 Poster: A snowHead
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I don't see many skiers wearing a helmet, esp on piste. I'm no expert skier and never really travel at speeds outside my comfort zone but reading reports of people getting killed in crashes (I know it's incredibley rare) and threads on crashes it's making me think.
I'm off four 4 days in a couple of weeks, leaving behind my wife and family and I think it's better to be safe than sorry. You can buy one for the price of an expensive hat so whats the arguement for NOT wearing a helmet?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Good grief, not again. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I see more and more people wearing helmets, across a fairly broad spectrum: park rats, novices, good skiers, junior racers, families with their kids. This week, for the first time ever, I even saw an ESF instructor wearing a helmet. For a very unscientific survey I'd guess 25-30% of skiers in Les Arcs are wearing them, a slightly smaller proportion of boarders.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Some resorts give free passes to children who wear helmets, in Levi all the instructors who teach kids wear helmets.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I wear a helmet - but I'm a snowboarder. It's a lot easier to bang your head into the piste whilst strapped to a plank. I didn't wear a helmet until after a spectacular wipeout which left me seeing stars.
There's no real argument for not wearing a helmet but it's all down to individual choice. If you're feeling worried then get one. It'll improve your confidence at the very least, and might save you from injury. As you say, they cost no more than an expensive hat.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I wear one, and I think that they probably do help, but the case is far from clearcut.
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up4it, fill your boots - er helmet.
Doubt there'll be anything new to say after you've waded through that lot.
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We should have a locked thread, do you wear a helmet, "Yes or No" which should be stickied forever!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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up4it, yes i do. i'm also a boarder and started wearing one cos my mate bashed her head on an icy piste and we only found out she had concussion when she went to a&e about a week later. the possible outcome scared me into realising how much i enjoy being on the slopes and how much i would miss it if i couldn't be there anymore cos of a preventable injury.
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| Kramer wrote: |
| I wear one, and I think that they probably do help, but the case is far from clearcut. |
Seconded.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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A friend of mine worked a season in A&E in a ski town hospital and after hearing the stories, I have no doubt that wearing a helmet saves lives. Not wearing one is stupid.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Gotta agree with that arv.
Yes I wear a helmet
Of course they help
Should you be made to wear one? no. That covers about 400 threads on the forum.
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Wot anotherproblem said. It's like he took the words right out of my mouth. It mush have been while he was...
yes, well, enough of that then. I'm off for another pint
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You know it makes sense.
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anotherproblem,
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Should you be made to wear one? no. That covers about 400 threads on the forum
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Also seconded.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I had to get it out otherwise we'll just end up with yet another thread of people arguing about it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes when riding my motorcycle, but not when skiing. I guess I'm just old school. We didn't dream of stuff like that in the 70s/80s. But we also played 'chicken' on railway lines and ate unwashed fruit and veg picked from the allotments. Quite surprised I made it to 40 to be honest...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wore a helmet for the first time a couple of weeks ago in Banff - quite glad I did after getting an almightly clonk on the head and in the ribs off a chairlift.
Luckily the gouge was taken out of my helmet and not my head, it wouldnt have made a pretty sight Im sure.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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queen bodecia, "I guess I'm just old school. Quite surprised I made it to 40 to be honest..." Yawns but rises to the bait ... As a small child in the 70's, I used to sit on the backseat of the Mk1 Cortina with my brother & sister, none of us wearing seatbelts, my parents smoking in the front and my Dad, driving, would usually have had more than just a couple of pints and a chaser or two if we were returning from a long journey from seeing family or friends. Somehow it all seemed OK at the time.
Edit ... I'll just wheel out my own anecdote which obviously proves nothing but justifies in my mind why I started wearing a helmet nearly 3 years ago. February 2006, Glenshee ski centre, about 1.30 p.m. Saw bloke in car park restaurant, face white as sheet, vomit down his jacket. Was told (yes, possibly misled by a head safety campaigner and helmet manufacturing company shareholder but he just seemed like another Scottish skiing punter to me) that the poor fella had slipped on ice in the car park and bashed his head. Yes, the vomit could have been someone elses and actually the rather ill bloke might have been a travelling mime artist. Yes, even if the ill bloke had suffered as a result of an impact with his head to the ground, what's to say that if he had been wearing a helmet, he might have not heard the engine of a passing car and suffered a much more serious injury instead. I understood (probably from a helmet salesman) later that he was ambulanced away.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Tue 30-12-08 22:45; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I used to get ribbed for wearing a helmet - at least in Europe. Just back from a week in Les Arcs, and whilst helmet-wearers were clearly in the minority, no-one battered an eyelid that I was wearing one (together with junior(7) and the missus).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Cobra.., yup. Your head is much more likely to be clonked by a chairlift bar if you are wearing a helmet. Can't remember it happening once when I have not been wearing one - in contrast to being hit by the bar a few times when wearing a lid. My conclusion: suffering head its from a chair lift bar whilst wearing a helmet is not evidence that you would have received a nasty injury had you not been wearing a lid.
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I ski, and I've worn a helmet for a couple of seasons now. Why? After a holiday in St Anton, on the 'happy valley' run at the end of the day a dickhead boarder went off a jump at full tilt - and flew between me and mrs chrisdavis round about head height. The piste was crowded, and I just thought it was probably more when than if that one of us would get badly clattered.
Plus, if that someone was wearing a helmet, I'd rather be made of something equally as tough - a beanie ain't enough.
Anyone tried one of the D30 beanies? Next time I'm in Ellis Brigham I'll get one of the lackies to crack me with a shovel - see what happens........
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| Brightside wrote: |
| A friend of mine worked a season in A&E in a ski town hospital and after hearing the stories, I have no doubt that wearing a helmet saves lives. Not wearing one is stupid. |
Details?
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chrisdavis, is the "hard stuff" in that the same as in the schoffel clothing??
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Yep - I ski, Mr B doesn't & he bought it for me last year. An added bonus is my ears don't get cold!
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I haven't worn one in the past, but I bought one from Lidl a few weeks ago, and will wear it in future.
One of the things that made me decide was very similar to chrisdavis,'s experience, when somebody flew off a roller and came past me pretty well at head height, what seemed like only a couple of yards away (At Zell am Ziller last year). I know a helmet wouldn't have made much difference if he had hit me full on, but it could have made a big difference if it had been a glancing blow.
I've also found that over that last few years, helmet wearing seems to have become much more common, as others have said.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| anotherproblem wrote: |
| chrisdavis, is the "hard stuff" in that the same as in the schoffel clothing?? |
Soft stuff that 'freezes' under impact. There's a film on youtube of a guy wearing one getting hit with a shovel, seems to do the trick.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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moffatross, bit bemused about the guy who fell over on the ice in the car park. We have ice in car parks and on pavements a bit further south too. I actually did once upon a time slip whilst scraping my car windscreen and broke my nose when it hit the kerb. Don't suppose a helmet would have helped there, but is this what the world is coming to? Helmets for pedestrians in winter?
That aside, I do see why helmets are becoming more widespread on the slopes and I may re-consider at some point in the future. It's all about personal choice and what risks one is prepared to take...
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yeh thats what the schoffel clothing is meant to do, thought it'd be quite cool but have no desire to pay for it at all!
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| moffatross wrote: |
| What I can't suss out is for example, why some of the people who I ride singletrack downhill mountain bikes with, who wouldn't dream of riding without a helmet for fear of whacking their unprotected heads on trees or rocks, don't wear head protection when they ski or board |
That's the point I've being trying to make to a couple of my mates, they use them for biking and skating, but not skiing?? That's where it ceases to be "I don't like helmets" and becomes "I'm just a stubborn wierdo"
As I said earlier, I wear one but don't think you should have to.
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Poster: A snowHead
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After my little ....'Unfall' at the EOSB last year, I'm going to be wearing one this year 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I took a backwards flip on an icy bumpy piste in bad vis the other year and took an almighty whack to the back of my head. I had bought a lid for off piste skiing down rocky gullies but now wear it all the time. I use one for climbing, mountain biking and motorbiking... just seems daft not to wear one in the one sport where I seem to crash most ofen 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I felt that I was in the minority not wearing a helmet last week on the Stubai Glacier.
Decided finally that I will be with helmet for the next time out.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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i used to occasionally.. but now do full time after two big head traumas last year, one on a mountain bike and one on piste with a helmet on...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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To be honest... helmets give most protection from low impact 'pain in the @r$e' type injuries. As this year when my mate fell and his gf skied over the top of his head. If he hadn't been wearing his new lid (now gauged) he would have had approx 6-10 stitches across his scalp.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Scarpa wrote: |
| To be honest... helmets give most protection from low impact 'pain in the @r$e' type injuries. As this year when my mate fell and his gf skied over the top of his head. If he hadn't been wearing his new lid (now gauged) he would have had approx 6-10 stitches across his scalp. |
Cue people arguing that he probably fell over because his helmet put him off balance and if she hit his helmet she would of been at like 1" from his head therefore would of done him no harm at all......
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Scarpa, i never understand the "low impact only" arguement. if you crash at speed or have a high impact with your head hitting a rock or icy patch do you not think a helmet would significantly reduce your injury?
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skimottaret, Yes... but there may be other injuries at high speed impacts. At high speed crashes a ski helmet may mitigate injury risk but as in motorbike head injuries where the lids are a lot more substantial... they may not prevent death. The 'low impact' argument is designed to encourage use for all round skiing... tis not intended for an 'only' scenario... just that low impact crashes are more common than the major ones.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| moffatross wrote: |
What I can't suss out is for example, why some of the people who I ride singletrack downhill mountain bikes with, who wouldn't dream of riding without a helmet for fear of whacking their unprotected heads on trees or rocks, don't wear head protection when they ski or board  |
They probably think that the snow is a lot softer than those trees or rocks - forgetting about the possibility of hitting other people or lift pylons.
I do think that if you ski mainly on-piste, and don't do much in the way of jumps & tricks, then there is a much lower risk of walloping your head while skiing than while mountain biking.
Personally, I have now decided the risk is still high enough that I will be wearing one in future.
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| They probably think that the snow is a lot softer than those trees or rocks |
Problem is, mountains tend to be full of them sticking out of the snow 
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FAQ
Yep, that would be taking it a bit too far but once my lid's on, it doesn't come off until I get back in the car at the end of the day (if in Scotland) or into the bar (if on holiday). Ski boots and ice in ski resorts mix even worse than normal shoes in car parks down south. 
BTW, I've got no axe to grind and would hate the wearing of helmets to become compusory, just like I hated the smoking ban in public places. What I can't suss out is for example, why some of the people who I ride singletrack downhill mountain bikes with, who wouldn't dream of riding without a helmet for fear of whacking their unprotected heads on trees or rocks, don't wear head protection when they ski or board 