Helmets and Snowsports

The New York Times published a great article last week about the increased use of helmets for skiing and snowboarding. In recent years, nearly half of all skiers and snowboarders use a helmet, according to the National Ski Area Association. This is an increase of roughly 25 percent from the 2002-03 ski/snowboard season.

Researchers are attributing the increased helmet usage to the high-profile coverage ski and snowboard accidents and deaths like Natasha Richardson and Sonny Bono. (Both were not wearing helmets). Retailers are seeing helmets sell at a much higher rate this year as well, in part due to the attention being paid to helmet styling, construction, and design. (The “if it looks cool, people will wear it” theory). Ski resorts like Vail are even beginning to require helmets to be worn by all employees (instructors, lift attendants, etc.), which handed out over 6,000 helmets at the beginning of the season to outfit employees. Another increasingly popular rule is the requirement of children under 12 to wear helmets.

However, there are a few age groups that have been slow to adopt, and probably won’t be much of a surprise. Infrequent skiers, 18-24 year olds and adults over 65 have been consistently less likely to wear a helmet while on the slopes. While they may have their reasons, Denver neuroseurgon Stewart Levy says that wearing a helmet could reduce brain injury by 50-80%.

Helmets have been required for so many other outdoors-related sports (cycling, rock climbing, mountaineering…) that it seems natural to wear one on the slopes. However, some people think otherwise, and you can read more about the helmet debate (and some interesting logic from the anti-helmet researchers) in the New York Times article “Helmets Becoming More Common on the Ski Slopes.”

-via Get Outdoors