[Closed] Skiing wear a helmet ?

I've got an old 60s pair of Rossignol Médaille de Bronze. Wooden skis with screwed on edges and polythene base. The bindings are first generation Look so they work fine with my rando boots. I've used them on the piste, off-piste and down an easy but icy couloir. My verdict is that they are indeed fast in a straight line but not dangeerous, I just adapt my skiing to the lack of grip and revert to old-school scrubbing off speed rather than carving.

I've never bothered apart from when I was younger in GS (mandatory when racing), however, now using my Garmin edge 800 while skiing has opened up a whole new world of latched maximum speed data! My wife told me last year when it went over 100kph to get a helmet, probably will just not take the Garmin this year 🙂

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.

Nobody has talked about being hit while not moving. (other than the guy who was hit with a ski pole while in a lift queue.)

My two incidents of being hit from behind, and wrecking helmets in the process, were both while moving.

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.

I didn't say they made it easier for people to go faster.

I said they make it easier for people to "progress" off the nursery slopes, without any tuition or awareness of safety, and get themselves into places that they probably shouldn't be in and cause problems by being out of control.

Most mountain guides never use them...says alot really!

And they ain't desk jockeys like most on here.

"Most mountain guides never use them...says alot really!

And they ain't desk jockeys like most on here."

I've done the Vallee Blanche 6 times, and every time the guide was wearing a helmet, along with almost everybody else who was roping up for the walk down the arrete to the start point, other mountain guides included.

Although I do think that the risks of head injuries skiing off piste in such a location are less than in most "resort" based skiing.

Thats personal experience rather than "evidence" obviously.

(I'm not a "desk jockey" either 🙂 , at the time I was an Instructor and Guide, who wore a helmet)

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.

And that should be your choice. But from my point of view, I could be persuaded that wearing one is a good idea IF there's evidence that they offer a safety benefit. It's not clear for cycling helmets, I wonder if skiing is the same?

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 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.

Actually most guides and instructors do wear them. I'm on a ski holiday right now and have been taking note through today and at this resort every instructor is wearing a helmet. Personally I wear one and don't give a toss if other people decide not to wear them, but to deny the risks your facing is just plain stupid and arrogant. Like with most safety equipment, hopefully you'll never need them, but accidents do happen. That's why they're called accidents.

The risks are nothing to do with your own personal skill level. In fact out of the group I ski with regularly the ones who have had injuries have been due to being wiped out by someone else, and we all decided to get helmets when one of us got a severe concussion after being wiped out from behind. He was very lucky. I've been skiing for 12 years now and one thing is certain, the pistes are a lot busier now with the chances of getting taken out far greater.

Personally I wear one and don't give a toss if other people decide not to wear them, but to deny the risks your facing is just plain stupid and arrogant.

How big are these risks and are they mitigated by wearing a helmet?

Its certainly worth protecting your head. My friends mother died a few years back after a relatively tame fall, however she smashed her head on a hidden rock.

That should have been enough to convince me but I still didn't bother wearing one as I was more concerned about what type of hat I should wear. Then a couple of years ago I ended up being helicoptered off the mountain after a bit of a smash. I narrowly missed also smashing my head in, but the parts i did hit received enough damage to convince me to think about wearing one. Now I never go without one.

I would particularly recommend it for anyone who does a typical ski holiday type approach where you don't ski for most of the year and then ski like crazy for a week. Athough great fun, people get tired and thats when accidents happen, also skiing when conditions are not so goo increases the risk. Ice can also be pretty hard and I have seen lots of people smash their heads in on ice and ruin their holidays. not fun at all.

Its all down to choice, but I would certainly recommend it.

So if it was proven to prevent death you still wouldn't? Yep, you don't need one

Correct, because I've decided that I don't want to wear one! Again - car analogy. I was cooking the other day, and something splashed into my face. I'm not going to wear a welding mask to cook from now on.

Do most people wear them because there's empirical evidence, or a gut feel they will help? I don't think anyone will deny they reduce the risk of injury. I certainly don't.

It's all about calculated risk. I've made that calculation and decided not to wear one. I hope you don't mind.

I got one when my 4yo started skiing. I figured if he was coming skiing with me and I made him wear a helmet then I had to wear one too. Now I couldn't imagine not having it.

As an aside, a friend who has braids crashed when boarding, and one of his braids punctured a hole clean through his skull! He wears a helmet now...

His hair broke his skull. 😯

Serves him right for having braids frankly!

As I dont':
- have braids
- snowboard
- have a skull made of overcooked pasta...

...I'm not now thinking I must rush out and purchase one, as well as a full flame proof suit for turning on the hob, or a SCUBA tank for taking a shower (you could drown after all). Listening to folk here you'd think I was lucky to be alive after going with 100 miles of a ski slope without a helmet. Such reckless abandon!

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.

That's not how it happens. It happens because of crossing lines at different speeds, with the faster rider approaching from behind and incorrectly predicting the line of the slower rider in front. The downhill rider is utterly helpless to avoid a collision. This is why the uphill rider must plan to take a line well clear of the downhill rider as they approach.

The best way to avoid these collisions is to ski faster and straighter than everyone else while looking a long way ahead.

[helmet wearer]

Neal, please can you tell me where you ski? They sound very different to any of the resorts I have ever skied in over the past 30+ years, so best avoided. Plus, as a guide, why does the easy arête off the AdMidi constitute a place to wear a helmet. No objective dangers on that bit, and the most likely accident is a fall. And yet how many go down that without ropes and crampons?

I cannot understand the aggro about helmets and skiing. Personal choice FFS. My kids and wife wear them, I don't. I can see both sides, but Blimey, the "you must do this" or "that" is tiresome.

That's not how it happens. It happens because of crossing lines at different speeds, with the faster rider approaching from behind and incorrectly predicting the line of the slower rider in front. The downhill rider is utterly helpless to avoid a collision. This is why the uphill rider must plan to take a line well clear of the downhill rider as they approach.

Oh well, never happened to me, but then I'm generally going quicker than most. Only seen it a couple of times anyway, and not sure I buy into the "you can't see them coming" school of thought.

[i]and not sure I buy into the "you can't see them coming" school of thought.[/i]

[i]"Neal, please can you tell me where you ski? They sound very different to any of the resorts I have ever skied in over the past 30+ years, so best avoided."[/i]

I lived Mayrhofen for 13 years, so all the resorts in the Zillertal were visited regularly. Also St Anton, Zell am Zee, Kitzbuhel, Kaprun, Westendorf, Lech, Igls.

Also a fair bit of time in the Three Valleys resorts, Morzine/Avoriaz, Val Disere/Tignes, Les2Alpes and various smaller French resorts.

[i]"Plus, as a guide, why does the easy arête off the AdMidi constitute a place to wear a helmet. No objective dangers on that bit, and the most likely accident is a fall. And yet how many go down that without ropes and crampons?"[/i]

I wasn't suggesting that the arrete was particularly dangerous, that's just the place where you see a load of people in one place, and the area where people sort out their kit etc before setting off. And that's where I noticed that so many people where wearing helmets compared to when I first did it.

Well I must have been lucky because I have skied in all but two of those and they didn't resemble the chaos that you alluded to earlier!

Anyway, safe and fun skiing to all whatever your choices!

Serves him right for having braids frankly!

racist 😮

My late wife was quite a slow, steady skier and she got wiped-out quite a lot over the years. I ride my snowboard like my pants are on fire and I've never hit, or been hit, by anyone.

People, trees, rocks and just icy pistes are nasty things to bash your head into, especially at the sorts of higher speeds one can achieve. Bobble hats are only suitable headwear for the pub.

[i]"Well I must have been lucky because I have skied in all but two of those and they didn't resemble the chaos that you alluded to earlier!"[/i]

Working on the mountain every day, you can't avoid the chaos caused by Half Term and Easter holiday, Paris Half term Fortnight, Christmas Holidays, Snowbombing etc. etc.

But if people do avoid all of these the risk is at least in part mitigated, without a helmet...

neal, so are you an IFMGA guide?

Well a lively debate, wore mine for the first time today.
It keeps head slightly cooler with vents open
Taking it off for a beer, its cold when you put it back on
Didnt really notice it there as its fairly light
Banged my head getting a bubble, forgot it sticks up more
No real issues so if it savesme in the odd crash alls good.

[img] [/img]

neal, so are you an IFMGA guide?

No I was an Instructor (Austrian qualified - Anwärter) and also did on piste guiding, not "Mountain Guiding"

Keeps your bonce warm as well as protected.

I've used one for several years after a novice lost control and left me no choice but to ski a large slab of glassy ice. With the best will in the world, I slipped and banged the back of my head - hard!

Wasn't going fast, but tried to minimise the blow by stopping my head lurching backwards, which just caused me to strain muscles.

Before that, they just seems like a fashion accessory, but I wouldn't ski without one now.

If you balk at the idea of spending £120, I'm sure a cheap BMX style cycle helmet would do the same job. They don't come with ear pads, but you could buy a pair of Tune Ups and fit them so you can listen to your music on the lifts.

dales rider, shoulders square to the slope please, weight on the downhill ski, don't drag your poles

have a great hol 8)

(oh, and helmet with goggles, or hat with glasses, all cool. helmet with glasses, nonononono).

as for the other dingdongs here:
* I've done the VB several times too, I don't recall seeing a guide with a helmet
* in-bounds I think collision, specifically some **** wiping you out from behind either due to incompetence or going too fast and not giving a toss, is by far the greatest risk, and I've had a few close calls. It's not possible to look uphill all the time. I try and ski at the edge, or off the piste on different lines, wherever possible. When I'm thinking about maybe taking my daughter skiing in the future it's collision from rear that scares me.

"I've done the VB several times too, I don't recall seeing a guide with a helmet " Balls...

hmmm - Andreas Fransson (most famous extreme skier right now) Miles Smart IFMGA on the midi lift the other day. not a helmet in sight...
[img] [/img]

Not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me. I've not been up there for a couple of years but don't remember guides with helmets.

I don't care tho, everyone should do what they want of course. Maybe I will if I go again, or maybe not.

Oooooh name dropping!

Most off-piste guided trips I've been on in recent years require the use of a helmet. No lid: no guiding. Personally I now feel safer wearing one where there are objective hazards - trees, rocks, overconfident idiots, that sort of thing... but I wear mine all the time, just as I wear my pack all the time.

first time skiing in december and no esf staff that i saw wore helmets and i'd say only about <10 percent of adults i saw wore helmets, lots of kids had them on though, mandatory for them and lessons.
its odd but didnt really feel like wearing a helemt yet almost always wear one on the bike

i also went to hemel hemstead at the weekend for some indoor snow and i highly recommend a helmet there, it was mental, bodies flying everwhere, saw a few collisions and had a few near misses myself.

can certainly appreciate there could be equally if not more risk skiing but it shouldnt be mandatory just like cycling helmets shouldnt be.

wear one if you like or dont

For an internet based mountain bike forum I'm quite amazed at how many professional or more modestly semi-professional skiers we have on here.
I go off piste with the best of them mind, once I was so off piste I could barely see the sticks.

I wear a lid, I don't mind if you don't. That's your choice.

Come to think of it; can't remember the last time I saw someone in a Warren Miller video wear a lid.

Average skier here.

Come to think of it; can't remember the last time I saw someone in a Warren Miller video wear a lid

Do you watch many 😉

2012

2008

Same old arguments as for bike helmets.

Seen and experienced enough skiing to convince me I'm happier with them, and besides if you ski in the US you look a tit without one, and surprisingly the snowboarders are big on them. Gnarly-dude lids are cool. It's only old fart fashion snobs in Europe who don't wear them now. That's fine when daintily poncing around on your teletubbies for an hour and spending the rest of the day apres 😛

and surprisingly the snowboarders are big on them.

Not really thats the spot that hits the floor when edges disengage on a board

Dales' position looks fine to me given he's heading for the camera. That stick isn't dragging, it looks more like he's doing the standard powder/clag [url= http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9bdpg_les-bronzes-font-du-ski-le-plante-d_fun#.UPeqX_JpW78 ]planté de bâton.[/url]

only teasing about the skiing, I'm no expert

Do you watch many

Haha clearly not enough!

No appropriate protective gear?

1) Does not understand the risk.
or
2) Does not want to accept the risk.

Seems like its a "Risk analysis" for even the top skiers/boarders. Just the same for MTBing if I was riding along the canal towpaths around where I live maybe not bother with a lid, single track through forest such as Stainburn I wouldnt ride without one.
Yesterday venture through the trees there was a lot of short crags and trees very close steep ground and stuff coming down from mate skiing above and right, didnt need the helmet but who knows might of done.

Two days ago skiing with first skier to ski down the North face of the Midi skiing off piste with no helmet, guess he thought it well within his abilities bit like me on a towpath.

No appropriate protective gear?

1) Does not understand the risk.
or
2) Does not want to accept the risk.
or
3) Has accepted the risk and taken appropriate precautions

FTFY.

I'll say it again, as the helmets on here seem to have covered people's ears and they can't hear. Or they're stupid, perhaps too many hits to the head.

I know there's a risk. There is a risk driving a car (a bigger one in fact), but I don't wear a helmet. I put trainers on to walk to the station this morning on the icy pavement, I had planned to ride, but decided it wasn't worth the risk of crashing.

These are all risk assessments I have made. When I ski I make a similar one. The result is that I don't deem a helmet necessary for what I'm doing. If my skiing changed then I would wear one. You are entitled to wear one. You are in no position to judge me for my decision.

I've only ever broken one helmet riding, caught up in a crash at the start of a race, didn't even realise I'd hit my head, but I still wear one because I perceive the risk to be far higher than when I ski.

Wearing a helmet increases the risk of a neck injury
So its not just a case of why not

I suppose you need to analyse your riding/how you fall and figure out is it going to be a help or a hinderance.
When I looked at the impact absorption information I figured it it wasn't worth it, I wanted to take an informed decision so I took the time to find out some facts

Neck braces are becoming increasingly adopted in Mountain Biking to mitigate the risk
So if you're opinion is why not wear a helmet, then go with the neck brace too?

Or maybe just stay in the bar and have a drink...

Or maybe just stay in the bar and have a drink...

Number of people injured drinking vs skiing? Shouldn't leave the house.

Actually, more people die in house accidents. Stay in bed.

Actually, people die falling out of bed. Where does it end!?

I've no issue with anyone choosing not to wear a helmet to ski.
And I haven't slagged anyone off for not wearing one, or praised anyone for wearing one.

Its personal choice, and if people are aware of the relative risk involved of what they do then thats great.

But if someone says they don't need one because they are a good skier, or they don't need one because they only ski on piste, and it seems like they may have misjudged the risk, then I will say something.

Does that make me an "evangelical tosser" or "stupid from too many hits to the head" ?

Or am I just being helpful by letting people know of risks they may not have considered, so they can maybe do a more accurate risk assessment for themselves ?

njee20

I don't think you understood this part of my post.

"No [u]appropriate[/u] protective gear?"

Which is a variable. As you say its up to an individual to work out what's appropriate but. Thats all I meant.

I've no issue with anyone choosing not to wear a helmet to ski.
And I haven't slagged anyone off for not wearing one, or praised anyone for wearing one.

Its personal choice, and if people are aware of the relative risk involved of what they do then thats great.

But if someone says they don't need one because they are a good skier, or they don't need one because they only ski on piste, and it seems like they may have misjudged the risk, then I will say something.

Does that make me an "evangelical tosser" or "stupid from too many hits to the head" ?

Nope, and my comments weren't aimed at you. I just don't get what qualifies people to tell others they're wrong.

Wearing a helmet increases the risk of a neck injury

Do you have links to any information on that (specific to skiing)

I'd be interested if you do.

Nope, and my comments weren't aimed at you. I just don't get what qualifies people to tell others they're wrong.

Fair enough, if they are telling you that not wearing a helmet is wrong.

But if they are telling you things that may make your assessment of the risk involved wrong, then I personally think that's ok. It's all information that can be used to make a decision.

njee20

I don't think you understood this part of my post.

"No appropriate protective gear?"

Perhaps not, the key point being everyone's definition of 'appropriate' varies.

Fact most skiing injuries are in the car park.
This was certainly true yesterday, daughter trapped her fingers in my bike rack which doubles up a a ski rack.
BTW she had a helmet on 🙂

Sure it does but sometimes the decision is clouded by

1) Does not understand the risk.
or
2) Does not want to accept the risk.

That's all I meant. Im not specifically judging you or anyone else. Its just an observation.

[url= http://www.ski-injury.com/injury-statistics/stats1 ]Interesting site[/url]
Have a gander

That's all I meant. Im not specifically judging you or anyone else. Its just an observation.

Fair enough!

Sorry its been a while since researched this and I don't have any of the info to hand
I remember it being a pain to find too, nobody's going to get paid to come find this kind of conclusion. Whereas if everyones concluding helmets are great and there's nowt wrong with wearing one then somebody makes money, so you'll find a lot of research like that.

I once lost a 1 5l bottle or coke down a black run. Hope it didn't hurt anyone who was within their comfort zone

Did just find this paper
[url= http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/171/10/1134.full ]Risk of neck injury[/url]
Which uses a hell of a lot of fancy stats to indicate that the increase in risk of neck injury is not significant

"In the unconditional logistic regression analysis, regardless of the severity of the neck injury, the crude odds ratios all indicated that there were statistically significantly increased odds of neck injury among skiers and snowboarders who wore a helmet compared with skiers and snowboarders who did not. However, after adjustment, the odds ratios were not significant"
and
"The crude analysis showed that there were significantly higher odds of neck injury among persons wearing a helmet compared with those not wearing a helmet (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.36); however, the strength of the association decreased and was not statistically significant after controlling for potential confounders (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.22)"

I'd need to take the paper apart to figure out what the adjustments were and why they've done them.

From the Link above :

Conclusions

We did not find evidence of a relation between helmet use and the risk of neck injuries among skiers and snowboarders, regardless of the severity of the neck injury. Among children, who have a larger head-to-body ratio than adults, there was also no statistically significant association. Regardless of the results, reductions in the weight of ski and snowboard helmets that offer adequate protection should remain a goal for manufacturers. Our study provides additional evidence that helmets do not significantly increase the risk of neck injuries among skiers and snowboarders, and their use should be encouraged.

That's one of the examples I was talking about really.

When someone says "wearing a helmet increases the risk of neck injury"

It adjusts people's view of whether to wear one or not. It makes their "risk assessment" a bit dodgy if they are using information like that to base a decision on.

The thing is you really need to read the paper and come to your own conclusion, because it looks to me like there is a significant link but if you spin the figures far enough you can show that its not a significant increased risk.

TBH I can't see how there couldn't be just based on the physics, but I do think its small, and how can falling uncontrollably down a mountain off a bike be that much different?

I don't have a helmet for snowboarding, and I don't think I will

I have a good helmet for downhill mountain biking and I'm seriously considering a neck brace too

All my xc helmets have a rounded back ie no pointy out aero bits to act as levers and break my neck

I have read that one, and a few others that all have the same end conclusion.

I wouldn't presume to know any better than they do, so my own conclusion is that there is no proof that wearing a helmet increases the risk of neck injuries.

So when someone says exactly the opposite of that, I will ask for some proof 😉

farty81 - Member

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

This really is one of the biggest straw men of all time though... When humankind travels the same distance by ski as we do by car, and take the same length of time, in the same environment, then it becomes relevant.

Sorry I've seen through too many scientific papers and known too much inside information in the past to take someone else's conclusion for granted, and a quick scan of this paper would indicate to me that there's a lot of figure massaging going.

...but I don't have any papers coming to that conclusion as specifically related to skiing, and I'm happy that you've done an exhaustive search.

It's the fact that I've never seen any study come to a different conclusion than that one that convinces me.

Car helmet?
How about a seat belt? I hated them to start with, feel odd without now. I have a mate who NEVER wears one.

Looking at the data I think a more accurate conclusion would be that there's a strong indication that there's an increased risk of neck injury (odds ratios being significant) however, more data needs to be obtained before a firm conclusion can be made ("We could not adjust for all potentially confounding variables in all analyses, as there were simply too few neck injury outcomes, even with 10 years of data. ")

But I guess you've got a lot more faith in their conclusions than drawing your own

Dales_rider - Member
Seems like its a "Risk analysis" for even the top skiers/boarders.

And sometimes leading to some interesting decisions. A friend of mine runs a company in Canada providing instructor training courses. He had a magazine come and do a feature, with a couple of pros along to chuck up some roosters for the camera. With £600 ABS packs and no helmets. My friend couldn't quite get his head around the priorities:

"You're more likely to hit your head on a tree here than you are to get caught in an avalanche, and if you get caught in an avalanche, you'll end up in the trees. And you're more likely to get brain damage or die from impact trauma than from asphyxiation whilst buried. What gives?"

He probably put it more politely, though, because he's like that.

I'm currently in Andorra and here those that don't wear helmets are definitely in the minority. And having taken a walloping tumble yesterday (one of those nasty 'boarding a flat section at speed and hit a bobbly bit' jobs) and thanked my lucky stars I was wearing a helmet otherwise I'd have been seeing stars. What with that and the kamikaze idiot who took out a poor lass at massive speed, helmets are a necessity if not essential IMHO.

But I guess you've got a lot more faith in their conclusions than drawing your own

As I said, not just their conclusions. But I added theirs to the list of other studies that all seem to have come to the same conclusions.

I have to say, it's an interesting debating tactic.

To make a statement that "wearing a helmet increases the risk of neck injuries"

And for proof of that statement, present a study that concludes the opposite.

And then say you don't trust the conclusion 🙂

I'm not sure wearing a helmet will make a jot of difference in a direct head collision with a tree or rock whilst hammering it to escape an avalanche, or being caught up in one.

I came very close today to using the helmet, someone not learned in the "Skiing etiquette" nearly got me. Bet If I wasnt wearing a helmet she would of.

In the real world of skiing, for a week or maybe 2 each year, ACL and MCL injuries must be more common than head injury.
How many people who hire skis / own skis know the correct 'official' rating for themselves on the bindings , plus how many people actually 'self test' the release mechanism?
Probably 1 in 100( ? ) know what to look for , and a perform a self release test.

I dont want a year off the bike with complicated tendon repairs , or brain damage come to that.

WHat Im trying to say is whilst a helmet might save an injury for some people, bindings on the wrong setting or malfunctioning could save injury for more people.

Ah, DIN settings. My son's giant skis are wound up to 10 with 335mm boots. You'll find that's well over the advised range for even the most able 60kg skier. The reason? Less than that and he risks injury due to losing a ski mid-turn and crashing. It's the old risk assessment thing - the risk of the ski not releasing at 10 (low in a high speed fall) and the risk of losing a ski resulting in a crash at a lower setting (high).

When ski touring I lock the bindings completely (Low-Tech bindings) before steep icy descents where losing a ski would cause a nasty fall.

Having seen people with acl damage they tend to recover better than those with brain damage.

I think we're doing pretty well for a helmet thread!

- Standard "You're wrong", "No, you're wrong", questioning/denouncing of others risk analysis.

- "You don't wear a helmet in the car, do you?" / "You'd never get out of bed" stuff

- Provision of, and calls for back-up from scientific studies (no bonus points for anything "peer-reviewed" though?)

- Comparisons with knee injuries

- "straw man" etc

Don't we've gone quite as far as "I'd never ski with someone without a helmet" or variations on "I wouldn't stop to help someone with a head injury who hadn't been wearing a helmet" Which is a good thing!

Ned it's an amazing thing to see eh?

I've only been skiing the once. A week in France i think. I knocked loads of people over and had a great time doing it. I even caused a guy to fall off a cliff (there was no contact, he just bricked it when i went past). Friends reported the netting saved him 😮 . Even tried a fancy skid/stop thing (as seen on ski sunday, when they finish the race) No idea how many people i cleaned on that attempt. Easily a dozen 😀

If you ski when i'm about, you'd best wear a lid.