Should ski patrollers be required to wear helmets???

dmc said:

So you believe that people that don't wear helmets will die and people that wear helmets will be naturally selected to survive as some sort of master race?

Darwinism would be more like... People that develop harder heads will survive... Darwin speaks of natural selection...

For the record... I know 2 guys who died from head injuries with helmets on...
Above higher speeds... they will just insure you leave a good looking corpse...

That being said I do wear a helmet - most of the time...

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Down boy, down!! I believe in Darwinism from the stand point of natural selection. People who are smarter about their safety, i.e helmets, seatbelts, not deep frying a turkey in a pot on their gas stove at home,... will have a greater likelyhood of seeing tomorrow dawn. But at the same time, natural selection doesn't prevent people from doing stupid things to increase the chances that today will be the last sunset they'll see. The people that survive won't necessarily develope harder heads, but they may develope a stronger sense of safety or mortality.

dmc said:

Why stop at helmets? there's a plethora of safety equipment available for skiing and riding...

In fact - the safest thing to do it to not ski...

It's a slippery slope... A Pandora's Box...

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yes, but I'm not saying you have to wear it or any safety device for that matter. Alls I'm saying is if you want to be covered for your losses you have to do stuff to try to prevent those losses. Like locking your front door when you leav your house, etc.

SkiDork said:

yes, but I'm not saying you have to wear it or any safety device for that matter. Alls I'm saying is if you want to be covered for your losses you have to do stuff to try to prevent those losses. Like locking your front door when you leav your house, etc.

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So you shouldn't even walk out onto the slopes without a knee brace(safety device) because there's a good chance you'll twist your knee and have to take insurance?

How many people do you know that have had knee surgery? they could've prevented those injuries by using a brace or working out more... But they didn't...

dmc said:

So you shouldn't even walk out onto the slopes without a knee brace(safety device) because there's a good chance you'll twist your knee and have to take insurance?

How many people do you know that have had knee surgery? they could've prevented those injuries by using a brace or working out more... But they didn't...

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yeah, I guess its a dumb idea. Oh well.

Beetlenut said:

The people that survive won't necessarily develope harder heads, but they may develope a stronger sense of safety or mortality.

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Oh... Morality... different issue... that an even bigger pile of bull.. And gets to the heart of my debate about people sucking the soul out of skiing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection

Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes.

Isn't part of a job of a ski patroller to promote safety??? How can you promote safety wearing a Jester Hat??? I agree about ski patrollers getting more instruction as well. There are patrollers at Blue who are hardly low intermediate skiers..I wouldn't want them pulling me in a sled..

SkiDork said:

yeah, I guess its a dumb idea. Oh well.

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not dumb... just deeper then most people want to go... like i said... a pandoras box...

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Isn't part of a job of a ski patroller to promote safety???

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Who's idea of safety? yours? I think not...

the skiers Responsibility code mentions nothing about helmets...

http://www.nsp.org/1/nsp/Safety_Information/YourResponsibilityCode.asp <<NSP Webstie btw...

"Always stay in control, and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.
People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them.
You must not stop where you obstruct a trail, or are not visible from above.
Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others.
Always use devices to help prevent runaway equipment.
Observe all posted signs and warnings. Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas.
Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely."

http://www.nsp.org/1/nsp/Safety_Information/HelmetSafety.asp <NSP Website

"A helmet is one additional tool for slope safety, and the National Ski Patrol recommends wearing one while skiing or boarding. However, it's important to remember that helmets have limitations. Studies show that helmets offer considerably less protection for serious head injury to snow riders traveling more than 12-14 mph. Safety and conscientious skiing and riding should be considered the most important factors to injury prevention, while helmets provide a second line of defense. Don't let a helmet give you a false sense of security: When wearing a helmet, ski and snowboard as if you're not."

SkiDork said:

just a slightly different angle here, FWIW...

If a safety device (like a helmet) exists and is easily available, and you "personally choose" not to wear it, thats OK with me. However, if you end up getting an injury that would have been prevented by using that safety device. you should forego all medical insurance coverage for that accident and pay out of pocket. Does that sound fair?

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Not to me because peeps skiing w/out buckets aren't breaking any laws so why should they be punished????

I can’t believe that this thread has gone on for 8 pages. We have been through this several times in the past and every time it generates a heated response. I have observed that most of the heat comes from those that have chosen to wear helmet. I’m not really sure why. The only thing I can think of is that it was a difficult decision for them and they want to impress upon the rest of us that the logic was irrefutable, therefore everyone should wear a helmet. The folks that choose (as they are still allowed to for the moment) not to wear a helmet state that it is just that a “choice”, and they don’t seem to care if someone made the “choice” to wear one. These opposing attitudes say a lot more about today’s skier population. There seems to be a force bent on regulating everything to the point that there are no decisions left to make. Which is about as opposite to the basic idea of the individual freedom that skiing provides. When I say freedom I’m obviously not talking about abandoning all the responsibilities we share with the rest of the population. I’m talking about those all too brief moments where we are in charge of our own destiny, those moments when we are guiding ourselves down whatever trail we choose.

As far as patrollers and instructors being role models, I semi-politely say
“bull” . Parents are role models. If you are teaching your kid to do something just because someone else does it you are on a slippery slope. It is easy for a kid to pick the wrong role model or to have his model revealed as something less then desirable. Just check the news, sports figures are doing all sorts of things they shouldn’t, along with teachers, priests, governors. There are fallen role models everywhere. I tried to teach my kids to think and made smart decisions. They like everybody made some mistakes, but in general I think they ended up with a better mechanism for making decisions. A better mechanism then just following someone else.

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Isn't part of a job of a ski patroller to promote safety??? How can you promote safety wearing a Jester Hat??? I agree about ski patrollers getting more instruction as well. There are patrollers at Blue who are hardly low intermediate skiers..I wouldn't want them pulling me in a sled..

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Yes, but I think it's best demonstrated by skiing in control and not by what you may or may not wear...just sayin

dmc said:

Oh... Morality... different issue... that an even bigger pile of bull.. And gets to the heart of my debate about people sucking the soul out of skiing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection

Natural selection is the process by which favorable heritable traits become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms, and unfavorable heritable traits become less common, due to differential reproduction of genotypes.

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From my pov, it's not morality. Health care and insurance is sucking this country dry. Somebody wants to make a choice on not wearing a helmet thats fine with me. However, when my health care cost or insurance goes up because of their choice then it not longer becomes an independent choice, we all pay to some extent by the darwinian factor.

Stupid people are costing me mula.

Sparky said:

There seems to be a force bent on regulating everything to the point that there are no decisions left to make. Which is about as opposite to the basic idea of the individual freedom that skiing provides.

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DING DING DING!!! 2 rounds for you next trip to Jiminy..

FREEDOM!

jack97 said:

From my pov, it's not morality. Health care and insurance is sucking this country dry. Somebody wants to make a choice on not wearing a helmet thats fine with me. However, when my health care cost or insurance goes up because of their choice then it not longer becomes an independent choice, we all pay to some extent by the darwinian factor.

Stupid people are costing me mula.

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Stupid people are ruining my sport!

Stay off the slopes... It's dangerous.. and many people get hurt... Stay out of the trees too... most injuries occur there...

campgottagopee said:

Yes, but I think it's best demonstrated by skiing in control and not by what you may or may not wear...just sayin

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So you can't replace technique with a helmet?

dmc said:

Stupid people are ruining my sport!

Stay off the slopes... It's dangerous.. and many people get hurt... Stay out of the trees too... most injuries occur there...

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lol.... big brotha!! You're gonna luv the next four years.

jack97 said:

lol.... big brotha!! You're gonna luv the next four years.

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Don't start with me about that...

What is Obama going to keep the Patriot Act? :???:

lame...

dmc said:

...That being said I do wear a helmet - most of the time...

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So why do you wear a helmet if it apparently goes against everything you believe in?

Beetlenut said:

So why do you wear a helmet if it apparently goes against everything you believe in?

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..you don't get it...

thats ok..