Ski Helmets

Ahhhh .... helmets :shock:

I've worn a helmet pretty well since I started skiing --- because in those days I was down on the snow more than I was standing on the skis. :roll: And being on the snow I was a prime target for the boarders.

But wearing a helmet was my choice ... and it provided warmth besides being a place to put my goggles.

Beginning with this 2012-13 ski season, the Nova Scotia government (in it's wisdom - he says with sarcastic intent)has legislated into law that helmets must be worn on the slopes. And they are going to bully people into wearing them with hefty fines if they don't comply. All that being said, the estimate of people already wearing helmets around here is 80% to 90%. The demographic not wearing helmets seems to be the 18 to 25 year old females. Can't have a bad hair day blamed on a helmet! :lol:

So in my "protest" of the government people (who likely couldn't tell which ski goes on which foot) I skied helmet-less on the last day of the past season. Freedom ..... and the air temperature was about 15°C. A nice way to end the season -- in a legal way! :roll:

As has been said ... try the fit before you buy! If the fit cannot be adjusted or if too small it won't be any good to you.
Mike -)

Mike from NS wrote:Ahhhh .... helmets :shock:

I've worn a helmet pretty well since I started skiing --- because in those days I was down on the snow more than I was standing on the skis. :roll: And being on the snow I was a prime target for the boarders.

But wearing a helmet was my choice ... and it provided warmth besides being a place to put my goggles.

Beginning with this 2012-13 ski season, the Nova Scotia government (in it's wisdom - he says with sarcastic intent)has legislated into law that helmets must be worn on the slopes. And they are going to bully people into wearing them with hefty fines if they don't comply. All that being said, the estimate of people already wearing helmets around here is 80% to 90%. The demographic not wearing helmets seems to be the 18 to 25 year old females. Can't have a bad hair day blamed on a helmet! :lol:

So in my "protest" of the government people (who likely couldn't tell which ski goes on which foot) I skied helmet-less on the last day of the past season. Freedom ..... and the air temperature was about 15°C. A nice way to end the season -- in a legal way! :roll:

As has been said ... try the fit before you buy! If the fit cannot be adjusted or if too small it won't be any good to you.
Mike -)

It is about time the 10-20% made a stand .... unite sisters

Ian Wickham wrote:
It is about time the 10-20% made a stand .... unite sisters

:lol:

I've been wearing a helmet for the last few seasons and found after the first that it was easier for me personally to manage the fogging of goggles and body temperature. I wear specs (can't do contacts) and between helmet and Smith Phenom turbo goggles I no longer have frustrating periods of no vision to deal with.


iirc 3/4 of our group were sporting them on the slope last year - and it was those that had been skiing longest of us that opted not to.

The Giro effort I had was annoying though - it was a good fit but being one of those foam packed efforts it looked huge and the material of the flexible ear covers annoyed my ears. Possibly it was a good fit around temples as required but I hadn't considered the lower half of the helmet.

We had a day of very junior level slalom racing at the end of the weeks lessons and I crashed in such a way that I tried to plough a furrow into the slope and there's an interesting depression in the outer shell of the helmet. So I've just replaced it - and got a full sided Uvex race style helmet. Not because I fancy myself for Olympic gold but because the full shell feels less irritating on my ears. Another bonus is it's a little more streamline. Time will tell on the ventilation and effect on hearin gfront though.....

Mr Pitstop is a good skier of *coughs* many years standing (and occasionally falling). I am an ok, if ice-loathing one. We hadn't played in the snow for 4 or 5 seasons due to family/money issues, but returned last season to Courmayeur. We went over the 'to helmet up or not' debate and decided that it might be sensible. I mean, I ride a bike and a horse and always lid-up for those recreations, so why not for skiing?
We went through every reason not to, in a frantic effort to find a valid argument to avoid dumping the traditional wooly headgear ...but failed.
So we dragged each other to Snow & Rock last Feb and tried on the hateful items, to find.... they were very light and comfy if a hell of a lot more expensive than my jockey skull cap... Eeek! Bu88er. No excuse now then... and d'you know what?
We forgot we were wearing them. And actually, I skied far more confidently on ice.

Mr Pitstop still feels he looks like he's about to be fired out of a canon, but hey! I love him anyway and I'd rather have him without a stoved in skull.

Penelope P! Welcome to J2ski ~ I predict, with that sense of humour, you will be a J2 star!

Clearly, Mr P, has his burdens, and that is not just his ski lid.

I seem to have gone through the same issues. Last winter, Niederau, Austria, mid jan, I carefully selected a remote, steep area, put on a helmet, photoed meself with lid, and texted it to my lovely one, back in Scotland.

I then put the lid back in my rucsac, and skied off, wearing my DAVE MAC wooly hat.

Everybody was happy!

I've mainly been skiing in scandinavia where probably 90% of people wear helmets, probably due to the vast amount of drag lifts which seem hell bent on removing your head from your shoulders, I had never previously felt the need for a helmet being a sunday driver on the slopes, I now am a convert. I had no idea it would be possible to forget about it nor how warm my ears would be. Having since had someone throw themselves off the roof of a tunnel on top of my head as I exited said tunnel I won't be going back to my beanie. Whether it saved my life is debatable but it certainly saved that days skiing.

When I was searching for ski-related injuries I came across an article which stated that despite wide-spread use of helmets the rate of head injuries has remained unchanged since 70s. I started wearing a helmet when I started skiing off-piste, when off-piste is not available in early season I don't wear it. When I am moving into resort I have lot of stuff to take and helmet is not a priority, so it typically stays home until Christmas week.
I am not sure governments should be interfering in the issue, unless of cause they are providing healthcare for all their citizens out of state pocket. In this case statistics is needed and intevention might serve to lessen the social burden - i.e. non-skiers paying for skiers in cases when certain injuries could be prevented by helmets. Where insurance is private it should be left to insurers to decide on cover and premiums. Differentiating between skiers wearing helmets and those who doesn't can make an economic sense and whoever picks up the final bill should be able to have a say. Only in the world where everyone is paying cash strictly out of his own pocket interventions will be completely wrong. Lets say if one can afford to pay any healthcare without resorting to insurance then no restrictions should be imposed on that person as to what "protective gear" he should or should not wear as in this case this is absolutely no-one else's business. But for most people it's not the case and what you wear on slopes can become everyone's business if everyone is sharing the financial costs and these costs become too high. This is the only reasonable context for the "helmet debate" in my opinion. I heard before comments like "ski instructors not wearing helmets, how awful, what example they show to young kids" and I found these comments laughable.