Doctors said that without a helmet Julia Griggs may have died and would certainly have had significant brain injury after she smashed into a tree.

She broke her nose and some bones in her face as well as her right leg.

Her family agreed for her to speak to reporters with her doctors to highlight the importance of wearing a helmet, especially for children.

Her pink ski helmet had a large dent in the front where it took the full impact of the blow against the tree.

“The helmet protected her brain, and that’s something that we can’t really fix, unfortunately,” Dr Michael McGonigal, director of trauma services at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, told reporters.

“The helmet kept her in perfect condition, so she is fine other than a few things that will heal up now with a little extra care.”

“Wear a helmet,” Julia said when she was asked what she had learned from her accident.

Her parents, Bill and Heather Griggs, said all three of their children have always worn helmets while out skiing.

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1. Ski Helmet saves 6 Year old from Serious Injury

Last week, while I was skiing at Black Mountain in Rumford, I went off a small jump while looking for my friend. My ski stuck into the snow, it popped off, and I fell forward and hit my head.

I was knocked out and had a mild concussion. I was skiing on a green circle novice trail! I am actually a pretty good skier!

The ski patrol person told me I was lucky I was wearing my helmet or my injury would have been worse. I think people should wear ski helmets.

Adrian D. J. Heath

Gardiner

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1. Ski helmet saves Gardiner boy from serious injury

He also suggested that we would spend our skiing money more wisely if we purchased an advanced ski school lesson instead of a helmet.

I think it is dubious and misleading for the author to claim that ski helmets offer little protection from head injuries. A Google search yielded numerous articles detailing the safety benefits of ski helmets.

One article in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 295 #8, Feb. 22,2006, p.919-924) concluded that ski helmet use was associated with a “60 percent reduction in the risk for head injury” — hardly a scoche.

Another article (“Helmets for Sports and Recreation: An Injury Battle Far from Over,” A. Stewart Levy, Colorado Neurological Institute Review, Summer 2000, Vol. 11 #1) concluded that helmets do afford protection in high-speed accidents, do not increase the risk of cervical spine injuries, and do not result in increased injury rates secondary to overconfidence.

Although good skiing technique, physical conditioning and safety awareness are important, it is irresponsible in my view to even imply that there is no evidence to support ski helmet use.

I would also suggest that in the future, the newspaper should attempt to verify the factual accuracy of columns it publishes.

Ski helmet use is an important safety issue and to do otherwise is also irresponsible.

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Last week, while I was skiing at Black Mountain in Rumford, I went off a small jump while looking for my friend. My ski stuck into the snow, it popped off, and I fell forward and hit my head.

I was knocked out and had a mild concussion. I was skiing on a green circle novice trail! I am actually a pretty good skier!

The ski patrol person told me I was lucky I was wearing my helmet or my injury would have been worse. I think people should wear ski helmets.

Adrian D. J. Heath

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1. Ski helmet saves Gardiner boy from serious injury

Nationwide, more than a quarter million children a year are injured while participating in winter sports. Safe Kids Kansas offers a few simple precautions: kids need to be dressed appropriately, take lessons, be actively supervised and stick to safe terrain. For many winter activities, protective headgear is also recommended.

Roughly 3,000 kids a year suffer serious head injuries (brain injuries) from sledding. “Kids under 12 should wear a helmet while sledding,” says Jan Stegelman, Safe Kids Kansas coordinator, citing a position statement by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. “Don’t go down a hill headfirst – sit up and face forward. Make sure there’s adult supervision and a clear, safe path.” A good sledding hill does not lead to a street, a body of water or a crowded gathering place. In addition, the CPSC reminds parents and kids to inspect sleds regularly for worn, damaged or loose parts that could break or snag at high speed.

“Children under six should not be riding a snowmobile, period, and nobody under 16 should be driving one,” says Stegelman. “All snowmobile drivers and passengers should be wearing helmets designed for high-speed motor sports – a bike helmet isn’t sufficient for a four-wheeled motorcycle that can go up to 90 miles per hour.”

There is no consensus among experts about the need for helmets while ice-skating, but parents should keep in mind that beginners are likely to fall down a lot. Helmets are a must for ice hockey, along with mouth guards, kneepads and elbow, shoulder and shin protection. “Skate only on ice that’s approved for skating by local authorities,” says Stegelman. “Teach kids how to protect themselves if they do fall through the ice: stretch their arms out wide and kick as if swimming, shout for help and try to crawl backward onto solid ice.”

“Kids should wear helmets when they ski,” says Stegelman. “Buy or rent a ski helmet that’s certified by the Snell Memorial Foundation or ASTM International, and have an expert make sure it fits correctly so it won’t come loose at a critical moment.” According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, ski helmets could prevent or reduce the effects of 53 percent of the head injuries suffered by children under 15 while skiing or snowboarding. “Caregivers should wear ski helmets too – remember, your children learn safety habits by watching you,” says Stegelman.

“Basic health and comfort precautions can go a long way in preventing injury,” says Stegelman. “Dress in layers. Wear sunscreen. Stay hydrated. Kids – or caregivers – who become distracted or irritable, or begin to hyperventilate, may be suffering from hypothermia or altitude sickness, or they may be too tired to participate safely in winter sports. They need to go indoors, rest and warm up.”

In 2003, more than 64,000 children ages 5 to 14 were taken to emergency rooms for injuries resulting from winter sports, including nearly 23,000 from snowboarding, 15,000 from sledding, 12,000 from skiing, 11,000 from ice skating and 1,800 from snowmobile accidents.

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1. Gear up properly for winter activities
2. Ski Helmets top off winter sports gear

“It’s a mistake that anybody can make, no matter how long you’ve been snowboarding,” said Christensen, an instructor at Hilltop Ski Area in Anchorage, Alaska.

His mistake led to a broken hand, a cast and a new safety precaution. Today, Christensen wears wrist guards underneath his gloves.

Physical therapists say boarders are more likely to get injured if they’re learning or are tired and not in shape.

“If you don’t ski all year, you’re not in shape for skiing,” physical therapist Colleen McElhenny said.

Preparing requires more than building endurance. McElhenny said it requires building strength and balance in the joints and muscles in the legs, hips, ankles and knees. She recommended jumping drills, squats and training on steps and stairs.

“Strength leads to stability,” she said. “You don’t gain it the day you go out.”

For snowboarders, one of the most vulnerable body parts is the wrist. Studies show that wrist fractures and sprains are more common in beginners, women and younger boarders.

Christensen said snowboarders should never stick their arms out straight when falling. If you’re going to fall, try to get down close to the ground and tuck and roll into it, snowboard instructors said.

Instinct also tells you to lean back, away from looming danger down the mountain, Christensen said. But staying forward gives you more balance over the board and reduces the likelihood you’ll fall.

Christensen and Gunner Deery, a snowboard instructor at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, said another common complaint of snowboarders, especially beginners, is a sore, bruised rear end from falling so much. To counter this problem, Deery said, some people buy shorts with padding in the butt, hips and even thighs. They also can buy elbow pads, kneepads and padded shirts.

Two other recommended pieces of safety equipment are wrist guards and helmets. A 10-year study of snowboarding injuries at Colorado ski resorts showed that boarders who wore wrist guards were half as likely to injure their wrists as those who didn’t wear the guards, according to a 2000 article in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

In looking at thousands of snowboarding injuries, researchers found that the majority of upper-extremity injuries involved the wrist, shoulder or collarbone, and the rest involved the hand, elbow or arm bones. Snowboarding is less likely than skiing to result in knee and other leg injuries.

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1. Out-of-shape skiiers, snowboarders risk serious injury
2. Prepare and you many avoid skiing injuries

At Sierra-at-Tahoe, guests can win a free sticket when they take a lap through Sierra’s terrain park loop and answer the Circuit Smart Style Trivia questionnaire. Clues to the answers can be found at each of Sierra’s terrain parks. All completed safety questionnaires will be entered into a drawing for other prizes, including T-shirts, food coupons and more.

From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Jan. 14, Sierra will host a children’s poster contest at the Aspen Café, where kids can illustrate one of the seven responsibility codes or the three Smart Style codes for great prizes.

Backcountry Awareness Day will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. at Sierra-at-Tahoe and includes a mock avalanche dog demonstration, beacon and transceiver training and avalanche awareness education. All guests and employees are invited to attend this complimentary clinic on backcountry awareness and avalanche procedures, led by Sierra-at-Tahoe’s professional ski patrol staff. The clinic will meet at the trail map by the Easy Rider Express lift.

Because a large part of staying safe includes regular upkeep and repair of equipment, Sierra’s Repair Shop will offer 50 percent off all mini-tunes throughout Safety Week. The Sierra Mountain Sports retail shop will offer 50 percent off all safety-related gear including helmets and leashes and the ski and snowboard shops will offer 50 percent off helmet rentals.

Sierra-at-Tahoe has incorporated Smart Style codes into many of its logo and retail items such as trucker hats and T-shirts and resort representatives will award them to guests and employees throughout the week. These three initiatives will also be handed out on oranges to represent the orange oval, the NSAA symbol for freestyle terrain.

The resort’s snow reporters will record safety tips on the daily snow report, safety messages will be found at various lifts, and employees will cover Your Responsibility Code at weekly safety meetings.

Northstar-at-Tahoe will also encourage its guests and employees to “Know the Code,” as Northstar’s own safety super hero, Captain Safety, will cruise the slopes awarding prizes to guests who can recite the NSAA Responsibility Code. Captain Safety wears a yellow cape and has a special super-hero phone booth located at mid-mountain where he dispenses his safety tip of the day.

Guests who can recite one part of the Responsibility Code to the bartenders at The Summit or The Day Lodge will receive a free hot chocolate. Northstar’s ski patrol will educate guests on the importance of safe tree skiing and staying in bounds by distributing whistles with key safety messages attached. Various community organizations will educate employees on safety, health and well-being at Northstar’s safety fair.

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1. New Programs Highlight National Safety Week Awareness at Beaver Creek
2. Reckless skiers will find themselves in the lodge
3. Industry Association Promotes Ski and Snowboard Helmet Use

Burlington, Vermont (Ski Press)-“Ski like a local…Wear a helmet.” is the slogan for this year’s effort by the Vermont Snow Sports Research Team to get every skier and snowboarder to wear a helmet while on the slopes. The Vermont Snow Sports Research Team is a partnership of Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

The team is in the midst of a multi-year study, funded by the Vermont Department of Health and the Children’s Miracle Network, which is examining trends in helmet use among skiers and snowboarders.

“Ski safety experts feel that a helmet is a safe and effective tool for reducing the chance of a head injury while skiing and snowboarding,” says Robert Williams, M.D., study coordinator, pediatric anesthesiologist, and critical care specialist at Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care. “We feel that it is our duty to get that message out to as many people as we can.”

A 1999 report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that 7,700 head injuries could be prevented every year if skiers and snowboarders wore helmets on the slopes. More recently, research has shown that head injuries are the type of skiing and snowboarding trauma that is most likely to cause serious injury and disability.

During the first year of a study begun in 2002, approximately two-thirds of young children under age eighteen were observed by the team to be wearing helmets while skiing or riding. The number dropped significantly, however, among adolescents. Only one-third of people over age eighteen wore helmets.

Since the 2002-2003 winter season, this study reveals a significant increase in helmet use among adult skiers, with almost a doubling of helmet use rates in three years. There have also been increases among child skiers and snowboarders, but these have been less dramatic, and the Snow Sports Research Team is concerned that the rate of children’s helmet use may be beginning to plateau at around 70%.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” says Dr. Williams. “Helmet use rates remain lower than we’d like to see, particularly for adolescents and adults. The medical community bears some responsibility for the low use of helmets due to past confusion over their effectiveness. However, ongoing research in the field has demonstrated that wearing a helmet can indeed help prevent head injury. In addition, new research has shown that wearing a helmet does not increase the chance of sustaining a neck injury or lead to reckless behavior on the slopes. While helmets can’t prevent all head injuries, they are an important piece of personal protection while skiing and snowboarding.”

The Snow Sports Research Team gathered data over the past three ski seasons from nearly 40,000 observations of helmet use by skiers and snowboarders, the largest-ever study of its kind. This data reveals helmet-wearing patterns based on age, gender, and whether the individual is a skier or snowboarder. In addition, the team conducted over 1,000 surveys at Smuggler’s Notch Resort in Jeffersonville, Vermont, to better understand why some skiers and snowboarders choose to wear helmets and others don’t.

The Vermont research team has found some encouraging trends during its research. The team observed that local skiers and riders wear helmets at a much higher rate than resort guests.

“This is very encouraging,” states Dr. Williams. “The more experienced riders are finding the advantages of warmth and safety in wearing a ski helmet. In sports like skiing and snowboarding, image and style are important drivers of behavior. If the hot riders and locals are wearing a helmet, we believe that tourists and less-frequent skiers will be more likely to follow suit. That’s how we can up with the slogan, ‘Ski Like a Local…Wear a Helmet.’”

To help spread its message, the Vermont team has teamed with Smugglers Notch Resort to produce and distribute thousands of informational pamphlets, posters, and stickers promoting the importance of wearing a helmet. The research team adopted “Always ride PHAT” as the byline for its multi-year campaign.

PHAT is an acronym for “Protect your Head on All Terrain” and “Protect your Head at All Times.” It is derived from the slang term “phat,” which denotes excellence.

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1. Skiing Safety – Wear a Helmet!
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“Most doctors that I’ve talked to, in the most critical stage, I said, ‘So what would it be like without the helmet?’,” Claudia Currie told The Daily News from the hospital ward last night.

“And they said, ‘We wouldn’t be here right now talking.’”

Claudia Currie is a helmet lobbyist, and helped get a number of “ski moms” to wear them. She’s now seen the importance of doing so firsthand, she said.

“He’s been a top provincial alpine racer for eight years, and has skied for 14,” Claudia Currie said of her son, a first-year arts student at Saint Mary’s University.

“That’s why I stress that if he wears a helmet, maybe all the beginners should, too.”

The family is “cautiously optimistic” he’ll emerge from his accident OK, she said.

Her son is responsive, but still unconscious, she said. He remains in intensive care.

“We’re hoping to see if he can breathe on his own tomorrow. And if that’s the case, we’ll try to get him to wake up.

“With brain injuries, you never know. It’s the fear of the unknown, (and) it’s pretty stressful.”

Claudia Currie said Chris, who has a twin brother, Kyle, is normally very chatty. The drugs he has been given are causing amnesia, so it’s possible he’ll forget what happened to him.

The Curries, who live in Dartmouth, built a cottage at Wentworth when the twins were little, and they’ve been in racing programs ever since.

Until last weekend, the family has had only minor accidents on the slopes, she said.

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Experts say false confidence is at work in skiers and snowboarders who don helmets and consider themselves bulletproof. A study has shown that helmeted and nonhelmeted skiers sustain head injuries at the same rate. But it’s helmeted skiers who sustain the most serious head injuries. Damage more serious than a mild concussion represents 23 percent of all head injuries for nonhelmeted skiers, but 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. Two resorts, Aspen and Crested Butte, require helmets for children in their ski schools. But Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain ski area has been sued for negligence for not supplying a helmet as part of a rental package to a 14-year-old boy who sustained head injuries.

“The liability suit is always part of the landscape we operate in,” said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association. He acknowledged the suit’s potential to set a precedent.

“We’re paying close attention to it,” he said.

The association’s message echoes Shealy’s findings. “Wear a helmet, but ski or ride as if you weren’t,” Berry said.

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1. Helmets protect skiers, snowboarders from head injury

They immediately radioed for a doctor.

Dr. Ernest E. Moore, chief of trauma at Denver Health Medical Center, was skiing a few hundred yards away when the radio he carries each time he skis at Steamboat cackled.

“They told me a patient was down with a severe head injury and there was a possibility of cardiac arrest,” said Moore, who skied to the bottom quickly, then caught a snowmobile ride up the crash site.

If not for those radios, Andrew Parker, 21, a Princeton University student, would have died, said Moore, who doesn’t so much credit himself as he does Steamboat’s unusual medical-ski patrol program.

Moore is one of seven physician/skiers and another five paramedics who are given free lift tickets in exchange for being on-call on the slopes.

He skis at Steamboat 40 or 50 times a year, each time with the radio that connects him to the ski patrol.

As Moore got the call, ski patrol members already were grabbing the backpacks filled with medical supplies they keep at their stations.

“By the time I got there, a huge number of ski patrol people and two paramedics were already there,” said Moore, who arrived within a couple minutes of the call. “They were immobilizing him and resuscitating him.”

Parker, who is from Monmouth Junction, N.J., had stopped moving and was unresponsive when Moore arrived.

“His pulse showed signs of neurological injury,” Moore said. His eyes were large, fixed and dilated and didn’t respond to light. “He was in the throes of an impending cardiac arrest from the neurological injury.”

Moore helped the paramedics get a tube in his trachea. They gave him a drug that temporarily paralyzed him, in part so his movements wouldn’t disturb the delicate breathing tube. The treatments lowered the levels of carbon dioxide in his blood and helped shrink his swelled brain.

“He went from impending death to being responsive,” Moore said. The paramedics and the ski patrol brought him to the Yampa Valley Medical Center a quarter mile from the slopes.

Parker was flown to Denver and brought to Denver Health Medical Center where he remains in critical condition in intensive care, but is responding to verbal cues from the nurses.

“He has a good chance for recovery,” Moore said.

Parker’s parents flew to Denver immediately.

“It’s frightening to take a trip like that and not know whether your son will be alive when you get there,” said Andrew’s father, Steve Parker, who has been by his son’s side every day.

“My son’s recovery is doing as well as it is because they were there,” Steve Parker said. “Their actions may have saved his life.”

It was Andrew’s first trip to Colorado and his first time on skis. He was skiing with an instructor and apparently not wearing a helmet.

Andrew’s father wonders why helmets weren’t required and whether the intermediate slope was appropriate for a first-timer, “but those questions now are in the back of my mind.”

“My understanding is they were going down a hill and Andrew was a little ahead. He tried to do what the instructor told them to do, but didn’t execute it very well.”

The doctors are optimistic because Andrew is off the ventilator and suffered no other injuries except the blow to the head, Steve Parker said. “It’s still going to be a long recovery.”

Steamboat’s program of putting doctors and paramedics on the mountain is a couple of decades old.

John Kohnke, director of the ski patrol at Steamboat, said the system works because Steamboat Springs is a small town where everyone knows everybody, “and everybody skis.”

Paramedics, emergency, medical technicians and doctors all get training and use the same communication system.

“We give the doctors passes, they’ll come in, grab a radio and let mountain dispatch know they’re on the hill,” Kohnke said. “Almost miraculously, when we’ve needed them, they’ve been there.”

Dr. David Cionni, who heads the Advanced Life Support program at Steamboat, says at least one physician or paramedic is on the hill “almost 100 percent of the time.”

Cionni said the system works well because skilled medical people can do the paralyzing, sedating, intubating and defibrillating right on the slopes, when minutes count.

“The backbone is the ski patrollers who know when to call for help and what to do until it gets there,” Cionni said.

Moore can afford to buy lift tickets, but says he carries a radio because he admires the professionalism of the team and “because it’s a service I should provide. It’s nice for physicians to volunteer for the public good. That’s what we should be all about.”

Vail ski resort doesn’t have doctors on skis, but a local physician who is the long-time adviser to the ski patrol trains the staff, said spokeswoman Jen Brown.

At Breckenridge Ski Area, a fully staffed medical center sits at the base of Peak Nine, said spokeswoman Dawn Doty.

“We have three full-time doctors and four or five full-time nurses” who get free ski passes, Doty said.

Steve Parker is just thankful there were doctors and paramedics around when his son hit the tree.

“I understand Steamboat is one of the few in the country that has a program like that,” he said. “I think it’s a great idea, and I don’t know why it’s not done elsewhere.”

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1. Helmet saved skier’s life, dad says

Among the long list of items commonly left behind: skis (or board), boots, poles, gloves, hat, parka, pants, goggles, pass and/or ticket.

Remembering all this can be difficult enough for the organizationally challenged, but now a new gear paradox has emerged: the helmet.

Call it a lid, a hat, a brain bucket or melon protector, the helmet has emerged as the most complicated piece of gear on the market – not because of its mechanical inventiveness, but because of its political, social, financial and fashion ramifications.

The question of helmet requirements has been baffling resort risk-management people since entertainer Sonny Bono died in 1998 and the record-breaking 13 ski-area deaths in Colorado last year. Vail and Crested Butte recently joined Aspen in mandating helmets, and moms and dads of the world should beware: little Jimmy and little Jane might be asked to wear helmets in ski school classes on the slopes at Crested Butte, Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk.

Here’s the policy as explained by Bill Jensen, Vail’s chief operating officer.

“We recommend that children who participate in our ski school wear a helmet,” he said. “Should a parent elect not to have their child wear a helmet, they may do so by signing a liability release and opting out of our helmet recommendation.”

In short, Vail Resorts is asking for the parents of all ski school students 14 and younger to spring $10 for a rental helmet or between $40 and $120 for a new helmet. This news might dampen the spirits of some parents, who are terrified at the thought of standing in front of a massive rack of shiny new lids, fending off the endless shirt-sleeve tugs of their fashion-conscious offspring.

Mom and dad might worry about ski safety, but Jimmy and Jane want to look stylish – and that comes at a price.

Policy changes

The Aspen Skiing Company was the first to require helmets, mandating helmet use beginning March 20, 2002, for all ski school students 6 and younger. That requirement was upped to children 12 and younger March 26.

“Education and safety awareness have been stepped up considerably in recent years,” said Aspen/Snowmass spokesman Jeff Hanley, who says about 90 percent of Aspen’s youth ski school students were wearing a helmet before the mandate. “We had a few incidents last year which sped up talks that we were already having, and we did what our skiing public was probably asking us to do.”

Vail and Crested Butte followed suit beginning this season, but Jensen says the dialogue began after the death of a 5-year-old ski school student in Aspen last spring.

“We believe that, in the end, it’s a matter of personal choice,” Jensen said.

That price might be too much, said terrain park designer Chris Gunnarson, who believes helmet requirements will reinforce skiing’s image as an elitist pursuit.

“It’s just one more thing, one more piece of gear that people are going to have to buy to get up on the mountain,” he said.

Vail stresses the importance of personal choice, but Aspen is mandating helmet use in its program. Aspen, though, offers rental helmets for as little as $6 a day for those who show up without a helmet or arrive unaware of the new school rules.

A recent survey on the Web site www.skihelmets.com indicates 37 percent of skiers want helmets to be mandatory for everyone, while 20 percent think they should be mandatory only for children. Another 39 percent say they shouldn’t be mandated at all, and 4 percent remain undecided.

A new movement

Mandatory or not, there is a growing movement in support of helmet use, led by Dr. Stewart Levy of the Intermountain Neurosurgery clinic at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver. For the past seven years, Levy and his team have conducted numerous studies, and two years ago they developed evidence that the use of a helmet can reduce the risk of death or injury by 74 percent.

“The truth is that head injuries are fairly rare, and that’s fortunate,” said Levy, who is an avid and experienced skier. “Skiing is not terribly dangerous, and the head injuries and mortality rates are lower than many, many other sports. But there are lots of lame excuses that people use (for not wearing a helmet), and there are many myths about helmets that we have worked hard to dispel.”

One of the most popular myths about helmet use is the “overconfidence” myth.

Some people believe helmets give skiers and snowboarders a false sense of invulnerability, while others simply won’t wear helmets because they never have.

Still, Levy’s study showed that of the 400 head injury cases he studied, only 19 of the injured were wearing helmets. And of those, only a young man who fell from a 40-foot cliff had anything beyond a concussion – and he recovered fully. Helmeted skiers, on average, had much more forceful accidents, yet suffered less damage.

Helmet-wearing riders also were 69 percent less likely to suffer injuries of any form, says Levy, which indicates that the “overconfidence” myth is off-base.

Dr. Alan Weintraub of Craig Hospital in Denver, which specializes in brain and spinal injury rehabilitation, wrote a letter to the Rocky Mountain Freestyle division of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association supporting Levy’s findings.

“Each year, we have the opportunity to manage skiers who have sustained brain injuries as a result of not wearing protective headgear,” he wrote. “(Published studies) and our clinical experience have proven that skiers properly wearing approved helmets have a significantly reduced risk of severe brain trauma.”

Until Aspen/Snowmass took action last March, most ski areas counted on the spirit of self-determination, leaving people to decide for themselves between the risk of injury and the price of a helmet. This motto still holds at smaller areas such as Ski Cooper, where spokeswoman Anne Dougherty says collisions are less likely.

“We like to leave it where it’s really people’s discretion, because we’re not as crowded as some areas,” she said. “We don’t feel it’s much of a problem.”

The management at Copper Mountain agrees, but the reasons are not entirely clear. One thing is for certain: Copper Mountain, like every other Colorado resort, is very careful about what they say regarding helmet use, and lawyer-written policy statements are the only statements most resorts will release.

“Copper Mountain recommends that skiers and snowboarders educate themselves on the benefits and limitations of wearing a helmet,” resort spokeswoman Beth Jannigan said. “Wearing a helmet is a matter of personal choice.”

Finding a perfect fit

After skiers or snowboarders make the choice to wear a helmet, they face another challenge: finding a tight, safe fit that doesn’t change their attitude or style.

It might take a while to find the perfect fit, but like boots, fit is very important. A truly effective helmet has no gaps or pressure points.

Some companies have helmets that are adjustable so growing kids don’t need to buy a new helmet each year. But the fit of these helmets is inferior to a one-size-only helmet.

And helmets actually are warmer than hats, sometimes too warm, so some companies have introduced air-flow gadgets to help cool the cranium.

Freestyle skiers and X Gamers are wearing the helmets during competition, and younger people are leading the movement to make helmets cool.

“There’s still the old guys out there who are not going to wear a helmet,” Hanley said. “But the younger generation, who were raised wearing them, are going to continue to wear them.”

Helmets continue to be overwhelmingly popular at terrain parks, where they are not always required but generally encouraged by terrain park culture.

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The 15-year-old girl has been upgraded to good condition at Swedish Medical Center after arriving in critical condition with a head injury.

The skier is part of a Canadian national alpine team that was training at Keystone Resort, said her father, Steve, on Thursday. He didn’t give his last name or his daughter’s first or last name, saying he wished to keep her identity confidential.

Everyone on the team wears helmets, he said. “It probably saved her life.”

The father and doctors don’t know many details about her crash, except that teammates observed she was slightly off the ski trail just before it happened. Each ski run is given a difficulty rating ranging from green to blue to black.

Helmets can lessen a head injury, which often gets worse during the time it takes to reach a hospital, said Dr. Michael Craun, trauma medical director at Swedish.

“Time is our worst enemy” with head injuries, Craun said.

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“He slept in it the first couple of nights,” his father, Saul Levmore, said Wednesday, “because it meant he was growing up and about to go skiing.”

Now that same helmet, bright blue with silver stars and a black racing stripe, is a symbol of something else: a prevented tragedy.

Wednesday, a day after Eliot plowed into a tree during a ski class at Aspen Highlands, the Chicago boy was recuperating at Children’s Hospital in Denver. The only outward signs of his trauma were a two-inch gash with 10 stitches above his right eye, a neck brace, just for precautions, and a touch of grogginess.

Eliot’s doctors say he is extremely lucky. He sustained a medium concussion and had some bleeding around his brain but is expected to make a full recovery.

“He actually got away almost scot-free,” pediatric neurosurgeon Lori McBride said. “He managed to dent his helmet and not his head.”

Eliot, who had been enjoying his first day of using ski poles, was injured at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday when he had second thoughts about going over a jump in class and veered to the side, plowing into a tree.

His accident was the second involving a child at Aspen Highlands in five weeks. Five-year-old Leonie Arguetty, of Wellington, Fla., died last month, two days after she hit a tree. She was not wearing a helmet.

Late Wednesday, officials with the Aspen Skiing Co. announced that all ski and snowboard students age 6 and younger will be required to wear helmets while in lessons. The change takes effect March 23.

Arguetty’s death was one of 14 on Colorado’s slopes this year, the most recorded in a ski season. The previous high was 12, during the 1998-99 season.

Eliot’s doctors said Wednesday they have little doubt that the boy’s helmet prevented serious injury and possibly death.

“Lucky for Eliot, he was wearing his helmet,” McBride said.

Levmore said helmets are a routine part of his children’s lives. There’s no scootering, biking, skiing, or even ice skating without one.

Eliot sometimes grumbles about wearing a helmet while on his scooter, but never while on the slopes. “For skiing and skateboarding, all their heroes are wearing helmets,” Levmore said. “I doubt I’ll be doing much without a helmet again.”

Levmore and his wife were skiing another part of the mountain, preparing to meet their children for lunch, when his cell phone rang: A ski official said his son had been unconscious for two minutes.

Levmore remembers skiing down the mountain to Eliot. “You’re scared out of your mind,” he said. “I have a very, very special kid, and his brain is his best part.”

Eliot, suddenly shy Wednesday because of the attention, managed a quick wave to reporters as he sat in a wheelchair, wearing blue pajamas and clutching a tattered penguin.

Levmore said he’s encouraged by his little boy’s recovery, which includes continued mastery of Nintendo. The family plans to return to Chicago on Saturday but promised to ski the Rocky Mountains again.

“We’re addicted to Colorado,” Levmore said. “We’ll definitely be here next year.”

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