During alpine mishaps, helmets separate your skull from icy moguls, errant ski poles and slope-side flora. As a bonus, they defy the windchill to keep your dome toasty. Wearing a helmet has become a no-brainer for more and more skiers and snowboarders. So why aren’t snow-safety advocates overjoyed that helmets have become accepted, even cool, among the carving masses?
Well, have you ever had an SUV blow past you on an icy, snowy highway? More than likely that driver was gunning it with the false confidence that hazardous conditions yield unconditionally to four-wheel drive and burly suspension.
Experts say the same delusion is at work in skiers and snowboarders who don helmets and consider themselves bulletproof. A study has shown that although helmeted and non-helmeted skiers sustain head injuries at the same rate, the ones wearing helmets sustain the most serious head injuries.
While damage more serious than a mild concussion represents 23 percent of all head injuries for non-helmeted skiers, they represent 67 percent for helmeted skiers. Most of these grave injuries tend to befall experienced skiers who are likely to travel at higher speeds and seek out difficult terrain.
“From a behavioral point of view, it’s easy to see how this happens,” said Jasper Shealy, a researcher who helped conduct the 30-year study at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont. “The helmet may be an enabler for high-risk behavior.”
According to the Snowsports Industry of America, manufacturers sold almost 300,000 helmets during the 1998-1999 season. By last season, that number had more than doubled. About 160 of the nation’s resorts have gotten past hygiene and dependability issues to make helmet rentals available.
“The liability suit is always part of the landscape we operate in,” said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, who echoes Shealy’s findings: “Wear a helmet, but ski or ride as if you weren’t,” Berry said.
