Study on ski helmets

[bdfreetuna]

Seems like the biggest % of ski injuries/deaths I'm aware of are sliding on hardpack off the trail into a tree head first.

Trees vs trails = more likely to get minor injuries in the trees, more likely to get seriously hurt carving up hard pack at speed

 

[Not Sure]

Pretty sure I've mentioned this story before, but I had a similar incident at Okemo on a groomer. Unexpectedly caught an edge, got spun around and the backs of my skis dug in and basically flipped me backwards to the ground. The back of my head hit the ground so hard that it broke my helmet in half. I'm 100% certain that if I hadn't been wearing a helmet, at a bare minimum I would have had a severe concussion or even worse, fractured my skull.

e.

I had two of these types of crashes in the 80's . First was a failed attempt at a double heli 1.5 times around and tails dug in landed on the back of my head I was dizzy for days. The other one was doing a flip off a huge mogul at night , some A hole gaper stopped to take a leak and took off his skis and walked 50' into the woods . I didn't spot his skis till I was inverted , I froze and landed backwards . The guy skied off and never asked if I was OK . I was layed out but barely conscious when I got to the lodge my girlfriend asked if I was Ok ,I literally could not remember her name .
I'm sure if I had a helmet both incidents would have been better outcomes . I dialed back my crazy whims and hardly jump at all but mostly because of age .

 

[VTKilarney]

People always say this, but I dont know how true it is.

If you took 2 identical twins with the same solid level of skiing ability, I think the one skiing all day on blue runs would be in more danger of injury than the one skiing in typical trees.

You are certainly more likely to have someone else run into you while skiing on a groomed blue trail.

 

[Glenn]

The results aren't too surprising. I remember awhile back there was an argument about making helmets mandatory; some felt it was a false sense of security regulation.

I still wear one. But I'm cognizant of its limits. Just because your car has a airbags and a lot of safety features, doesn't mean you still won't get injured in an accident.

 

[abc]

People always say this, but I dont know how true it is.

If you took 2 identical twins with the same solid level of skiing ability, I think the one skiing all day on blue runs would be in more danger of injury than the one skiing in typical trees.

I'm not sure on average how that would turn out.

But I did hit a tree trunk once. It probably wouldn't have mattered had I not been wearing a helmet (didn't see much sign of damage on it either). But I distinctly remember sliding towards the tree head first, just missing it by a tiniest margin. Actually DID glance off the side of my helmet, but like I said, my head probably would have missed the tree anyway. The impact was hard enough it broke TWO of my ribs! :sad:

Such close calls makes me feel I'm SLIGHTLY better off wearing a helmet. So *I* will wear one. But I'm not going to preach others to do the same. My past experience of skiing several decades before helmets come on the scene simply points to it being relatively unimportant.

 

[gmcunni]

head of neurology at yale new haven said if not for the helmet my daughter would not be alive.

 

[AdironRider]

Your Yale doctor is just making you feel better about your daughter being hurt. Could it be worse? Maybe, but he has no way of knowing. He can only surmise. He didn't witness the fall, he only diagnosed an injury in the hospital.

Skiing has never been perfectly safe but it was never Russian roulette either. It would be silly to say that not wearing a helmet is just as safe, but this study seems to be closer to reality than any of this "would be totally dead right now I swear" evidence.

Literally millions of people skied and fell and didn't die or get hurt prior to universal acceptance of helmets. The facts are that, while helmets do help, the extent is limited, but give people a sense of confidence that is higher than the safety benefits provided.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Skiing has never been perfectly safe but it was never Russian roulette either.

Some days I really feel like it is exactly that. This seems to be the impetus for my renewed motivation to carve up hard pack and learn how to do it really well. Seems like a long term survival skill in this sport.

 

[gmcunni]

Your Yale doctor is just making you feel better about your daughter being hurt. Could it be worse? Maybe, but he has no way of knowing. He can only surmise. He didn't witness the fall, he only diagnosed an injury in the hospital.

interesting uneducated opinion

 

[camberstick]

Pretty sure mine saved me at Jay 2 years ago.

 

[teleo]

You are certainly more likely to have someone else run into you while skiing on a groomed blue trail.

Exactly. Or as I like to say - I've never been hit by an out of control tree.

 

[ss20]

interesting uneducated opinion

In the dictionary under "uneducated opinions" you'll find that post :lol:

 

[JimG.]

The problem isn't that helmets aren't helping. The problem is behavior is changing. People are taking more risks in some cases specifically because they think a helmet will prevent serious injuries.

Exactly this.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Exactly. Or as I like to say - I've never been hit by an out of control tree.

I definitely have; I know it couldn't have been my skiing.

 

[VTKilarney]

It’s odd that people feel that anecdotal evidence is dispositive and negates the findings in the study.

 

[fbrissette]

Exactly this.

Partly this. Having a helmet may push some people into a false sense of security, but skiing has also gotten more extreme for many reasons. In 40 years, ski hills went from removing lift tickets for any kind of jumping, to providing fully featured terrain parks. All of this in addition to the industry glorifying extreme skiing.

 

[Orca]

It might be beneficial to separate helmets from increased risk taking. They are separable, unless you ski with the mentality that "my helmet made me do it."

Moreover, helmets seem at least to do no harm, meaning that they don't increase incidence or severity of injury. And, they are a sort of nice warm hat, which is a benefit for most ski temps -- though I sometimes ditch mine in favor of a baseball hat and sunglasses for the last spring weekend if it is warm enough.

 

[1dog]

Partly this. Having a helmet may push some people into a false sense of security, but skiing has also gotten more extreme for many reasons. In 40 years, ski hills went from removing lift tickets for any kind of jumping, to providing fully featured terrain parks. All of this in addition to the industry glorifying extreme skiing.

Good observation - correct. Same as CD - Example - stopped inline skating for exercise midweek approx 7 yrs ago - 10 miles of mostly uphill - loved it - texter/drivers took that option off the table - changing behaviors.

In a free society (using term loosely) risk is fine - until other free people are made to pay for the sometimes-not-so-good outcomes.

A litigious society has made those risks more $$ for all of us.

Once, back in late 80's skiing at a resort NYD - large banner ' Due to a 75% increase in our liability insurance lift tickets are now $____ A lot more - forget the number.

Ski patrol explained on lift - a drunk guy ducked a rope - friend followed - tumbled and impaled himself with pole - friend went to get ski patrol. Guy died. Resort was sued - and family won - true story - name of trail: Idiots Delight

 

[fbrissette]

... - texter/drivers took that option off the table - changing behaviors.

Mostly switched from road cycling to mountain bikiing for that same reason.

 

[VTKilarney]

Mostly switched from road cycling to mountain bikiing for that same reason.

Sort of the same for me. We switched from road biking to bicycle trails. L'Estraide in Granby is one of our favorites.