Skiing Injury Rates

[Nick]

Was researching accidents in glades and came across incident statistics that I thought were pretty interesting. I hadn't really analyzed or reviewed these before.

Other than a broken bone does anyone actually have first hand experience witnessing or knowing someone who was in an accident that resulted in death or a serious accident ... I've always considered myself fortunate that I do not / have not .

Fatalities - According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA): During the past 10 years, about 40.6 people have died skiing/snowboarding per year on average.

During the 2009/10 season, 38 fatalities occurred out of the 59.8 million skier/snowboarder days reported for the season. Twenty-five of the fatalities were skiers (18 male, 7 female) and 13 of the fatalities were snowboarders, (12 male, 1 female). Among the fatalities, 19 of those involved were reported as wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. The rate of fatality converts to .64 per million skier/snowboarder visits.

Serious Injuries - Serious injuries (paralysis, serious head, and other serious injuries) occur at the rate of about 43 per year, according to the NSAA. In the 2009/10 season, there were 39 serious injuries. Sixteen of these serious injuries were skiers (11 male, 5 female) and 23 were snowboarders, (16 male, 7 female). Among the serious injuries, 18 of those involved were reported as wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. The rate of serious injury in 2009/10 was .65 per million skier/snowboarder visits.

AN ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVE
To place skiing and snowboarding safety into context (and keeping in mind that this is not statistically significant) it helps to offer a perspective: The National Safety Council (Injury Facts, 2010 edition) points out that in 2008:
* 39,000 Americans died in motor-vehicle accidents;
* 6,162 pedestrians were killed;
* 6,700 died from unintentional public falls;
* 3,800 died from unintentional public poisoning;
* 3,600 people drowned while swimming in public areas;
* 900 died while bicycle riding;
* 129 died from tornadoes;
* and 25 died from lightning.

 

[Tooth]

My 15 year old fractured three vertebrae and smashed his wrist out in Colorado this December while on a training trip with his school. Fun phone call to get. People are going way bigger and faster than ever. Dont ever think this cant happen to you. Be as careful as you can while having as much fun as you can.

 

[mriceyman]

My 15 year old fractured three vertebrae and smashed his wrist out in Colorado this December while on a training trip with his school. Fun phone call to get. People are going way bigger and faster than ever. Dont ever think this cant happen to you. Be as careful as you can while having as much fun as you can.

Its not only skiing but pretty much every sport is getting faster and or more physical whuch leads to more injuries. hows your kid doing now?

 

[Smellytele]

As for your glades research - did you see less death while skiing in glades? I think death usually comes from speed then crashing and going off trail and hitting trees. In glades I think people actually ski a lot slower

 

[Tooth]

Its not only skiing but pretty much every sport is getting faster and or more physical whuch leads to more injuries. hows your kid doing now?

Better. Out of the brace for his back next week. Pins come out of his wrist next week too. All he wants to do is ride again. Great life lesson in real world ramifications. Was lucky he had the US Ski Team doctors operate on his wrist. He overshot a huge jump landing by 20-30 feet. GoPro footage was not cool to watch for me. He and his friends think differently. He goes to a ski/snowboarding academy in Maine. People would be amazed at what these kids put their bodies through to chase their dreams of being on the US team or to get sponsored up. Ive seen or heard of more injuries this year than ever before. Thank you for asking.

 

[drjeff]

My 15 year old fractured three vertebrae and smashed his wrist out in Colorado this December while on a training trip with his school. Fun phone call to get. People are going way bigger and faster than ever. Dont ever think this cant happen to you. Be as careful as you can while having as much fun as you can.

Agree 100%. I almost can't go a weekend on the hill nowadays thinking that it just seems like there's more people going faster than I can ever remember in my 30+ years of being on the hill. This season, almost nationwide with the relative lack of snow, that's just a recipe for trouble with more speed and less acres available.

Glad your son sounds like he'll end up with a full recovery. Also don't know if I could watch a GoPro of my own kid crashing big when you know what the outcome is too!

 

[mriceyman]

Better. Out of the brace for his back next week. Pins come out of his wrist next week too. All he wants to do is ride again. Great life lesson in real world ramifications. Was lucky he had the US Ski Team doctors operate on his wrist. He overshot a huge jump landing by 20-30 feet. GoPro footage was not cool to watch for me. He and his friends think differently. He goes to a ski/snowboarding academy in Maine. People would be amazed at what these kids put their bodies through to chase their dreams of being on the US team or to get sponsored up. Ive seen or heard of more injuries this year than ever before. Thank you for asking.

your so right. Kids see a chance to do something big with there life and they go 100% for it. The lessons learned should be more useful in life than anything that could be planned. That footage must be way freaky for you to watch

 

[Nick]

As for your glades research - did you see less death while skiing in glades? I think death usually comes from speed then crashing and going off trail and hitting trees. In glades I think people actually ski a lot slower

Just FYI, not my research, found online on a discussion post about glades accidents.

http://www.nsaa.org/nsaa/press/facts-ski-snbd-safety.asp

 

[BenedictGomez]

Just FYI, not my research, found online on a discussion post about glades accidents.

Thought this bit from that was interesting.....

The reason for the decline in serious knee injuries is believed to be due to the market penetration of the newer, shorter skis. The reason for the increase in mid-shaft tibial fractures appears to be due to a decline in the functional properties of the ski-binding-boot systems.

Seems to essentially suggest bindings are getting "crappier" than they once were, which I find extremely odd. The "decline in functional properties" was a more poetic way of saying that though.

 

[Nick]

Yeah, that stood out to me as well, I saw that whe I read as well. That can only mean one thing, right? Not releasing when expected to release?

 

[BenedictGomez]

Yeah, that stood out to me as well, I saw that whe I read as well. That can only mean one thing, right? Not releasing when expected to release?

It could also mean, releasing when not expected to release.

I actually find that part of the article extremely disturbing, and wish there was more color on it (it said almost nothing, and didnt support the comment) in the piece. I'm one of those rare birds that cares more about bindings than skis.

 

[wa-loaf]

Thought this bit from that was interesting.....



Seems to essentially suggest bindings are getting "crappier" than they once were, which I find extremely odd. The "decline in functional properties" was a more poetic way of saying that though.

Yeah, that stood out to me as well, I saw that whe I read as well. That can only mean one thing, right? Not releasing when expected to release?

All these bindings are being pushed with the 15 DINs. I think a lot of people are cranking them up higher. Whether they need it for sticking jumps or are just trying to be more "core".

 

[BenedictGomez]

All these bindings are being pushed with the 15 DINs. I think a lot of people are cranking them up higher. Whether they need it for sticking jumps or are just trying to be more "core".

Like maybe they would be perfectly fine set at 8.5 or 9, and they're juicing them to 12 or more because they think it's cool?

I guess that would make sense, but when the author states a, "decline in functional properties", that wording would seem like it could only suggest a quality issue.

 

[wa-loaf]

I guess that would make sense, but when the author states a, "decline in functional properties", that wording would seem like it could only suggest a quality issue.

That might be more due to bindings like the Duke/Jester variety. I don't think they have all the safety features your standard binding has. Not really a decline in quality, but sacrificing some safety for lightness/touring capability.

 

[catskills]

Most short blade skis have no release bindings and result in below the knee Tibia / Fibula fractures.

As a 15 year volunteer ski patroller / EMT-B I have seen my share of deaths on the slopes and on the roads. Significantly more deaths on the roads then on the slopes. In regard to deaths, head trauma is overrated IMHO. Blunt force trauma to the chest is a real killer.

You would be surprised how many people die while driving a car and then the car hits another car or goes off the road. I wonder how many of these are included in the automobile death counts.

 

[Ski the Moguls]

Any chance the binding issue refers to the fact that Snowboards are not designed to release at all?

 

[frameitinskis]

Better. Out of the brace for his back next week. Pins come out of his wrist next week too. All he wants to do is ride again. Great life lesson in real world ramifications. Was lucky he had the US Ski Team doctors operate on his wrist. He overshot a huge jump landing by 20-30 feet. GoPro footage was not cool to watch for me. He and his friends think differently. He goes to a ski/snowboarding academy in Maine. People would be amazed at what these kids put their bodies through to chase their dreams of being on the US team or to get sponsored up. Ive seen or heard of more injuries this year than ever before. Thank you for asking.

OMG. My son races too and was also out in CO training. I can't imagine. I try not to think about it. Thank god your son is recovering. Wishing you and your son the best.

 

[SkiFanE]

My hubby was air-lifted almost 2 years ago after a ski accident. Brain injury, some broken bones. ICU, 3 weeks IP rehab, 5 months outpatient rehab, back at work FT after 6 months. He flew too high and fast over a jump and landed on his face on hardpack (had a helmet). He never jumps, he was just racing with buddies on a boarder cross. He's been sking over 40 years, and the one injury was doing something he never does. Everyone asked "did he hit a tree" b/c he would be in the trees 100% of the time if he could, and we both ski along the side the trail most of the time. He had some balance issues too, but PT took care of most of them and he was on snow about 6 months later.

My biggest advice..make sure your LTD and STD disability are up to date (if you have a family), never realized how important that is until we needed it, we were very lucky. In an instant your life could change, for a few days I thought I'd have a permanently disabled spouse.

 

[BenedictGomez]

^ Glad to hear everything turned out okay. Very, very scary story. Were the jumps like those big ones on the boarder cross events you see on television?

 

[SkiFanE]

^ Glad to hear everything turned out okay. Very, very scary story. Were the jumps like those big ones on the boarder cross events you see on television?

Yes...huge..when I looked at the jump (still haven't had the guts to go down that trail since) it was very high, and then considering how high he launched, I think he fell 2-3 stories. I didn't see, kids and I were a minute or so behind him, friends were with him. Ski patrol and everything after was top-notch care...we were very very lucky. After reading what happened with the recent SL death (or the 'supposed' story), I will never ski SL, turns out his injuries were not life-threatening, but at the time we had no idea, noone did until he got a CAT scan and was past the 48 hour mark.