The Ski Helmet Debate

Tony_H wrote:There is no connection at all between helmets for skiing and for motorbikes.
Bikers ride dangerous machines at breakneck speeds generally, and often recklessly - very recklessly. They are doing 70mph plus an often well over 100mph on the main roads, so they know the risks. They will also fall onto hard tarmac or concrete or probably through the front window of a car if they crash, which probably means a helmet for them is actually useless anyway.
But the 2 things are totally incomparable.
Just my view though.

You totally miss the point, it is not whether Motor Cycles travel faster, or cyclist ride at breakneck speeds (the vast majority of motorcycle accidents are as a result of a car pulling into the path of a motorcyclist travelling within the speed limit in a town or city) it is whether or not the number of accidents is increasing. The number of skiing accidents is increasing and the number of severe head injuries is increasing, these are indisputable facts, there will come a point in time when the number of injuries is is seen to be unacceptable and change will then occur and it will cease to be a personal choice whether to wear a helmet or not. Your final statement is completely wrong, the situations are totally comparable and the end result will be the same, it is just a matter of time. (The time will be shortened if resorts are shown to be negligent).

One other thing that might shorten the time period is collateral incidents relating to safety; a stray board taking out a child because the board was not tethered will lead to checks on the lifts that will reveal that it was not being enforced that boards are tethered which leads to a multi million dollar law suit.

If you have some cash to spare you could do worse than invest in manfacturers of ski helmets! Its only a matter of time.

Wow - this is getting heated.

My position is simple. A couple of years ago, I banged my head while skiing and suffered a mild concussion. This did not happen while bombing down a fast, concrete hard piste. It happened while travelling very slowly on a gentle slope covered with 6 inches of fresh powder! Now I, and most of my ski buddies, wear helmets.

However, that is my choice and I agree with those that do not want to see this made compulsory. For me the key issue is whether a person not wearing a helmet represents an increased risk to me. Clearly, they don't and arguably represent a lesser threat. Accordingly, I am more than happy to respect, and even defend, their choice.

I love the fact that skiing is so much about personal responsibility and is relatively unregulated. It is up to you to decide whether you can tackle that difficult slope, whether you should take on that off-piste descent, etc. I would hate to see that culture change. I would hate to see a litigous regulated approach take over.

Skiing would be miserable if we had too many bureaucratic rules, rigorously enforced, telling us what we can and cannot do on the slopes. How long before we hear the dreaded words - "before I let you on this Red slope Sir, can I see you licence?"

Off course, that is not to say that we should have a complete free for all. For example, how many avalanches are caused by idiots venturing onto terrain they don't know or understand, endangering themselves (not that much of a concern), other skiers below them on the slopes or rescue workers.

Wanderer wrote:Skiing would be miserable if we had too many bureaucratic rules, rigorously enforced, telling us what we can and cannot do on the slopes. How long before we hear the dreaded words - "before I let you on this Red slope Sir, can I see you licence?"

I read this and shuddered. I completely agree that it should be down to personal choice, and have said it many times. Despite making my choince in favour of wearing a lid, the thought that the H&S brigade could get their evil talons stuck into skiing saps my will to live.

In my opinion it is totally up to the individual. However I think it should be compulsory for children. In fact if it was not for a helmet my 6 year old may well have died last week. Its a brilliant but potentially dangerous sport so I struggle to see why people wouldn't want to wear one.

I think we will go round the houses on this one, if we haven't already.
The one thing I am pleased about, with the vast majority of people who ski/board whether they wear a helmet or not is that they agree it should be personal choice, but I still detect some who look down on those who don't wear lids, or suggest they don't know why anyone would not want to.

From a personal point of view, heres a few reasons why I don't want to wear a helmet:

1. Its another added expense
2. I do not believe the evidence suggests the sport is any more risky than it used to be
3. I don't like people telling me what to do (unless its a law)
4. Bobbles are cool IMO
5. I don't want to look like a dork, like a lot of helmet wearers do IMO
6. Wearing one suggests to me that you either think you are going to get hit and are therefore over cautious, or suggests that you are a maniac who is likely to take someone out.

I totally reject what the poster said about motorbikes above. Stats might show the most common accident involving bikes is when a car pulls out on them - probably because the bike came round the corner too fast, didnt have a light on, blah blah blah, but I suggest that the vast majority of bike deaths or unfortunate serious injuries result from the bike colliding with a car at high speed.
Please don't tell me the majority of motor cyclists don't ride a bike for the thrill of the speed. I drive every day, and every day at least 3 motor cyclists do something totally ridiculously in terms of danger - weaving in and out of traffic, under taking, squeezing between too small a gap at speed, going way over 100mph, etc. If you ski'd like that, you'd get thrown off the slopes.

Anyway, its only my opinion.

I was gonna respond but Tony has said it all 8)

By the way, I do have a lot of friends who ski in helmets; one of them is a beginner and wore one for the first time on his 3rd or 4th week last January and has done since but his partner doesn't, one is highly experienced but got taken out at speed a couple of years ago and has worn one since but his partner doesn't, and another uses his to attach a camera to and his wife uses hers to attach pink fluffy ears to (I believe they also wear them for a safety aspect).
One of them looks like Crazy Frog, one of them looks like he's riding a Vespa, and the other one looks like Robocop.

Looking like Robocop is kinda cool.