Today's lessons.

agree with the OP. This past week skiing through the trees my helmet hit branches that were deflected because of the helmet

Exactly what helmets are intended for. Low speed impacts that would be life threatening without the protection on your head. Your experience very well could have ended in death (especially if you were skiing by yourself).

Glad to hear you're okay. I had a similar situation earlier this season at Okemo on a groomer of all places. I wasn't out of control, wasn't hit by another skier, or anything like that. I simply caught an edge unexpectedly and got spun around. The backs of my skis dug in and I flopped backwards onto the hard ground (back of the head first). My helmet looked like yours with a huge dent and the insides and boa system were destroyed. No concussion or anything. Went straight into the ski shop to buy a new helmet. The guy said, "how much would you like to spend?" I immediately replied, "As much as possible." Based on how hard my head hit the ground, I'm sure that my helmet saved me from a fractured skull or worse.

I'm sure the majority of us here are pretty good skiers, but all it takes is one crazy event to mess things up.

Thanks for sharing these stories. I have been against a helmet forever. Once I had kids, I wear a helmet only as an example to them. Seeing the light now.

Happy to hear that OP is ok (and others.)