ARVADA, COLORADO – As a Colorado Native and long time lover of skiing and the outdoors, I was very excited this season to get my three kids (7,5 and 3) on the slopes again. My wife and I decided this year to put our two older boys in weekly lessons and we committed to bringing our daughter (3) to the slopes a few times this season as well to start getting used to the idea of skiing before she starts lessons next season.

After researching the various options, we decided to try out the programs up at Eldora Ski Resort (Eldora.com) for a number of reasons: We don’t have to drive I-70, the lift tickets are reasonably priced and the resort is small and welcoming like the resorts my wife and I grew up skiing at (a-basin, hidden valley, etc). To top it off, they have a fantatic kids ski school program.

This past Saturday was our second week of a six week program. I have been very impressed with the quality of organization, instructors and facilities up at Eldora, but I have one issue that is driving me nuts.

My boys’ ski instructor doesn’t wear a ski helmet.

Eldora Ski Resort (as well as many other resorts) doesn't require Ski Instructors to wear ski helmets.

When we signed our kids up for ski lessons this fall, one of the very first things we did was go out and purchase three good ski helmets for them. My wife and I already own ski helmets and would never ever ski without them. We spent a lot of time talking about the importance of wearing the helmets with the kids and they really seemed to understand that a ski helmet is part of skiing. It’s not an option, for us as a family at least. The kids ended up all selecting Giro Ski Helmets, which is what my wife and I wear as well.

It seems to me that in this age of “ski helmet awareness” a ski helmet should be habit, if not a requirement, for all employees of ski resorts, but ESPECIALLY for the ski instructors. I can’t believe it’s not a part of their uniform.

What kind of message are resorts like Eldora sending to our children by allowing their instructors the option to skip putting on a ski helmet when he or she starts the day? Do they not realize that these instructors are role models for all these young kids? Do they not understand the statistical proof that ski helmets do in fact reduce the number of serious injuries on the slopes? Are they more concerned about being “politically correct” than doing the right thing?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. Yet. I plan on speaking with management as well as individual instructors next weekend while I’m up there to find out exactly why they have not adopted a ski helmet requirement for employees. Look for a follow up article next week.

I think it is a shame that Eldora Ski Resort (as well as many other resorts, Eldora is not the only one by any means) are not requiring their ski instructors and staff to wear helmets. What’s it going to take to change that law? The death of an employee (like at Jackson Hole last spring)? Or god-forbid the death or serious injury of one of their students not wearing a ski helmet? I find it ironic that the documentation that Eldora provides for parents talks about the importance of a ski helmet, but they don’t even require their instructors to wear them and set a good example.

I’m glad that Eldora is a small, local resort. I love skiing there and recommend it to anyone looking for a low-stress ski day in Colorado. It’s a phenomenal place to ski. I don’t want them to turn into a mega-ski-resort at all, but I do think that when it comes to Ski Helmets and the safety of their employees, students and visitors, Eldora should consider taking notes from Intrawest’s decisions to require ski helmets for employees, ski school students and other visitors. It’s no different than wearing a seat belt. Put it on. Get used to it. Ski Helmets are not going away and the sooner we can embrace that, the better off we will all be.

If you would like to express your opinion about the Ski Helmet debate, especially as it relates to Ski School, please feel free to comment below or better yet, send an email directly to the resorts and let them know how you feel. Eldora can be reached at info@eldora.com.

Source: http://www.skihelmets.org/2010/01/shame-on-ski-i…g-a-ski-helmet/

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Richardson reportedly fell on soft snow on a beginners’ slope. She was not wearing a helmet, and she hit her head on the ground. In the immediate aftermath of the fall she seemed hardly injured; but her condition deteriorated swiftly, and the following day she died – as a result, said the New York City examiner’s office, of a “blunt impact to the head”.

It was her celebrity that made Richardson’s death an international event. But it had a particular resonance for skiers. The actress was not engaged in what might be regarded as “dangerous” skiing; on the contrary, to wear a helmet for what she was doing might then have been regarded as overdressing. But since her death it appears that a helmet is a proper precaution for entry-level skiers as well as those who expose themselves to greater risk by skiing harder and faster. In short, everyone who participates in snowsports should wear one.

The view that helmets are primarily for those who venture into hazardous terrain is reflected in their usage, at least in the United States. The NSAA says that 26 per cent of beginners wear them, 38 per cent of intermediates, and 55 per cent of experts. With the potential of the beginners’ market about to be tapped, ski-helmet suppliers can expect a good 2009/10 season, especially now that they and their retail outlets are prepared: immediately after Richardson’s death, supply could not keep up with demand.

The ski-helmet business also got early notice of another source of demand for its products. After a high-profile accident such as Richardson’s, it befits big ski-resort operators to respond, especially in a litigious culture such as America’s: to make a show of taking their duty of care seriously could be important in making a defence, should litigation arise over a subsequent injury or death. So in mid-April the Wall-Street-quoted Vail Resorts company, which operates ski areas in Colorado and on the California/Nevada border, announced that from this season all employees would have to wear helmets when skiing or boarding. It also required the use of helmets by all children taking ski and board lessons, and specified that ski-equipment packages for those aged 12 or under must include a helmet – unless a parent or legal guardian signed a waiver.

In October, the other big North American ski-resort operator, Intrawest, followed suit. It announced policies similar to those of Vail Resorts; but in addition it withdrew the right of a parent or guardian to opt out of the children’s helmet requirement. It also specifically recommended that all skiers and boarders at its resorts should wear helmets. Intrawest went the extra mile for good reason: as the owner of the Tremblant area at which Natasha Richardson fell, it is in a particularly exposed position.

A cynic might regard the clamour for crash helmets as bordering on the hysterical, for two reasons. First, skiing and boarding are not unduly dangerous: by the NSAA’s reckoning, swimming is much more risky. The number of people killed annually in the US while participating in snowsports has been quite consistent since the early 1990s. Excluding those caught in avalanches, the average is 39 fatalities per season. The number of US skier-visits per season, however, reaches into eight figures: last year’s total was 57.4 million. The chances of being killed on the slopes are not the proverbial one in a million, but considerably lower than that.

Second, and more troublingly, the numbers do not suggest that helmet-wearing makes winter sports safer. If a rapidly growing number of skiers in the US are choosing to wear helmets on the slopes, one would reasonably expect the fatality rate in the country to have declined. But it has not done so. And eight of those who died in ski accidents in 2008/9 were wearing helmets.

Trawl the internet for research on the use of helmets by skiers and boarders, and you will be amazed how much work is being done. But the material is remarkably diffuse, and rarely decisive. In general, research does favour the use of helmets; but a Norwegian medical team’s 2006 report on “Helmet use and the risk of head injuries in Alpine skiers and snowboarders” is fairly representative in the tenor of its conclusion. It judged that “helmet use is associated with the reduced risk of head injuries”.

Unfortunately there are many variables to distract the researchers. Much inconclusive stuff has been written about whether it is primarily risk-takers who wear helmets or precaution-takers; another issue which has been floated – and still drifts with the tides – is the possibility that it is the fashion for doing jumps and tricks on both boards and skis which has undone the good work of the growing band of helmet-wearers. Of more concern is the frequently raised suspicion that while helmets can prevent the type of injuries associated with low-speed accidents, they are simply not strong enough to withstand the sort of impact that causes serious head injuries, which are the dominant cause of snowsport fatalities.

When I started wearing a helmet, about a decade ago, it was merely out of interest in a new facet of skiing. Most people of my age who wore them, it turned out, had been forced into it by their children: cocky kids who resisted parental pressure – “If helmets are so important, why don’t you wear one?” – gave them no choice. But I just slipped into the habit of wearing mine; with a thin, base-layer “hoodie” worn underneath, it kept out the fiercest January cold; and if energetic climbing in springtime did sometimes send sweat coursing down my spectacle lenses, the heat generated was nothing like that suffered by cyclists in helmets. So on the basis that it might one day save my life, and was unlikely to do me any harm, I have worn the helmet without fail for 10 years. In that time, it has only once hit the ground (not counting the occasions on which I have dropped it). But I am quite a cautious skier.

If the proliferation of helmets hasn’t yet impacted on fatality statistics in the US, it has certainly boosted the market: the variety of helmets has expanded, and the volume of sales has increased the incentive to innovate. For this season Salomon (01276 404860; salomon.com) has a new model range called Custom Air based on technology developed by a French protective clothing company, Docmeter. Getting the right fit for a helmet, so that it is firmly seated on the head, can be problematic. Custom Air gets around that by having inflatable pockets in the helmet lining: the wearer simply pumps them up when the helmet is on. It’s a cunning piece of kit, available on helmets costing from £100.

By Stephen Wood

SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/skiing/heading-off-trouble-are-helmets-on-the-slopes-a-wise-precaution-or-unnecessary-caution-1834328.html

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Back in the 1980s, I worked for a time at Angel Fire ski resort in New Mexico. During the day, I taught skiing. At night I waited tables in a restaurant at the base of the mountain. One of the youngsters working there was the son of the general manager. He was in his teens, and I wasn’t that much older.

Originally from Arkansas, Michael was thrilled to be living in the Rockies. I appreciated his enthusiasm for mountain life and skied with him whenever I could, passing on tips on technique and encouraging his passion for skiing. He was eager to try the challenging slopes of nearby Taos, so when we both had a weekday off, we drove over the pass and tested ourselves on the steep walls of the West Basin.

A few weeks later, I headed out of town for a road trip to Wolf Creek and Telluride. When I returned to start a Friday night shift at the restaurant, I found my co-workers strangely silent as they filled ketchup bottles and folded napkins. Soon enough I found out why. Michael had died in a skiing accident at Angel Fire, colliding with a tree at high speed. Alcohol was involved.

His dad asked me to be a pallbearer at the funeral, something I wasn’t quite ready for in my early 20s. The only thing heavier than the casket was my heart. I somehow felt partly responsible and couldn’t shake the feeling that I had missed giving Michael some crucial information during our informal ski sessions. A few months later I pinpointed my misgivings. For all the technical information I shared with him, we never talked in a general way about ski safety, and we never got to the core of the issue: personal responsibility.

Ski safety wasn’t the hot topic it is now. I don’t know that I was aware of the skier safety code. I don’t know that it existed at the time. The slopes weren’t quite as crowded as they are now, and hardly anyone wore a helmet.

I don’t think the media was quite as sensationalistic yet, at least not like today, with swarms of journalists eager to cover each skier death — especially if it’s a celebrity. Most of them don’t know much about skiing, and it seems like that ignorance causes many of the accidents to be hyped way out of proportion. I don’t remember my ski school supervisors talking much about skier safety, but I resolved to include that topic in every lesson from then on, using my own personal experience as a starting point.

The past few years, I’ve been teaching my son to ski. He’s just a couple years away from his teens. When the snow is good, he skis comfortably down Waterfall and Gauthier. Often as not, we’re somewhere in the trees, hunting for soft snow.

With the technical skills in place, I’ve been relentless in trying to make him understand what it means to be a safe skier. We always stop at the edge of a trail, never in the middle. I’ve taught him to look uphill before starting out. He knows that the skiers in front of him have the right of way, that it’s his responsibility to avoid other skiers and obstacles of all kinds. He knows to respect closures and that he should only jump when he can see a clear, safe landing or, better yet, with a spotter.

So far, so good, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. When he’s with me, at least, he follows the code, and I’m hoping that by the time he’s skiing mostly on his own or with his buddies, it will be ingrained and automatic for him.

In our culture of instant gratification, when we’re told that the latest gear makes it easier than ever to ski, it seems even more important to concentrate on fundamentals and personal responsibility. Sadly, there are often way too many skiers and snowboarders on our local slopes going way too fast for their skills and conditions. This may sound judgmental, but it’s fairly obvious to a trained eye.

So, my plea for the season: It’s up to each and every one of us to live up to the common sense rules of the mountain. Don’t look to cast blame for accidents when they happen. It’s not the mountain’s fault. It’s not the snowmaking or the grooming … it’s all you.

Bob Berwyn has been reporting from Summit County since 1996 and has been a skier for nearly a half century.

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Intrawest To Recommend That All Resort Guests Wear Ski Helmets

New Snowsports Helmet Use Guidelines Receive Industry Support From The National Ski Areas Association And Canada West Ski Areas Association

Vancouver, BC, October 1, 2009 – Intrawest today announced that, beginning with the 2009-2010 winter season, the Company will increase awareness of the importance of ski helmet use at all of its wholly-owned ski resorts in North America. Intrawest will recommend that all skiers and snowboarders visiting its resorts wear helmets and there will be mandatory helmet requirements for all children and youth participants in Ski and Snowboard School Programs as well as all students participating in freestyle terrain park programs, regardless of their age. The new helmet use guidelines underscore Intrawest’s commitment to guest safety and have the support of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) and Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA).

A ski helmet will be included with all children/youth ski and snowboard rental packages from all of Intrawest’s equipment rental outlets. The new guidelines will be supported with enhanced employee education sessions and common language highlighting the importance of helmet use will appear on resort websites and in all trail maps. Going forward, Intrawest will place an increased focus on using website images and advertising visuals that feature skiers and snowboarders wearing helmets and Intrawest will introduce new graphic standards that require all of its ski resorts to feature helmets predominantly.

In the past at some resorts, a parent/guardian has had the ability to opt-out of having their children wear a helmet in certain on-mountain programs and activities. Beginning this season, Intrawest will remove the parent/guardian “opt-out clause” from all children’s waivers for Ski and Snowboard School Programs and all freestyle terrain park student programs.

Looking ahead to the 2010-2011 winter season, Intrawest will require employees to wear a helmet at all times while skiing or snowboarding on-duty in any freestyle terrain park at its resorts. Staff at Intrawest’s Ski and Snowboard Schools will also be required to wear a helmet if they serve as a guide or an instructor for any program that requires mandatory helmet use by a resort guest. Several Intrawest resorts will begin to implement these new employee helmet use guidelines this winter and the remaining resorts will be fully compliant by the beginning of the 2010-2011 winter season.

“Intrawest is working in conjunction with the ski industry to establish important best practices on behalf of our resort guests and employees,” said Bill Jensen, chief executive officer at Intrawest. “Together, we have established a new baseline for helmet use at our resorts that has received strong support from the NSAA and CWSAA. We will continue to work with all of the ski industry associations in the United States and Canada to raise awareness of this important initiative and the obligation of everyone to ski and ride in a controlled and responsible manner.”

The helmet usage guidelines will be phased in at the following Intrawest ski resorts:

• Copper Mountain (Colorado)
• Winter Park Resort (Colorado)
• Steamboat Ski Resort (Colorado)
• Stratton Mountain (Vermont)
• Snowshoe Mountain (West Virginia)
• Mountain Creek (New Jersey)
• Tremblant Resort (Quebec)
• Panorama Mountain (British Columbia)
• Whistler Blackcomb (British Columbia)

About Intrawest
Intrawest is a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts. The Company has interests in a network of resorts at North America’s most popular mountain destinations including Whistler Blackcomb, a host venue for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and Canadian Mountain Holidays, the largest heli-skiing operation in the world. In addition, Intrawest markets and sells real estate at its resorts in North America and at other third-party locations around the world. Intrawest is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and is a portfolio company owned primarily by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG). For more information, visit www.intrawest.com

For further information, please contact:
Ian Galbraith, Intrawest Corporate Communications
Tel: (604) 695-8317 or igalbraith@intrawest.com

Source: http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/media/news/season_2009-10/091001.htm

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Here are a few other articles you might like:

1. Panorama’s new ski helmet guidelines
2. Vail Resorts to require ski helmets for workers, ski-school kids next season
3. Intrawest puts emphasis on Ski Helmets

Quebec is leading the charge to ensure all skiers and snowboarders in the province wear helmets. The province is considering legislation that would make helmets mandatory on Quebec’s ski hills.

The Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sport consulting with experts to determine what this type of legislation would require, said Jean-Pascal Bernier, a spokesman for Minister Michelle Courchesne.

For the past two years, Quebec has asked its ski resorts to make helmets mandatory in snow parks. The vast majority have complied, said Claude Goulet, who was involved with the ministry before moving on to Laval University.

While skiers and ski associations across the country agree helmets are a good idea for all skiers, most believe forcing skiers to wear them is excessive.

“We don’t want to see it regulated; we believe a personal choice is really important to everybody,” said Jimmie Spencer, president and CEO of Canada West Ski Areas Association, which represents ski areas in British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It believes that, while helmets are a good idea, skiing safely and responsibly has more effect on personal safety than any one piece of equipment.

The Canada Safety Council would like to see more skiers wearing helmets, but doesn’t believe government intervention is necessary just yet.

“If legislation is the way to (make people wear helmets), then we’re behind it. But for now, we’re just focusing on the education and awareness,” said Valerie Powell, a spokeswoman for the council.

On the national front, Liberal MP Hedy Fry released a statement Thursday on the state of bill C-289, legislation originally brought forward in 2007 that would amend the Hazardous Products Act to include ski and snowboarding helmets. The bill would ensure the helmets meet the Canadian Standards Association’s qualifications before being sold, imported or advertised in Canada.

Associations in Europe and the United States already have helmet regulations in place, said Fry, adding she is “extraordinarily puzzled” that the same rules do not exist in Canada. She compared bill C-289 to regulations against smoking in public places and mandating seatbelt use, saying these laws were debated vigorously at one time, but now seem like common sense.

She went on to say that, while Richardson’s death was “tragic,” she hoped the public exposure stemming from it would highlight the need for regulation.

“I’m absolutely certain that Natasha Richardson’s family would feel that her death would not be in vain, if it pushes people to do things that would prevent other people from having this,” said Fry.

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1. Opinion: Actress’ death sparks misplaced call for helmets

That is not surprising. There is only so much helmets can do, and one thing they dont do is reduce deaths on the slopes.

There is no evidence they reduce fatalities, said Dr. Jasper Shealy, a professor from Rochester Institute of Technology who has been studying skiing and snowboarding injuries for more than 30 years. We are up to 40 percent usage [this is the percentage of people on the slopes wearing helmets, a number that has increased about 5 percent a year for several years] but there has been no change in fatalities in a 10-year period.

Shealy said that when considering all fatalities, two-thirds of those not wearing helmets die of head injuries but only one-third of those wearing helmets do. He added that fatalities have multiple causes but there is no change in the overall trend.

According to the National Ski Areas Association Web site ( www.nsaa.org ), Most fatalities occur in the same population that engages in high-risk behavior. Victims are predominantly male (85 percent) from their late teens to late 30s (70 percent). . . . Most of those fatally injured are usually above-average skiers and snowboarders who are going at high rates of speed on the margins of intermediate trails. This is the same population that suffers the majority of unintentional deaths from injury. That eerily describes Carr and his circumstances. He was 29 and an experienced rider. A friend who was boarding with him said Carr passed him at a high rate of speed on Cindys Run, which is an intermediate trail. Carr reportedly hit a tree, which means he was on the margin of the trail.

The reality is there is a limited amount of protection a helmet can provide, Shealy said.

ASTM International, a standards development organization, says that helmets provide protection at speeds up to 12 to 13 mph. Shealy said those standards are arbitrary but that 27 mph is the speed at which people die, which is well above the standard.

None of this means that Shealy, or groups such as the NSAA, discourage helmet use. Shealy was in an airport, returning to Western New York from a ski trip to Park City, Utah, when he did this interview. He wore his helmet in Utah as he always does.

The helmet is a great thing. I wouldnt go skiing without it, he said. Helmets do reduce the incidence of head injuries by 40 percent, he said. According to a story in the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press in January, the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2004 said that more than 17,000 head injuries a year would be eliminated if all skiers and snowboarders wore helmets.

The majority of the injuries that are eliminated are the less serious ones such as scalp lacerations and contusions and mild concussions rather than skull fractures and closed head injuries. However, they can limit your injury in some cases.

When you are skiing on a hard surface and hit your head, it will make a serious difference between a minor head injury and a serious head injury, Shealy said. It wont help the other [hitting a fixed object such as a tree at a high rate of speed] scenario.

That other scenario usually occurs when someone is involved in risky behavior, such as skiing or riding in the trees. There are those who believe helmets encourage such behavior.

Clyde Soles, an outdoors equipment tester, wrote this on a Couloir Magazine forum: If you wear a helmet and believe it works, you are a greater danger to yourself and others than without. Helmet wearers typically take bigger risks than they would without the imagined protection.

Shealy agrees, although his belief is not backed up by hard data.

Nothing I have done can definitely say yes or no [that it increases such behavior], but I couldnt believe it wouldnt. If you add a safety device there is offsetting behavior. It happens in every other human endeavor. It encourages behavior you otherwise wouldnt engage in. I just cant figure out a scientifically valid way to determine it.

The overall rate of injuries to skiers has dropped by 50 percent since the early 1970s and the rate of on-hill collisions is unchanged in that same period, but the rate of injury for snowboarders has gone up. In the 10 years ending with the 2000-01 season, that rate has increased to 6.97 from 3.37 per 1,000 boarder visits. Shealy added that this might be because of the X-Games effect but he has no proof of that.

He cautioned riders in terrain parks that if you fall on your head it will cause a spine injury. Wear a helmet but dont expect it to do anything to help you if youre upside down.

The key to avoiding injury is to use your head.

The NSAA advises that you wear a helmet and make sure it fits right. Dont buy one that a child has to grow in to. Take your goggles to a fitting to make sure they work with the helmet.

Stay away from the trees even though by late afternoon that might be where the fresher snow is located. Slow down at the end of the day when you may be tired (Carrs accident occurred at about 8 p.m. after he had been on the slopes for hours) and, according to Shealy, Continue to ski with caution because a helmet has a limited benefit.

Bill Marx, from Holiday Valleys award-winning ski patrol, told this to the Web site www.lidsonkids.org : I think helmets provide significant protection when skiing or riding as they can reduce the severity or discomfort from some types of falls. But skiing in control is the most important aspect of skiing safety. Its a good idea to get kids into the habit of wearing a helmet and that way theyll think of it as part of their standard equipment. Carr told friends before his accident that the day had been perfect. Skiing in control and following the Code of Responsibility can help your day on the slopes end that way.

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1. Helmets don’t replace judgment on ski slopes

Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Anthony Billittier tells Newsradio 930 WBEN there’s no definitive word yet on how effective helmets can be against skiing accidents, so he’s not in favor of mandated helmets.

Billittier says he and his children do wear ski helmets and feels anytime you can try to protect your head and brain, it’s a good idea.

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That wistful refrain runs through many doctors’ minds when someone dies from a winter sports-related head injury that could have been prevented.

With temperatures dropping and winter in full swing, physicians are bracing to treat the inevitable bumps, sprains and dreaded head traumas that come every year at this time.

“We see a fair number of people that don’t wear helmets when skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling,” said Dr. Jon Gildea, a Genesys Regional Medical Center emergency room physician.

The chance of dying or suffering long-term complications after a head injury are greatly increased if the athlete doesn’t wear protective head gear, he said.

Last week, 12-year-old Tony Sisco died in a snowboarding accident at Alpine Valley Ski Resort in White Lake Township. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and the cause of death was blunt force head injuries, according to the Oakland County medical examiner’s office.

No one saw the fall, but a helmet would have helped prevent his death, Alpine Valley’s operations manager Gail Winterhalter told The Detroit Free Press.

But kids don’t think wearing a helmet is “cool,” Gildea said.

Sisco isn’t the first 12-year-old in the area to die while on the slopes. Ralph E. Margetson III of Swartz Creek was skiing with his family at Mt. Holly Ski Resort last January when he hit a tree and later died. He was not wearing a helmet.

“When you hit your head on hard-packed snow or anything like that, it’s hard to avoid injury,” Gildea said. “Helmets are a must.”

The good news is that new technology is allowing for kid-friendly safety gear. Helmets with built-in radios or earphones that plug in to MP3 players and cellphones are the latest rage, said Tom Shumaker, owner of Shumaker’s Ski Shop in Flint.

Helmets can range from about $40 to $250, he said, depending on the size, coverage and amenities.

The bad news is that same technology is creating more aerodynamic equipment for faster runs – and harder falls.

“You can go forward and backward and side to side going harder and faster, and kids are falling different than they used to,” Shumaker said. “Your upper body smashes right into the hill.”

He said his shop encourages children and adults to wear safety gear while on the slopes. Wrist guards are important too, but a helmet saves lives, he said.

“Don’t be a Sonny Bono or a (Michael) Kennedy,” he said, referring to celebrities who died in accidents on the slopes. “You can have fun and be safe.”

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Don’t get me wrong. I know that helmets make perfect sense. They are a safeguard against head trauma. They protect the brain. There is no rational argument against anyone, even a newspaper columnist, wearing one.
And yet, I find myself tugged upon by a natural human instinct not to.
In the sports world, history ably documents this stubbornness against protecting the ol’ noggin.
Or did you not know that prior to 1956 — that’s less than 50 years ago — head gear was not mandatory in a single sport in America?
I looked this up. Baseball was the first sport to officially regulate head protection when it made batting helmets mandatory in the big leagues in 1956. At that, it produced a players’ revolt on the part of hitters, who contended that helmets only gave pitchers “something bigger to aim at.”

And while it’s true that football started using leather helmets almost from the beginning, it’s also true that for more than a half-century there was no league rule for either the wearing of helmets or face masks. Face masks didn’t appear in any significant numbers until the great Otto Graham broke his nose in 1953 and wore one so he could still play and not flinch. After that, players slowly and begrudgingly began putting them on. But it wouldn’t be until 1974, which isn’t all that long ago, after Chicago Bears punter Bobby Joe Green retired, that everybody in the NFL was wearing a face mask.
In hockey, the macho-est sport of them all, the NHL didn’t make head gear mandatory until 1980, and then only for new players. It wasn’t until Craig MacTavish retired bareheaded in 1997 that the NHL was completely covered.
Bicycling, believe it not, is a real latecomer to helmet-wearing. Lance Armstrong wasn’t even wearing helmets regularly when he began winning the first of his annual Tour de France titles seven years ago.
As for skiing, the first recreational ski helmet wasn’t invented until 1984, and it wasn’t until Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy died after skiing into trees, both in the winter of 1998, that helmets started to catch on with the masses.
The evidence is clear: As smart an idea as helmets are, they take a while to catch on.

All of this history makes me feel better about my obstinate, stubborn, rebellious, illogical attitude about turning in my ski cap for a helmet.
I grew up riding a Schwinn 10-speed bicycle completely bareheaded (this coincided with all those foolhardy years I rode in cars without wearing seat belts — and with no airbags).
I recall covering hockey games in my sportswriting days when it was possible to actually recognize the players because nobody wore a helmet.
And I have been skiing all that time with an unarmored head. Knock on wood.
Ah, the good old days. Amazing, really, that I’m still here to remember them.

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All I knew was that a fellow grade-schooler was down in the middle of the Minnesota street we used for a sledding hill, and that blood was coming out his ears. He’d just been struck below the knees by a sled, done a half-flip and landed on his head on the snow-covered asphalt.

None of that seemed of immediate concern. We’d all seen it happen before.

Even the fact the kid — I don’t even remember who it was anymore — was out cold didn’t exactly panic anyone. That had happened too.

But that blood coming out the ears. Well, that was an eye opener. That was scary.

Even as a kid you know blood running out someone’s ears is a bad thing.

I haven’t thought about this in decades, but the memories came rushing back the other day when I happened to look at a chart of winter-activity injuries and fatalities in Alaska from 1998-2002.

Much of what you would expect was there:

Bad driving, or immature driving, continues to injure Alaska snowmachiners at an alarming rate: 70 dead in four years, 802 hospitalized, 167 with serious brain injuries, 39 permanently disabled.

The death rate for snowmobiling is 70 times that for skiing and snowboarding combined. The rate of brain injury is more than seven times that for skiing and snowboarding combined.

And that despite the fact that many snowmachiners now wear helmets.

Unfortunately, not even the best helmet will help if you’re doing 80 mph down the Susitna River, hit a chunk of ice and end up flying off the snowmachine head first into a stump.

This is, in fact, one of the problems related to helmets. Some people seem to have a judgment switch turned off by pulling this helmet on.

But this column isn’t about the concussions suffered by snowmobilers or hockey players, for that matter, although the statistics report seven traumatic brain injuries in hockey. Having had my “bell rung” a few times playing hockey, including waking up once in an intensive care unit, I have to wonder if maybe those concussions aren’t underreported.

Still, traumatic brain injuries for hockey pale in comparison with those for sledding.

Almost three times as many people suffered traumatic brain injuries sledding in the four years reported above than suffered similar injuries playing hockey. Traumatic head injuries for sledding were more than double those for skiing, and greater than even those for snowboarding, which involves a lot of kids trying to do complicated aerials these days. Can anyone think of a better way to land on their head?

Well, apparently they can: Innocent sledding.

If there is a snow sport that ought to be talking about helmets, this is it — not lift-assisted skiing and snowboarding.

Why? Because sledding is all about going out-of-control down a slope.

Skiing and snowboarding are supposed to be about making controlled descents, which is the problem I have with helmets on the ski slopes. They send the wrong message.

On the downhill race course? By all means.

In the snowboard pipe? Most certainly.

Elsewhere? No way.

On the slopes, the rule ought to be for everyone to ski or ride with enough control that they don’t have to worry about hitting their head or, more important, anyone else. The latter is key. When I’m on the slopes at the Alyeska Resort these days, I don’t worry about hurting myself, but I do worry about being hurt by some out-of-control lunatic.

Many of them can be identified by the helmets on their heads.

Having written about this helmet-clad problem before, I have heard from parents who charge I am more concerned about my own health than their child’s. This is true.

I am also more concerned about the health of everyone else on the slopes.

If you hurt yourself — even if you’re a juvenile — it’s your own stupid fault. If you hurt someone else, it’s wrong.

If you want to send your kids rocketing downhill out of control, get them a helmet, put them on a sled and let them go down a big hill. This is the place that’s all about out-of-control sliding on snow.

And this is the place, as is statistically obvious, where helmets are needed.

So why is it — in this age of do-gooders behind every other tree — no one is out there lobbying for helmets on the sled hills?

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Sixty-three-year-old Ken Marini of Bloomington took a spill last year going down the moguls. “You know it’s just a matter of time and you’re going to take a hit,” he says. It is what was on his head that allowed him to get right back on his feet. Helmets are being seen more and more on the slopes. Without one, Ken believes, “I just know I would have gotten hurt if I didn’t have it on.”

Tanya Thomas had her 5-year-old daughter, Mia, fit for a helmet last year at a clinic put on by North Memorial Medical Center and SAFE KIDS NW Metro Minneapolis. When it comes to her daughter, she says, “I wouldn’t have her ski any other way. A helmet protects her head and I wouldn’t want to take any chances on any injuries to her head.”

Ann Strong-Schmitz is with SAFE KIDS NW Metro Minneapolis which helps put on Ski and Snowboard Helmet Fit Clinics and Sales. She says those who have the most accidents on the slopes are beginners and kids, “About 40 percent of the hospitalized people are kids ages 14 and under.”

Skiing and snowboarding are relatively safe sports, but still, 33 people were seriously injured in the U.S. last year. According to Fred Seymour who runs Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area in Bloomington, helmets can help prevent injuries both big and small. He says, “Sometimes we find when kids fall, or when anybody falls, their heads will snap back and hit the snow and get a minor concussion and a helmet will certainly prevent that.”

As Ken Marini knows, his $100 helmet certainly cost less than a trip to the hospital. And if nothing else, he says “it keeps me warm 100 percent of the time.”

Ski and snowboard helmets start at $40 and go up. North Memorial Medical Center and SAFE KIDS NW Metro Minneapolis are putting on two helmet fit clinics and sales. The first is Tuesday, November 30, at the Maple Grove Community Center, 12951 Weaver Lake Road from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. The second is Monday, December 6, at the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility, 7525 Braemar Boulevard in Edina from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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The image that prevails is probably one of a child lying face down on the ground, with the possibility of severe injuries to his face or brain.

But in this scenario, the image takes a different turn when an air bag deploys from within the helmet, giving the child more protection and condensing the extent of the injuries.

Don’t laugh. I am being serious. There is a doctor in Barcelona who just invented something not even my father, a man who likes to stake claim on the idea of an invention before it becomes a must “buy” item, can say he would have thought of first.

The doctor has decided to install an air bag inside a bicycle, construction or ski helmet that is designed to deploy the moment a sudden movement is detected.

The inflated helmet, according to news reports, is set up to protect the spine.

I think this is a clever invention, but like with any other invention, it will be fraught with challenges.

In the last couple of months, I have heard more about tragic accidents where children and adults have suffered severe injuries in a bike accident due to the fact none of them were wearing a helmet.

The fact remains an air bag isn’t going to save the persons life if the helmet isn’t worn.

There are laws out that that require a helmet to be worn, but even with the laws, there people are still not going to take the chance of not wearing a helmet.

Something really needs to be “invented” to guarantee a person is going to abide by the law and wear the helmet.

Unforunately, a lot of times it takes a serious accident or a fatal accident to wake individuals within the public up. But there has to be some way to make sure people see how wearing a helmet can actually save a life before a tragic accident leads to the lost of a loved one.

I don’t want to see this happen to anyone, and there has to be a more effective solution to the problem. Got any ideas?

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Ian O’Neill knifed his snowboard to a sudden, spraying stop, meeting his little sister and mother, Jodi, at the bottom.

Two days after a 19-year-old employee died in an off-trail snowboarding accident, the slopes at Elk Mountain Ski Resort were filled Monday with families like the O’Neills, who came from Delaware.

“She doesn’t give me too much trouble about wearing it,” Mrs. O’Neill said of the bright red helmet her 7-year-old daughter wears.

“We need to get this one into a helmet, too,” she said, smiling at her 14-year-old son. Ian doesn’t wear a helmet, but admitted he “probably should.”

About 38 people die each year while skiing or snowboarding, according to the National Ski Areas Association. About 41 serious injuries, including paralysis, head and other serious injuries, are reported each year.

More than 11 million skiers and snowboarders took to the slopes during the 2002-2003 season, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. Just 37 fatalities were reported — 31 skiers and six snowboarders. There were 33 serious injuries, 26 suffered by skiers and seven by snowboarders.

Following trends in cycling and other wheeled sports, more and more snow sports aficionados are opting to wear helmets, but some experts worry that skiers and snowboarders may develop a sense of invincibility no headgear can provide.

“We don’t want to paint a picture that helmets are the ultimate solution,” said Gregg Confer, Elk Mountain general manager. “At slower speeds, they can help, but your best protection is education and common sense.”

Saturday’s accident was the first ski-related fatality at Elk Mountain in 20 years, Mr. Confer said. David Holgate of Dalton, who was not wearing a helmet, died of head trauma after hitting a tree. Mr. Confer said it’s questionable whether a helmet would have made much difference.

Ski patrol members Alan Mindas and Chuck Fountain agreed.

“Common sense is the best armor,” said Mr. Mindas, who does not wear a helmet. Mr. Fountain does, but he said it’s more a matter of personal preference than safety.

“Chuck and myself, we’re good skiers,” Mr. Mindas said. “When I’m out on a blue square (intermediate) trail, I adjust my speed. You can’t ski on a blue square like you would on a black diamond (difficult trail). It’s just common sense.”

So is sticking to open trails, Mr. Confer said. Off-trail skiing is forbidden at Elk Mountain, and dangerous no matter where you are, he said. Closed trails and wooded areas often house snowmaking and other equipment. Pipes and snow guns can hide under small amounts of snow. So can tree stumps and other debris.

Skiing alone, on the edges of trails and near fencing is also dangerous, Mr. Confer said. Fences are not there to stop skiers, he said, but to point out areas that are closed. An injured skier out alone might not be found in time to treat life-threatening injuries, he said.

Most helmets are designed to provide protection at speeds of 12 mph and lower, according to the NSAA. Skiers and snowboarders often reach speeds of 20 mph and up, Mr. Confer said. Helmet or not, a high-speed collision with a fixed object is going to be difficult to walk away from, he said.

“If you’re driving a big (Ford) Expedition (SUV) and you hit a telephone pole going even 20 mph, the Expedition is going to be damaged,” he said. “Now think about hitting that with your body.”

Although he doesn’t, Mr. Confer said he insists that his children — including his 19-year-old son — wear helmets.

“I guess that makes me a hypocrite, but I insist on it,” he said. “I tell them, ‘If you’re going skiing, you’re wearing a helmet,’ period.”

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Setting standards would ensure protection to its wearer although, some say helmets can often project a false sense of security and lead to Kamikaze attitudes.

“The problem with younger skiers/snowboarders, particularly males, is they believe that once they are wearing a helmet they think they can do anything, which just isn’t the case,” said Jimmie Spencer, Canada West Skiers Association president and CEO.

“People need to know the ins and outs of what a helmet can and can’t do and make an educated decision from there.”

Brian Leighton, Whistler-Blackcomb safety manager, expressed concern over feelings of invinci bility that are often felt by helmet users. He emphasized that wearing helmet is only one of many precautionary measures people should use when they are on the mountain.

“A helmet is just one part of what people should consider of safety on the hill,” he said. “It’s also about how they use the mountain, choose their runs, study the conditions and not bite off more than they can chew. A helmet is just one of the tools they may consider along the way.”

While “brain buckets” offer safety, it is what inside the helmet that really counts, Leighton said.

“So many accidents are avoidable,” he said. “It’s what is inside people’s heads that they need to use. People make unwise actions without thinking about the consequence and whether they are wearing a helmet or not, they can pay dearly.”

Helmets are becoming more popular on ski mountains and snowboard terrain parks. It has its own trends and fashions, from slate-grey bowls to shiny flame-streaked domes.

“Certainly, we have seen more and more people turning to helmets. Much of it may be due to fashion,” Spencer said, noting a group of girls in the lift line that were commenting on each other’s helmets last week.

Micaela Sinclair, 6, from California, has worn her funky red helmet with drawings of people since she was 3. She doesn’t mind her helmet, although sometimes it bends her ears, she said.

“I need (a helmet) so that if I do a face plant on the hill or bonk my head it won’t hurt,” she said.

Mom Cheryl Sinclair made sure both Micaela and her older sister always wore their helmets after learning about the many ski/snowboard-related deaths in California.

“You can’t stop your kids from going over the edge, but the least you can do is see that they are protected,” she said. “In one year in California, 10 skiers died because of accidents.”

Cheryl Sinclair doesn’t wear a helmet, although she said it was probably good idea for adults to wear them as well.

In the past two of three seasons, W-B has mandated helmets for participan ts in the Whistler Kids ski programs, and in the mountains’ highest-level terrain parks.

Leighton said those two categories of snow sliders are viewed as higher-risk, and therefore, a helmet is mandatory.

Spencer said children under 12 are often small and not as visible as adults on the slopes.

“The danger of anyone hitting a child (because of their size) is higher,” Spencer said. “If they are wearing a helmet, we think it gives added protection.”

How much protection is given depends on the intensity of the accident and the make of the helmet, he said.

“The density of the padding can only withstand so much physical blow,” Spencer said. “Beyond a certain speed, the impact force is definitely limited.”

While tykes and snowboarders in the terrain park are protected, other snow seekers are free to roam Whistler and Blackcomb with the wind in their hair.

Leighton said he thinks it’s unlikely Whistler-Blackcomb will ever make helmets mandatory for everyone because the level of risk for each skier is based on his or her ability or age, and therefore, a helmet isn’t always necessary.

“Kids are really vulnerable because they are smaller or people who are pushing the limits in the terrain park or are on steep slopes in the trees… but there are other people who are quite happy to ski green and blue runs where the risk for them is quite lower,” he said.

Peter Birdsey, a beginning skier from Australia, is slow and admitted to falling over a lot, but he still wears a helmet, not out of fear of hurting himself, but out of concerns of someone colliding with him.

“I feel safer,” he said, pulling off his helmet and ruffling his grey hair. “I’ve been hit many times, mostly by snowboarders, and I want to be protected.”

Birdsey said he would like to see helmets mandatory for everyone on the mountain.

Simon Stubbs, vacationing from England, disagreed. He argued he doesn’t go fast enough to warrant a helmet and that justifying a rule mandating that everyone wear helmets would be difficult.

“We’ve managed so long without them being compulsory,” he said. “If it were mandatory in Whistler, I might consider going somewhere else. I don’t like the way it feels. When you go skiing you want to feel the wind in your hair.”

Whistler-Blackcomb ski instructor Adrienne Turcotte is in support of helmets for both children and adults.

“One of my friends got smoked by a snowboarder and ended up with a concussion this week,” she said, noting the accident was not her friend’s fault. Her friend couldn’t work for a week because of her injury, said Turcotte, who added that a helmet might have helped the situation.

Turcotte said she has also been involved in collisions on the mountains, but was protected from injury by her helmet.

“I would have totally cracked my head open if I hadn’t been wearing my helmet,” she said, recalling one incident.

Helmets can also come in handy off the mountain.

“I was walking the other day to work and slipped and my skis fell on my head,” said Tasha Robinson, a Whistler-Blackcomb ski instructor, laughing. “I was lucky I was wearing my helmet.”

Turcotte and Robinson said kids usually wear their helmets without issue, other than odd complaints about itchy heads or uncomfortable fits.

“They see a lot of adults wear them, so they think they are OK,” Robinson said.

With children wearing helmets at such an early age, most likely their helmet-wearing habits will continue into their later years, creating a new generation of helmet wearers, provided helmets are affordable.

“Two-hundred dollars was more than I wanted to spend, but I would never ski without it now because I feel so safe,” said skier Michelle Jordan of her chrome helmet. “For people who only ski a week a year, this would be a real extra expense to them.”

Helmet rentals are available to adults and youth at Whistler-Blackcomb Rentals Base II at Blackcomb’s Excalibur midstation. Children and Youth helmets are available at Whistler Kids Rental at Blackcomb’s Wizard Chair base, Whistler Villag e Gondola and Creekside. Quantities are limited.

Helmets are not mandatory for Whistler-Blackcomb instructors. Volunteer ski patroller Erik Rapatz always wears his helmet while on the mountains, however.

“I don’t see why people don’t wear them,” Rapatz said. “There is no reason not to and they are warmer than a toque.”

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Nevertheless, helmets have become more common, even de rigueur among those who enjoy the two top winter fitness activities. One-fourth of snowboarders and skiers wear helmets, according to the National Ski Area Association. Three to four years ago, helmets were a novelty as noncompetitive skiers and snowboarders were just beginning to consider the idea of wearing one.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission asserts that a helmet could have prevented or mitigated the severity of 40 percent of 23,000 head injuries among skiers and snowboarders in 2002.

Will your helmet stay put and cushion the impact or will it slide off or break if you crash on the slopes?

If you own a helmet or are considering buying one for yourself or a loved one, it’s a good idea to check out Consumer Reports’ evaluation of 13 models, which found that some helmets offer little protection.

There are two types of helmets based on shell size: full, which covers your ears and part of the sides of your face, and short, which comes with soft removable earflaps.

Consumer Reports’ tests scores have five categories, ranging from “poor” to “excellent.” Among the best performers:

_Giro Nine, short shell, $110, “very good.” Giro Fuse, short shell, $150, “very good.”

_Leedom Scream High Performance, full shell, $130, “very good.”

_Briko Forerunner, full shell, $100, “good.”

The worst performers were rated “not acceptable” by Consumer Reports.

Testers found that the chin-strap retention systems of W Helmet W Ski Slider and the Boeri Rage (Iron model) may come off in an accident.

The shell of the high-gloss Boeri Rage (Axis Rage model) shattered during impact tests, producing sharp fragments that could cut the wearer’s face and compromise the chin-strap retention system. Even the best helmet won’t offer protection if it’s worn incorrectly.

For best results:

_Helmet should fit snugly – but not tightly. It should not slide on your head.

_Wear the chin strap. It keeps the helmet in place.

_Replace helmets that have been involved in a crash, even if they seem OK. Damage inside the helmet may not be visible. Some brands, such as Leedom, Boeri and Giro, offer a discounted replacement if the helmet has been damaged in a crash.

_Make sure you can hear normally while wearing your helmet.

_Wear a helmet designed specifically for snow sports – not for cycling, mountain biking or riding a motorcycle.

_Remember that wearing a helmet cannot make up for reckless or unsafe skiing or snowboarding. A helmet doesn’t endow you with more fitness or super skills.

The complete Consumer Reports evaluation of skiing and snowboarding helmets is available by purchasing the December issue through (914) 378-2300 or www.consumerreports.org.

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(Lisa Liddane is a health and fitness writer for The Orange County Register and an American Council on Exercise-certified group fitness instructor. Write to her at the Register, P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, Calif. 92711 or send e-mail to lliddane@ocregister.com.)

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© 2004, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Visit the Register on the World Wide Web at http://www.ocregister.com

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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