Helmet discussion

[el_jefe]

back in '96 a good friend of ours hit a tree while skiing and suffered massive head trauma. he was skiing a line he had skied many times before, but somehow just caught an edge and lost control. despite the best efforts of all involved, he died.

later that season, my future wife bought me a helmet for valentines day and we have both been wearing one skiing ever since. this was before sonny bono, etc, and we were heckled on the hill more than once before the current helmet craze took hold.

will helmets protect me from every skiing accident? no.
will I wear a helmet every day I ski for the rest of my life? yes.

RIP, matty. we miss you man.

[bbirtle]

Friends of mine, two years back, out on a pretty normal, warm spring day, on their way back from a short hike, skiing just next to the piste on their way back to lunch. Jim going really fast, as he does, and pops over a very small roller, getting a very little bit of air... landing very hard on the rocks he didn't see on the other side. Bindings pop out and he is lunched forward... dies almost immediately of massive head trauma. Not pretty, I'm very glad I wasn't there that day. Wearing full face helment. Shattered into several pieces on impact.

Alternate moral of the above story - never jump into something you haven't scoped out before, even if it looks VERY small (turning blind corners included)

(RIP Jim.....)

Climbing Matterhorn, this summer, turn around to see an Australian climber fall around 200m down the east face to his immediate death. Wearing standard mountaineering helmet. Helmet not even present anywhere near his body when it finally stops falling. His partner not asked to identify the body because the police say "he wouldn't be able to". Most horrible thing I've ever seen.

They won't save you from everything, but they'll save you from some things and you'd be silly not to wear one doing freeride style skiing.....................

[StormRider]

My helmet just protects from glancing blows off of rocks, tree branches, stuff like that...

This is pretty much the best reason I've found to wear a helmet. I also like to think it would help if an out of control moron ran into me altough it probably wouldn't help much if they were reallt hauling ass. Also if you need to take a leek in the woods, just put your helmet upside down in the snow next to you and it the perfect place to put your gloves.

[bcrider]

If you're going to have your kids wear helmets, please spend the 30 seconds it takes to make sure it either fits right, and/or is worn correctly, unlike this photo.

Good point BB.

It was too loose. I do remind them that putting it on tight is very important. I guess I was just too caught up in the moment that my daughter was learning how to snowboard that I didn’t catch it on this occasion.

Ps. are we going to become enemies…cause I’ve bit my tongue on few occasions lately towards you…….. I can stop if you’d like the attention.

[FRP]

My helmet's already saved me once this year from a gaper brining the lift bar down while i was leaning forward; happens to me at least once a year

[StormDay]

Mellow terrain. Almost didn't wear the lid...

Cruising down when all of a sudden I'm going ass over tea kettle, no clue what happened but it didn't really matter. I ragdolled for a few rounds, landed face down in the snow... Not a big deal... Except that my ski came tomahawking down after me and hit me square in the head. It was not a good feeling, but without the helmet I probably woulda been un-conscious on a deserted day.

About 18 years ago (pre-helmet days), I had a similar experience. Took the heal piece of the binding above the ear. Result was bloody hat & jacket, free sleigh ride from JH ski patrol and stitches. (No concussion) With a helmet, I just would pick up my ski and finished skiing off the mtn.

Both in skiing and whitewater rafting, I wear helmets to protect against getting cut. Helmets help in impacts, but are not a guarantee to keep you from getting a serious head injury. (Of course, a helmet might be the difference in making off the river or out of the bc on your own.)

[bbirtle]

My helmet's already saved me once this year from a gaper brining the lift bar down while i was leaning forward; happens to me at least once a year

Actually I've found this is one of the few drawbacks of wearing a helmet - if you're at all leaning forward when somebody suddenly whips down the lift bar, the increased size almost always means it will nick you.

If you're in a town like Jackson, Chamonix, Las Lenas, etc you're friends laugh at you for not wearing a helment, so the decision is obvious. In other places, you might look like a geek, but you'll be a geek more likely to have his head in one piece at the end of the day.

[kristen]

Funny that Bbirtle mentioned Lenas. When we were there I joked that although the locals couldn't identify between canucks and gringos it was actually quite obvious... the ones with the helmets were the Americans. Every maggot down there wore one, while maybe only one in ten Canadians.

[powderhound]

I always wear my helmet.
It's funny there were a lot of people without helmets on the 4th of July. Even people that usually wear a helmet went without. I overheard one guy say he didn't need one because he was "just taking it easy." WTF dude, I think we're all taking it easy, but there's more exposed rocks than ever up here and alcohol consumption is out of control. If there's a time to have a head injury, now is it.
How come the ski patrol doesn't wear helmets? Shouldn't they be setting some sort of example for others? Maybe they don't want to look like a bunch of dorks.