How many of us will be wearing helmets this season

Always wear one. I like to ski fast and reckon its the least I can do to protect my head.
Also keeps my head warm. )

bandit wrote:Wickers, you are incorrect, as Caron will be wearing a helmet for the 1st time this winter, so far...

I'm not sure you have grasped my point about modern piste preparation and compacting of snow to withstand modern skiing technique. It forms a very hard surface.

A skier would need a very thick head to withstand an impact of that nature.

In the event if any injury requiring you to claim on your travel insurance, it seems now normal for insurers to ask if you were wearing a helmet.

Bandit

With u on this one

Some of the groomers are like concrete especially first thing in the morning, even though i do wear a lid give me some powder to fall in any day of the week.

Not sure where this is all going. I get the impression those that wear helmets look down on those who dont. Yes I am aware any of us could get hurt whilst on the mountain, but its been that way for years. I guess you cant compensate for someone else who might smash into you but it never crosses my mind really.

Tony_H wrote:Not sure where this is all going. I get the impression those that wear helmets look down on those who dont. Yes I am aware any of us could get hurt whilst on the mountain, but its been that way for years. I guess you cant compensate for someone else who might smash into you but it never crosses my mind really.

Of course i look down on you, your much smaller than me :wink:

mfc wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Not sure where this is all going. I get the impression those that wear helmets look down on those who dont. Yes I am aware any of us could get hurt whilst on the mountain, but its been that way for years. I guess you cant compensate for someone else who might smash into you but it never crosses my mind really.

Of course i look down on you, your much smaller than me :wink:

mfc
Gonna have to watch you don't trip over me then :lol:

Still, that means I'll be able to sneak past in the lift queue :mrgreen:

Tony, you must wear a seatbelt when driving, by law, but airbags are an optional extra safety feature. Did you choose to have them included on your new car?

Of course you are free to not wear a helmet, just as you are free to smoke 100 cigarettes, and drink 5 bottles of wine each day, however....

I do think that travel insurers and their underwriters have been busy gathering stats on injury claims for some time. I was asked about helmet wear when I claimed in Jan 2005*. It remains to be seen what they do with the statistics. Discounts for helmet wearers, or reductions in payouts for non wearers perhaps? We shall see!

* Along with some plain daft questions.

Bandit,
I think Tony is objecting the 'them versus us' tone creeping into these discussions, and a sort of self-righteousness felt by some helmet users.

It is a personal decision that we all have to make. I feel that I ought to wear a helmet, simply because I am ski-ing so much faster now, but I'm not at all sure that I'm going to be able to ski with one, because I have a real problem seeing where I'm going already - what with goggles and glasses limiting my field of vision. I may, in fact, be far more dangerous wearing a helmet, if I can't see properly.

Tony - did you ever see that Candid camera program with the people in the lift? It was really amusing. They rigged it so that they had a whole load of actors in the lift, who deliberately turned the other way to the poor unsuspecting guinea pig who got into the lift. They did it with several people, and nearly everyone turned round so they were facing the same way as the actors. Peer pressure is a very powerful thing. But I don't see why you should change what you do, if you really don't want to, just because some people are changing their minds on this issue and starting to wear helmets.

Ally

I started wearing a helmit after a bad fall when I hit my head on compacted piste. Made merealise how dangerous it can be - also my son has actually been concussed byslipping over on compacted snow......

Heres the thing. I could do out the door today and slip over and hit my head on the pavement. But I dont leave the house with a helmet on. I guess its all down to risk assessment. I dont feel at risk walking down the street (well, maybe in the dark in Peterborough City Centre I do) and I dont on a ski slope either. I have had a close shave a couple of times, but I still dont feel in danger. If I did, I think much of the enjoyment of skiing would go.