'early adopters'? Are we approaching a tipping point? Do subscribers think that in another two or three years we will see a majority of recreational skiers wearing helmets?

Geoff smith

I think that very skier/snowboarder should be forced to wear helmets. I had a really bad fall skiing last year and if it wasnt for my helmet i could have been in a lot of trouble!
After buying a helmet a few years ago i will never go skiing without it again.

In the US now, helmets are the norm for serious adult skiers and boarders. The exception seems to be the one week a year, or a few times a season types. Most children wear helmets. Only some of the teenagers are holding out. The price of cool (brain damage).

Suspected concussions here, are nearly always given a CT scan as it's cheaper than keeping people in for observation. The cost for that visit to the ER (casualty) could top $1500. Even if your insurance covers 90% of that, it still makes a helmet good economic sense.

Helmets are warmer and easier to wear than hats. The modern helmets give no problem with hearing.

It's a no brainer, if you'll excuse the pun.

Trencher

In my experience it's not necessarily what you do on the slopes but the actions of others that convinced me to wear a helmet every time I now go out. I have seen too many novices going too fast and out of control on the pistes to take the chance.

I've always made my kids wear a helmet (being that much smaller they are much more at risk to head injuries from flying skis, poles and boards) and they are now old enough to insist that I follow suit, although I've had a bit of a problem getting one to fit my large 62cm head! Currently awaiting arrival of a new Giro nine-9 MX that I hope will do the job and will be £55 well spent. Fortunately current designs are light and comfortable enough to make them sensible alternative to the traditional woollen hats and other mountain headgear.

A definite "thumbs-up" to helmets and the hundreds of lives they have already saved and thousands to come in the future! Don't hit the slopes without one this winter.

I am totally in agreement with you - there are definately more and more helmets on the slopes.

I have been wearing one for the last couple of years and having seen some of the results of not wearig a helmet my partner (ex pisteur) now also wears one.

Here in the French Pyrenees over the last 3-4 years I have gradually seen more and more people wearing helmets and it tends to be the better skiers that are wearing them. Those that ski regularly, well and occassionally off piste are leading the way.

Children are encouraged to wear them and it appears to be only English kids you see without these days.

I'm pretty sure we will soon see most skiers and boarders wearing them. Those that don't will theoretically be spending less time on the pistes!

Isn't this a little extreme? We seem to live in an increasingly fluffy world, I mean why not wear a helmet while driving a car, playing football, running the 100 metres, there is risk of potential brain damage through injury from any of these.

Has skiing become increasingly more dangerous now compared to 10 or 20 years ago?

Perhaps people that wear helmets think they can go more nutso than they normally would, increasing the risk of injuring themselves or others. I seriously think some of this new safety merchandising causes more problems indirectly than they solve directly.

Who would've thought strapping two long planks to your feet and shoving yourself down a mountain could be dangerous! The nerve of nature!

james_gray wrote:Isn't this a little extreme? We seem to live in an increasingly fluffy world, I mean why not wear a helmet while driving a car, playing football, running the 100 metres, there is risk of potential brain damage through injury from any of these.

Has skiing become increasingly more dangerous now compared to 10 or 20 years ago?

Perhaps people that wear helmets think they can go more nutso than they normally would, increasing the risk of injuring themselves or others. I seriously think some of this new safety merchandising causes more problems indirectly than they solve directly.

Who would've thought strapping two long planks to your feet and shoving yourself down a mountain could be dangerous! The nerve of nature!

Just to note, i know nothing about skiing but through an old CIA technique i've put myself into the mindset of a jaded ski bum with nerves of steel and buns to match.

pyrenees wrote:
Children are encouraged to wear them and it appears to be only English kids you see without these days.

The binge drinking we promote from the ages of 5+ renders English children impervious to brain damage or activity until the age of 25 or above and then only to the most modest degree.

They're nothing compared to the group of Italian 5 year olds i saw in Passe Tonale in March, all dressed in some sort of red uniform, screaming, beating the crap out of each other with their ski poles, systematically abusing the buttons and cutting up the poor bewildered beginners. Lord of the Flies on Ice. If anybody knows who they are tell them i still haven't found my glass eye.