[Closed] Skiing wear a helmet ?

Not just sensible, but essential.

Only takes an ice ball or some idiot (like me) to take you out and you'd be in serious trouble without one.

Some (though I only know of one) insurance companies are starting to make it mandatory

A lot more people are wearing them these days. Probably just as sensible as wearing one on the bike. Spending £120 suggests you don't really care whether its a waste of money, since you could have got one for £30.

In my haste I didn't see the price you paid. That is a [i]little[/i] steep.

Only takes an ice ball or some idiot (like me) to take you out and you'd be in serious trouble without one

I have never not worn one. Keeps yer bonnet warm innit! 😆

I reckon sensible - mainly because other people are wearing them and it will really hurt if they bang heads with you!

Plus they keep your ears warm and mean you can go through trees without worrying about smacking your head off a branch.

I remember reading a scientific report a few years back which concluded that they make sense for beginners but that's all, as soon as your travelling at any speed they're good for keeping your ears warm but that's about it.
Sorry but I don't have the reference

They're great for wearing when commuting in winter as well - keeps yer lugs toasty

Definitely a good idea, probably as much if not more so than on a bike, particularly skiing on hard pistes, due to the high chance someone will run into the back of you.

Not essential by any stretch.

I've been skiing, racing, doing stupid steep stuff off piste for years, and never had a head injury (not to say it couldn't happen)

Used a helmet for racing and occassional steep stuff.

If you feel better wearing one then great, but I reckon it gives people more of a FALSE sense of security.

I was knocked flying once, probably about 30m through the air, didn't touch my head, but ribs hurt like hell and twisted knee.

Personally I would be more concerned about improving technique and having bindings that release correctly

For boarding I can see the point but for skiing there are other things to worry about.

Wear one biking, wear one boarding.

Sonny Bono.

Personally I would be more concerned about improving technique and having bindings that release correctly

Wearing a helmet and having correct bindings aren't mutually exclusive. Wearing a helmet won't stop you having correct bindings. So why not have both?

You're very lucky not having any head injuries. I cycle a lot and have never fallen on my head, but I still wear a helmet.

(the last bit is a lie. I superman over my bars everyweek 😀 )

I remember reading a scientific report a few years back which concluded that they make sense for beginners but that's all, as soon as your travelling at any speed they're good for keeping your ears warm but that's about it.

Ah, That will be World Cup Downhillers don't bother with them then eh ? 🙄

That's balls. Sorry but it just is.

Scraping your head along an icy piste at "speed" ....

With or Without a helmet, which would cause more damage to your head do you think?

I don't need a "scientific report" to figure it out.

Just bought one after 38 years of doing without, sensible or a waste of £120 ?

Quite interesting really, I'm curious as to why you thought after 38 years to wear one?

I have noticed over the recent years that more and more skiers are wearing them, dunno if it's a fashion thing, given how long skiing has been around without people wearing them..

Each to their own mind you.

I bit the bullet last year after watching my wife get taken out by an idiot. After first day it felt natural. Never over heated. Looked cool IME. Meant I always had goggles on which made me realise how much my eyes used to water with just glasses plus I do a lot of off piste and you never know what's lurking under that lovely lovely powder.

dunno if it's a fashion thing, given how long skiing has been around without people wearing them..

Would you consider bike helmets a fashion thing too then ?

Almost nobody wore helmets on mountain bikes when I first started riding. I didn't know a single person who owned one.

[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/589794.stm ]I went to school with this girl[/url]

I'm not saying a helmet would definitely save my life, but I guess it might.

Would you consider bike helmets a fashion thing too then ?

Almost nobody wore helmets on mountain bikes when I first started riding. I didn't know a single person who owned one.

Good point, I was a bit clumsy in what I said 😳

I suppose it's never having worn a helmet when skiing, and no noticeable increase in risk (idiots slamming into people have been around for ages) to me I wonder why I would suddenly choose to wear one..?

I can see the benefits, certainly the warm ears. Maybe it's progress and I just need to get on board..

Quite interesting really, I'm curious as to why you thought after 38 years to wear one?

I have noticed over the recent years that more and more skiers are wearing them, dunno if it's a fashion thing, given how long skiing has been around without people wearing them..

Each to their own mind you.

So am I, maybe its a fashion thing or maybe its daughter who has persuaded me. Now she is a very good skier and we venture off piste most days, transceivers probes and shovels are to hand and she has an avalung. A few people each year die in Cham one of her friends did so very recently head injury.

I used to race a lot as a teenager and never wore one. The worst that ever happend was that I scarred up one whole side of my face on an icy piste (mostly faded now, 15-odd years later), but I know I was lucky compared to some. Now that I live in Sweden there are some areas that won't let you use the lifts without you showing you have a helmet. £120 is pretty steep though; I think mine cost about £30.

Edit:

slackalice - Member
Sonny Bono.

Wasn't he playing American football (at a resort), or was that some other singer whose name I forget?
Re-edit: Nope, I was wrong.

and no noticeable increase in risk (idiots slamming into people have been around for ages)

Sorry but I will have to disagree on that one too 😉

There is a huge increase in risk over recent years.

In the past learning to ski was difficult, on old style straight skis, with hardly any side cut, it was difficult to get away from the nursery slopes, and people had to "earn" it by putting in a few hours with an instructor, or similar.

If they tried it without at least learning how to do a few basics, they would just spend all day on their arse getting wet.

The newer style skis are so easy to get to grips with, they get people off the nursery slopes without any lessons and onto the mountain causing total havoc with no training at all. No idea what they are doing and no idea about safety.

mrs xiphon just picked up a brand new (massive price reduction) snowboard/ski lid for £25....

I had a decent crash a few years ago snowboarding. Hit my head on the hard packed piste and suffered abit of concussion. Bought a helmet before the next trip and have worn one ever since. They keep your head very warm and do not affect vision if you are already wearing goggles. I had a similar crash a few years later and got up and carried on riding, not saying the helmet was the be all and end all but i reckon it helped.

Pro-tec helmets are great!

Just googling skier killed etc a mix of with and without helmet. So nothing definitive.
sorry it was 120 euros, cheap there was some at 280 Euros.
Nothing decent for 40/50 Euros, bit like bike helmets you pay for lightness, ventilation and adjust-ability

Think mine was €80? Forget now.

And yes, one of the (hat wearing) people I've skied with many times suffered a head injury. Everyone in our group that didn't have a lid went to the shop at 9am the next morning and bought one.

Fortunately the guy was back on skis at the start of the next season... with a lid of course.

It can't do you any harm to wear one, but I have resisted so far......I actually like wearing a hat.

I do keep an eye over my shoulder for the dangerous people mentioned above. They are the big concern!

Would you consider bike helmets a fashion thing too then ?

I would. And ski helmets.

It used to be that no-one really wore them and you'd be standing out from the crowd by wearing one. By wearing one, you would be displaying to people that you were a wannabe racer/pansy/more concerned about your personal safety and the risks of the activity than most others*.

Now it's the case that many more people (large majority in mtb, getting toward the majority in ski resorts) wear them, and by not wearing one, you're marking yourself out as a reckless, selfish pr1ck/less concerned than most about your personal safety*

*delete as you see fit.

And what's fashion, really, other than going along with the majority, or deciding not to?

Meh, I don't bother. But frankly when I ski I'm not pushing myself. The odd red and black, but always on piste, and mainly blues, I've not fallen over in years, let alone hit my head. Ergo I've concluded I'm happy without. YMMV, certainly wouldn't judge anyone for using one, or not.

€120 euros isn't particularly expensive for a decent helmet.

Got mine on sale, but it would have been £140 I think full price ?

(Salomon Prophet Custom Air, so much better than my old Giro helmet!)

don't like them, I like to wear glasses not goggles if weather permits, and helmet + glasses is a total nono

ski off the pistes, so you avoid the numpties
don't fall over, so you don't bang your head on a rock

and you're good

I do in the ski resort. Too much stuff outside my control (like idiots hitting the back of me etc). Outside the resort it depends.. most of the time I'm touring miles from anywhere and so then it tend not to... unless I know I'm going to be spending plenty of time near trees...

The closeness of some of the trees yesterday skiing unknown terrain and one bounce [down for a bump or two backup and skiing] made me think and at a ripe old age it may be prudence.

Hey Neal, I see where you're coming from, I learnt on straight skis which were 20cm taller than me. And have witnessed the change in skis and how much easier they are now.

But it never occurred to me that people would go skiing without any instruction 😯 even though the skis make it easier..

Oh blimey, its a variation on a helmet debate! 😯

Probably about the only time I don't wear one now is when ski-touring, especially when its warm. There may be newer ski rucksacks that allow you to easily strap a helmet on, but I'm kinda loathe to replace my Avalung right now.

I was really surprised only a few years ago when going through the BASI system, that they actively discouraged their coaches to wear a helmet whilst delivering instructor training, as their attitude was that it portrayed that skiing was dangerous.

Idiots do ski, this

of me proves it 😳

A quick cross of the skis and bang

The one and only time I've hit anyone on a slope, you can just hear the Pardon at the end.

I wear mine all the time. Having often witnessed people out of control on easy runs you probably would too .
Hearing girls screaming as they cant turn or stop ,then they just accelerate away is scary.
Wish I had been wearing one when i used my face to smash another guys collar bone ( he was german )

Been in some resorts where its rained onto the ice . It was so , so slippery people were wearing helmets to walk around the town in .

But it never occurred to me that people would go skiing without any instruction even though the skis make it easier..

Say they do.
Or there mates "teach" them (who never had lessons themselves)

We used to get people in our chalets all the time who scoffed at the suggestion of lessons because they done a couple of hours on a dry slope at home and thought that was enough.
And the "expert" of the group was going to give them a few pointers so they will be fine.

Quite often. They weren't fine.

Why wouldn't you wear one?
Its not inconvenient, its safer than not wearing one, most people (in NA at least) wear them so you're not going to get pointed at

Its a requirement for kids here.. will be a requirement for adults at some point.

Lots of collision based head injuries here recently.. as said above, its easy to go fast without the necessary control now.

Only 'local' people I know that opt out of helmets are some ski partollers.. their argument is that its harder to communicate with injured skiiers while wearing a helmet and on/off isn't convenient as they get cold ears.. personally if I were throwing bombs each morning and dragging 250lbs of american tourist down the mountain, I'd certainly be in a helmet..

Your head, your choice.. but then at what point do you take it off? It sure can be slippy walking back to the hotel from apres 😉

Off piste with thin snow cover or through trees, definitely. Cruising around on blue runs on a hot spring day wearing sunglasses, nope

Why wouldn't you wear one?

Because they don't work well with glasses and they get really hot and uncomfortable in the spring or when working hard.

I'm not saying that anyone should or shouldn't - I'm just saying that's why I don't when skiing.

I used to when boarding, so it's not totally logical.

I do agree that for most people the biggest danger far and away is collisions. I feel much safer off or to the side of the piste where if I fall it's down to me.

I don't

spend 90% of my time in the backcountry so unlikey to be hit by anyone.

just more stuff to carry uphill and way to hot most of the time.

Dont think a helmet would me much point here! 😯
[img] [/img]

LOL. I wore a helmet tonight for night-XC-skiing. Two faceplants on the downhills. I wore the helmet because that is how the light is mounted, but I was glad of the protection.

£15 pss pot from Crc
£20 helmet from Aldi

@trout XC skiing is hard, I had a couple of choice wipeouts! The damn things do not go around corners!

about the same as any helmet debate with added - have you seen the riff raff they let on the slopes these days...

I never had one in my early boarding experiences...

Went to the alps and bought one lost an edge on day 1 and split the helmet without it i'd have been airlifted off. Shop replaced it FOC which was nice.

I know skiing accidents are different but there is plenty of chaneces to be hit and taken out, rocks at the side and trees out there.

Other plus points is it looks better than those stupid bobble hats, keeps your goggles in place and keeps your ears warm.

Yes your less likely to hit your head skiing but get it wrong at speed and anything can happen, bones and soft tissue heals the brain doesn't.

Gonna get sucked in.... It's about appreciation of risk.

I wear a helmet MTBing because fast singletrack, descents and jumps combined with rocks and trees mean that stacking is dangerous and, also, all of those things make crashing more likely in the first place.

I don't wear a helmet on my road bike because, apart from when I was a courier, I have never fallen off riding my road bike(s) and the risk of so doing is minimal. If I get hit by a car on a country road then I'm dead anyway.

Similarly, I don't wear a helmet skiing, because, as an experienced skier, I am very familiar with my limits and only ski really fast on wide open pistes or snow fields. When attempting technical or off piste stuff the speeds are generally pretty low - and there aren't any tree branches to hit in Scotland!

Each to their own, but helmets are a mob mentality - especially true now that resorts and insurance companies are joining in the tyranny. Remember, you're more likely to get a serious head injury in a car. Car helmets anyone? Didn't think so.

Similarly, I don't wear a helmet skiing, because, as an experienced skier, I am very familiar with my limits

That's something I've heard a lot.

I'm pretty experienced too (a good few hundred weeks) but I've still written off two helmets in incidents that weren't my fault (hit from behind both times)

I wear one

(1) I've been taken out by other nutters and banged my head.

(2) I want the kids to wear them, in case of self- or other-person- induced accidents, either on the slopes or when surrounded by others carrying skis over their shoulder. Hard to argue they should if I don't.

Never notice it's there, even the first time I wore it.

"That's something I've heard a lot.

I'm pretty experienced too (a good few hundred weeks) but I've still written off two helmets in incidents that weren't my fault (hit from behind both times)

This again: Remember, you're more likely to get a serious head injury in a car. Car helmets anyone? Didn't think so.

I'll take my chances, thanks. Never felt threatened on the slopes in Scotland or abroad(don't get over-taken that much) and I'd like to enjoy a past-time without feeling the need to wear protective equipment.

This again: Remember, you're more likely to get a serious head injury in a car. Car helmets anyone? Didn't think so.

So I keep hearing.

But as I said, two written off helmets from skiing.

Never banged my head in a car.

(Possibly I've done a lot more skiing than average, and I've increased my statistical chances of accidents in the process ?)

certainly wouldn't judge anyone for using one, or not.

Great pic freeridenick. Where is that?

People are obviously free to make their own choice, but that individual choice should be informed by cost vs benefit.

Cost:
Financial outlay
Discomfort (if you by a sh*t helmet)
Overheating (if you don't usually wear a hat, and buy a sh*t helmet)
Reduction in visibility (if you don't already wear goggles)
Damage to ego caused by admitting that you may not be the skiing/boarding god that you like to think you are

Benefit:
[i]May[/i] help prevent injury/death

Personally, I wouldn't go out on my board without my helmet. None of the costs apply/are relevant, and I am as certain as I can be (without a parallel universe) that it has saved me from concussion on a number of occasions.

woody, its off the back of Andermatt last year. must be nearly 50 degrees at the top. I was bricking it!

Cost:
Financial outlay - [b][i]no worse than a pair of expensive sunnies or poncy bobble hat[/b][/i]
Discomfort (if you by a sh*t helmet) - [b][i]buy a comfy one[/i][/b]
Overheating (if you don't usually wear a hat, and buy a sh*t helmet) - [b][i]get a decent helmet will be fine[/b][/i]
Reduction in visibility (if you don't already wear goggles) [b][i]why would you not wear goggles/sunnies?[/i][/b]
Damage to ego caused by admitting that you may not be the skiing/boarding god that you like to think you are - [b][i]all the top guys wear them perhaps boost to ego?[/b][/i]

Benefit:
May help prevent injury/death
[b][i]after a crash the goggle are still on the helmet not somewhere miles away[/b][/i]

Most can be moved into the Benefit column I reckon 🙂
I guess I just like keeping the nice non recovering bit protected, my car has side air bags, head rests and air bags to do the same job.

Snow is unpredictable, light changes, visibility changes, some of the worst injuries I've seen happen from the "Just Riding Along" moments and you can't control other people especially those stick waving idiots with a plank on each foot 🙂

FWIW my helmet is far comfier than a wooly hat so wouldn't board or ski without it.
I have in the past, put some significant dents in pushbike and motorbike helmets, but the only time I've had stitches in my head was after a car crash...
Being "anti" about helmets is a bit weird.

It's about appreciation of risk.

I wear a helmet MTBing because fast singletrack, descents and jumps combined with rocks and trees mean that stacking is dangerous and, also, all of those things make crashing more likely in the first place.

I don't wear a helmet on my road bike because, apart from when I was a courier, I have never fallen off riding my road bike(s) and the risk of so doing is minimal. If I get hit by a car on a country road then I'm dead anyway.

Similarly, I don't wear a helmet skiing, because, as an experienced skier, I am very familiar with my limits and only ski really fast on wide open pistes or snow fields. When attempting technical or off piste stuff the speeds are generally pretty low - and there aren't any tree branches to hit in Scotland!

Each to their own, but helmets are a mob mentality - especially true now that resorts and insurance companies are joining in the tyranny. Remember, you're more likely to get a serious head injury in a car. Car helmets anyone? Didn't think so.

This from Farty81. Saved me the trouible of typing all that - I do wear a helmet on the road bike though. My wife and son keep nagging me to get a ski helmet but in over 30 years of skiing I've only had a couple of crashes where I got hit on the noggin. I ski quite energetically so I get hot and like to take off the hat to cool down. I view helmets as the skiers' equivalent to walking poles - the industry adding value to something that cost £2 to manufacture in China then selling it for £100.

You can be positive about both bike and ski helmets and choose to wear neither.

Given the decline in cycling when helmets were made mandatory in Australia I can't see ski resorts making helmets for adults mandatory anytime soon. Most make a loss as it is (hidden by subsidies).

Wear a helmet if you wish but a helmet wouldn't have prevented any of the six deaths in the Pyrenees this year. ARVAs may have saved a couple and not wearing a rucksac on the chair would have almost certainly saved another.

Just come back from the Porte Du Soliel last week, and halfway through the week myself and the missus went back to the hire shop and hired helmets for the rest of the week. I wear one on my bike, we insist on the kids wearing them, so why not? Gives you something to mount the Gopro too as well.

Oh and if you're worried about the cost £30 from Decathlon will get you a decent one.

Yes. Getting bowled over by snowboarders isn't fun.

Also gives protection from skiers who can't stop in a straight line 🙂

Gives you something to mount the Gopro too as well.

Boot. Better camera angle IMO, and less exposed.

Your head, your choice.. but then at what point do you take it off? It sure can be slippy walking back to the hotel from apres

I always keep mine on until I get back to the hotel, I do most of my falling over after apres-ski! 😀

Just so long as the Go-pro isn't on a stick that the user concentrates on so hard he/she is oblivious to everything else on the piste.

Studies show that helmets don't increase the risks taken by wearers. I'd be interested to see the number of Go-pro users caught in avalanches and involved in crashes compared with non-users. There's a fine line betwween an "awesome" video on YouTube and the Gendarmes using the footage during training to show how easy it is to kill yourself. I'm convinced wearing a Go-pro increases risk taking.

I really don't get the don't wear a helmet view.

It won't help in lots of incidents but it will protect your head if that has an impact.

There isn't a cost vs benefit argument either - what would you pay to not have a head injury. No matter how small the risk you percieve of an impact on your head due to your skill level etc there is a chance you will have a head impact when someone out of control plows into you, and for £30 it could save your life or a severe injury.

I'm all for personal choice and all that I just don't get it.

Studies show that helmets don't increase the risks taken by wearers

I really don't get the don't wear a helmet view.

I don't want to. I've done a personal risk assessment and decided it's superfluous. Is that alright? It's not a "view", it's a decision.

I'd say you've wasted at least £80, does it say poc on it to make it £120?!

I'm glad of mine, I've had a skier's pole hit the back of my head as he ploughed out of control through a lift queue which would have cut my head quite badly, and have smacked it into ice a few times which would have cut my bare head at least. Feel much more confident with it on too and it is nice and warm when it is really nasty.

Unless you are [i]really[/i] skint, or sponsored by a woolly hat maker, I really can't see any reason not to wear one...

Benefits include:
[*]Keeps your head warm without overheating[/*]
[*]Keeps your head dry when its snowing or when you are cartwheeling down a steep backcountry run after a fall[/*]
[*]Stays attached to your head and keeps your goggles attached in the above situation (unlike a beanie)[/*]
[*]Gives you somewhere to lift your goggles without them fogging up[/*]
[*]Somewhere to stick the GoPro[/*]
[*]Lack of death if you hit a shallowly submerged rock[/*]

I can't think of one good reason not to wear one... The guy in the backcountry photo above saying there isn't much use for a helmet out there - I see plenty of exposure to hit, all it takes is a fall at speed, a variation in the snow surface, a small slide or just taken out by your own sluff and you can easily crack the back of your head on one. A helmet [i]could[/i] make that near death experience into a non-event...

Your skull and your brain... Your choice.

Always wear one, wouldn't be without one on the bike. Tree-skiing, steeps, chutes etc have similar danger risks to the singletrack I ride, often at the same or greater speeds on the skis, and you can never predict when some numpty will plough into the back of you when on piste either.

As you're on a bike forum I assume you ride a bike, DaveRambo. Biking is far more dangerous than driving so why ride a bike? I'm all for personal choice and all that, I just don't get it. And nor do the companies that discourage bike commuting as it's too dangerous.

When my son races skicross/slalom he goes out looking like a warrior. Helmet, back protector/motocross body thing, shin pads, elbow pads, hand guards. It's justified, he wipes out regulary, the last one being a failed back-flip he landed head first knocking himself out despite the helmet.

My own skiing is a little more sedate. I perceive the risk as low, lower than riding my bike to the shops along the cycle lane anyhow.

I've never had an official ski lesson, I learned on 2m skis by watching what the others were doing and copying the best of them.

Having smashed one helmet (you could pull chunks of polystyrene out of it) boarding and still got concussion I'm definitely in the wear one camp. Granted in a major high speed crash it might not help much, however for slower crashes, or clashes of head against skier/boarder/rock/tree/ice it could make the difference. I find it more comfortable that a hat as well and no issue with my goggles.

Ive been skiing for nearly 30 years now, started when i was 4 years old and have never once worn a helmet and ibve done some stupid things, which i wont go into.

Ive never thought about it either until last year when i was pretty much in the minority of people NOT wearing them.

I have no problems wearing one but i'm not that bothered about gettin one at the moment unless i look like someone on old fashioned skiis wearing an all in one. Yes i know it sounds like a little contrived but ive could probably count on one hand the amount of times ive fallen in the past 10 years and most of them have been my own stupidity not someone elses.

Don't think I'm the first to say this but here goes...

[b]If you don't think it's worth protecting... you're probably right![/b]

A helmet could make that near death experience into a non-event...

No thats just wrong. Skiing steep stuff, you just dont fall (or you shouldnt be there in the first place). If you do fall you are going to be seriously injured/dead, helmet or not. But then this comes back to the people skiing at a level beyond their ability, and the same issue at trail centres.

IMO what has changed over the years is that people now wear more protections so they take more risks, and people are less risk adverse themselves ie they rely on the equipment, and the 'resort' to keep them safe.

I really do not understand why people feel they are at such risk of being wiped out by other people. Yes its a risk, but if you are sensible you should ALWAYS be looking up the slope when you are startionary.

Also new skis do not make it easier for people to go quicker. They make it easier for people to turn and control their speed. Old skis were much more dangerous. They can go much quicker in a straight line, than modern carving skis, and they were harder to turn.

If you don't think it's worth protecting... you're probably right!

🙄

I value my spine, but I don't wear a back protector when I'm in a car (or anywhere else).

Must say I've never got involved in a helmet debate, but now I see how irritating it is that the evangelical tossers have to tell everyone they're wrong if they don't conform to their blinkered view of the world.

I don't want to wear one, like when I cross the road or drive a car. You can, that's fine. I don't want to. If I was doing more 'extreme' stuff then I would. But I'm not.

If you did a 'car park test' of a friend's bike would you wear a helmet? Helping teach your child to ride on a grass field? Flat, off road cycle path? Where do you draw the line?

As an aside... does this page look broken to everyone else!?

Unless you are really skint, or sponsored by a woolly hat maker, I really can't see any reason not to wear one...

Is there any evidence that helmets reduce the incidence and/ or severity of skiing injuries? If not, that's a very good reason to not wear one.

I for one don't give two shits about the evidence, I don't want to. You could tell me that no one has ever died whilst wearing a skiing helmet, I still wouldn't use one.