Headed to the mountains for a snowy getaway? It should be easy to notice one significant difference at your favorite winter sports destination. Give up? It’s the growing number skiers and snowboarders using helmets. In North American, Europe and other destinations, these once rare pieces of equipment are an increasingly common sight on the slopes.
While helmets are not yet required law, there are good reasons behind this trend. The benefits of head protection have been strongly promoted lately by medical professionals as well as those in the winter sports industry, in part because of recent high profile accidents, like the unfortunate death of actress Natasha Richardson. She suffered what appeared to be a minor injury after a fall, while not wearing a helmet, but later succumbed to epidural hematoma: a buildup of blood in her skull.
While helmets cannot prevent extreme collisions, they can reduce the chance of a head injury by as much as 50% during an accident, and are very good at keeping the seemingly minor event or injury, like Richardson’s, from becoming more severe.
Does he look like a dork? Maybe. But he's reducing his chances of heady injury by as much as 50 percent.
Part of the key to helmet safety is picking the right one for you. Everyone’s head is a slightly different shape, so it’s important to try on several before choosing one. After finding one that seems to work, make sure:
1. The helmet fits comfortably but securely, so that it remains on your head when you need it. When you wiggle your head, the helmet shouldn’t move.
2. The brim of the helmet lines up with your eyebrows, not higher where it can expose your forehead, or lower where it can obscure your vision.
3. No spaces exist between the helmet lining and your head.
4. The back of the Helmet should not touch your neck, as this can be dangerous
5. A good pair of goggles fit with the helmet. Clear visibility can help you see a dangerous situation and avoid it in the first place.
Standard helmets function for skiers and snowboarders traveling up to 17 miles an hour, so if you’re planning to imitate the speed or moves of your favorite winter Olympian, you’ll want to look into some more advanced, expensive technology. For recreational skiers however, the Giro Fuse Snow Helmet is the top-rated helmet at backcountry.com and other sites, but remember, even if you’re buying online you’ll want to go into a store to see how certain helmets fit your head type.
Photos by pravin.premkumar and DanMaudsley.
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