NY Times - Ski Helmet Use Isn’t Reducing Brain Injuries

[gmcunni]

Snowlover's logical posts in this thread just convinced me to buy a helmet.

POTD



defeat all caps filter

 

[Snowlover]

Then you dont ski glades either.

no

 

[Bene288]

Snowlover's logical posts in this thread just convinced me to buy a helmet.

+1

 

[Tin]

Ski slow, no rocks around, don't ski glades or the park...



Do you ski cross country?

 

[Bene288]

A helmet will absolutely prevent you from cracking your skull or slicing your head open.

As for hockey helmets, they were never designed to prevent concussions. They're there so when you get boarded you don't split your head open on the stanchion. No helmet in the world, maybe with the exception of auto racing lids (neck restraints,) will stop a concussion.

I don't think many skiers, especially people on AZ, consider themselves bullet proof just because they wear a helmet, it is most definitely added assurance though. If anything I find people without helmets ski more erratically.

 

[BenedictGomez]

no

Then, perhaps you're not the best candidate to tell us what a helmet will or will not protect against via common spills in the trees.

Sort of how I'm not the best candidate to tell Octomom what it feels like to give birth.

 

[Snowlover]

Then, perhaps you're not the best candidate to tell us what a helmet will or will not protect against via common spills in the trees.

Sort of how I'm not the best candidate to tell Octomom what it feels like to give birth.

You have to run into tree's head first to be a good candidate to tell people that running into a tree with/without a helmet is a bad idea..... and they think my logic is bad. LMFAO Listen, concussion= brain damage/potential death. Period. Helmets don't prevent the brain from shaking inside the skull. This is not just me. This is science. Ok you guys are just ganging up on me because you think helmets will help save you from your risk taking behavior. Goodbye from this thread. Oh and god forbid I shoudl just enjoy some trail riding.

Trail riding at low speed(less than 30mph) in control WITHOUT helmet= safer than terrain park or glade skiing WITH helmet

 

[Snowlover]

Ski slow, no rocks around, don't ski glades or the park...



Do you ski cross country?

I ski trails and I have fun doing it I guess i'm not as hardcore as you...pfff

 

[Snowlover]

Done with thread. Talking to people who won't listen.

 

[gmcunni]

Trail riding at low speed in control WITHOUT helmet= safer than terrain park or glade skiing WITH helmet

i agree with this statement. however, if you are skiing on a groomed trail, even a green one, and something goes wrong and you end up out of control due to your own mistake or a snowboard running into you and you crash off trail into a rock and hit your head, having a helmet would provide more protection than a knit cap.

wearing a helmet is a personal choice... for now, at most ski areas.

 

[ScottySkis]

I love my helmet keeps me warm and hit many stems and branches that would have hurt a lot if not for the helmet. Just got figure out a way of fixing the ear piece.

 

[gladerider]

i started wearing a helmet when my kids started skiing. around 2001. kids ski schools all required by then. then my kids asked why i wasn't wearing one. i couldn't come up with a reason. so i got one. it's just a protection better than not having one.

snowlover's logic doesn't work for me. sounds like a logic some came up with for football. well, it doesn't work the same way in ski.
i wonder if snowlover would encourage his kids not to wear one also because based on his logic, it's useless.
oh well.

 

[thetrailboss]

Re: brain movement in skull

That is a real serious issue with any contact sport or skiing. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, this Fall's FRONTLINE documentary on PBS on brain injuries to NFL players was pretty damn illuminating and thought provoking. In sum, guys as young as 18 are developing CTE from repeated blows to the head and suffering MAJOR personality disorders and major changes that essentially drive them mad. Several players have committed suicide as a result....pretty serious and fuc*ing scary thing:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/

 

[gladerider]

sure is. spoke to many parents. some really talented kids are not pursuing football due to this issue. don't blame them.

 

[catskills]

BTW- I'm not a doctor and certainly wouldn't want to feel responsible if anyone got injured by listening to me and not wearing a helmet. If you're worried, wear a helmet. It won't hurt and can only help. It's a personal decision. I just don't like being called an idiot because I don't wear a helmet. I don't ski fast and I just enjoy the outdoors and the powder and having fun. So I was just trying to explain why I don't wear one. I also don't like being FORCED to wear one by a ski area.

I have the highest respect for Snowlover. Snowlover is not skiing fast and just out to enjoy the outdoors without taking risks. IMHO Snowlover is reducing risky behavior on skis which is more important for personal safety than wearing a helmet.

Thmbs up to Snowlover

This only thing I can add to this is my personal experience. I was skiing with no helmet ~20 MPH straight down the fall line in 1993 with no other skiers around on the trail except for my 8 year old daughter skiing 100 feet in front of me. A very good skier came down the trail at high speed >50MPH and lost it just before passing me. He hit me from behind, I was unconscious for a few minutes and he put me in the hospital for a week. I had 3 skull fractures and 4 broken ribs. I was not allowed to drive for 10 weeks. If my 8 yo daughter was wearing a helmet and he hit her at that speed it would not have mattered helmet or no helmet. She would have been dead. Two years later I went skiing for the first time. I was extremely nervous about skiing again.

My whole family wears helmets just in case we get hit by another skier or rider. Its our choice.

 

[deadheadskier]

Done with thread. Talking to people who won't listen.

Are you listening to those people?

 

[millerm277]

The NY Times article I think should be common sense to anyone on here. Helmets aren't going to help you when you slam into a tree or rock at 25mph, they aren't going to help if you're "going big" on a huge feature and make some catastrophic error that results in you slamming into the ground upside down from 40ft up, etc.

Parks, glades, off-piste and other more risky skiing/boarding, have been on a rapid increase in recent years, as well as the mentioned technological improvements that lead to people being able to go faster, ski harder, etc...all of which are great until something goes wrong and you're in a much more dangerous place than you could have ever gotten to with old equipment.

It's up to the individual skier to decide what level of risk they want to tolerate. Helmets are a form of risk mitigation.

 

[SIKSKIER]

I've worn one since Sonny Bono t-boned that tree.I think that's when helmet use really started its dramatic climb.Of course it will help in some situations and be of minimal help in others.I find it much warmer as a bonus.I could care less if others don't wear one and I'd never preach to them about it.To each his own,period.

 

[mister moose]

I know there's exceptions (like you're already cartwheeling), but who runs headfirst into a tree, anyway. If I'm losing it and a tree is coming up fast, I'm bending to the side at the waist, kicking over with a leg, ANYTHING to avoid hitting my head.

Dude you catch an edge/lose your balance in glades and can easily go head first into a tree. That's why they tell you to ski with a partner. If you want to take that risk then it's up to you. Just don't delude yourself into thinking there isn't any risk. It's common sense....you're passing with a foot of a tree. You might just hit it someday if you make a mistake and fall forward and have bad luck and happen to hit your head.

OK, the very first thing I said is that there are exceptions. But until you lose conciousness, you can always mitigate the fall before impact. And for me, you better believe in a bad fall I'm constantly thinking about getting my legs below me, avoiding objects, stopping the rotation, protecting soft important body core places. In whatever fraction of a second you have you can still be pro-active, instead of just surrendering to random injury.

I think this is the first time I 've seen that someone fervently advocates lowering injury risk by skiing low risk terrain at low speeds, but chooses not to lower his own injury risk by wearing a helmet.

 

[Abominable]

I just started wearing one this year. I like it. Makes me go faster. Tuna speed.

Pretty much the only reason I wear one is that is something were to happen, regardless of whether or not the helmet helped in that particular situation, if I weren't wearing the helmet, I'd never hear the end of it.

On a more serious note, the majority of my injuries have been from crashing into things with my ribs and back or my hands and wrists. I think wristguards and some sort of core / spin protector would have more potential benefit than a helmet. Been meaning to look into that....