You are NOT Logged in.
Chat about all aspects of snowsports, backcountry, climbing and mountaineering.
Goto Thread: PreviousNext
Goto: Forum ListMessage ListNew TopicSearchLog In
Goto Page:  Previous12345678Next
Current Page:5 of 8
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 12.44hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
Quote:

Prior to getting one I'd never hit my head skiing but I didn't go very fast or on bumpy stuff as I was still learning. Since I started wearing one I've walloped my head a few times,


That you have suddenly started walloping your head would have nothing to do with the fact that your head now has a diameter several inches larger than your brains spatial awareness allows for?

flugeryl


Posts: 2307
Joined: Oct 2004
Last Visited: 12:40
11th Mar 2021
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 17.13hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
my helmet has not only saved me from my own incompetence but those of others, from ski poles to collisions

Be Nice to Skiers, they have it hard enough already
cmorrison


Posts: 1121
Joined: Sep 2007
Last Visited: 10:36
21st Apr 2021
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 17.51hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
I'm undecided about the helmet issue, but on piste I think it can sav ou from the stupidity of others...


When I was at the Gorm the weekend befor elast some idiot had lost his snowboard halfway down the gunbarrel. It came flying past me (sat at the bottom across from Cas tow) and then took off over the wee lip below the cas loading area and took off, missed a young boys head by about a foot.

Now if the snowboard had hit the boy without a helmet I'm pretty sure he would have been dead instantly. If the boy had been wearing a helmet he would probably still have been in a bad way but it might have saved his life.

The only problem with this story is that if the snowboard had hit him in the neck it would have made a good attempt at removing his head from his body. So should we wear nek protection too...full set of armour etc etc.
actionslax


Posts: 88
Joined: Apr 2006
Last Visited: 06:34
7th Apr 2021
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 17.56hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
ali-g Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just caught up on this debate - some previous comments about 'you will be ok if you are aware of your surroundings and have control of speed and line etc etc' astonish me


Sounds like you're referring to my previous post. I'm not saying don't wear a helmut - far from it. But I still beleive that if you are an experienced skiier/rider you are much more in control, know your limits, know to watch out for punters. I've been on the hills since I was 5, snowboarding since I was 12 (I'm now 32). I know allot of competitive professional riders and not one of them wears a helmut. For me it's experience, I will wear one eventually.
naefearjustbeer


Posts: 1043
Joined: Apr 2007
Last Visited: 23:28
22nd Nov 2015
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 21.33hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
alan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> That you have suddenly started walloping your head
> would have nothing to do with the fact that your
> head now has a diameter several inches larger than
> your brains spatial awareness allows for?
>
>
> -------------------------
> “Two of the most famous products of Berkeley are
> LSD and Unix. I
> don’t think that this is a coincidence.” - Anon

I find this happens at work I bang my head a lot when I am wearing my hard hat in areas where it is required. I hardly ever bang my head when I dont have it on.

However I have banged my head a few times on the piste and I think If I had not been wearing a helmet I still would of banged my head.



davidar


Posts: 68
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 15:33
11th Mar 2014
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 21.49hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
The wife and I wore helmets for the first time this year (bern macon for me, head one for the missus) out in Whistler.

Couldnt tell any difference between wearing a comfy lined lid or a beanie..... during the weekdays about 80% of others had helmets, at the weekend smaller %age.

Caught and edge one day on an easy slope and nutted the ground..... think the lid saved me from a headache.

Most helmets will reduce force of low to medium impacts... high impact collisions will still be serious. Helmets cant do naff all about neck trauma associated with high impact collisions.


Personally I am against 'Laws' saying what protection we choose to wear as adults. It is our life in our hands..... its not up to the state to tell us what to do.


Incidentally, the redgrave incident looks strange to me. It looks like a low impact trauma has exacerbated an existing problem if few symptoms were observed at the time of the accident. Maybe some 'real' doctors can correct me on that..

terrible accident regardless

phiggy


Posts: 71
Joined: Jan 2008
Last Visited: 18:19
6th Feb 2011
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 22.53hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
It's not always your own actions that cause a fall. A couple of times this season I've been wiped out from behind and cracked my head. EMCD11 starting this thread made me think about buying a helmet.
Eventually I got round to buying one and absolutely love it. It's warm, light and it makes me feel safer with regards to the possibilty of other skiers laying me out again!
Bet you wish I'd never seen the post eh EMCD11!!!grinning smiley
Wigan


Posts: 3
Joined: Mar 2009
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 23.53hrs on Thu 19 Mar 09
I've worn one this year for the first time. Bought it at tesco of all places for an amazing £3 something, in a sale of kids sports stuff (I have a small head!). Cheap but comfortable and appears to meet the right safety standards.

My friends snowboard and wear helmets so it felt quite normal and acceptable to me to wear one, but looking around it seems it's far less common for skiiers than boarders.

Still making my mind up on it.
Positive: I quite value my head actually
Negative: Odd looks (maybe I imagine them), a bit hot by the end of the day, and I do miss the bobble hat...
Fiona


Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 2006
Last Visited: 11:20
12th Apr 2016
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 10.45hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
alan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Quote:
> That you have suddenly started walloping your head would have nothing to do with
> the fact that your head now has a diameter several inches larger than your brains
> spatial awareness allows for?

I don't think so plus I've not hit it that often and its definitely saved me from a few potentially nasty ones. I think its more to do with having gotten faster over the years and also learning to board when I initially seemed to spend more time bouncing off the ground than anything else.

I do agree with naefearjustbeer's comment re. bumping into stuff though.




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 10.45hrs Fri 20 Mar 09 by Fiona.
Scomuir


Posts: 300
Joined: Sep 2004
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 11.20hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
As i've said before, I only relatively recently got a helmet for skiing (December 2006). They are light, warm, do not restrict my senses (well, not more than wearing a hat with ear flaps, which i don't have to do any more), doubles up as a bike helmet when cycling into the Cairngorms with my skis on my back, allows me somewhere to strap my camera onto, etc.

I just can't see why you would object to wearing one. There will always be those that don't want to wear them, many without even laying hands on one, let alone trying one on. Fair enough. I am sure some of these people welcomed releasable bindings when they came out though eye popping smiley)

I use mine for eveything now, with the exception of level touring. If there's a descent, the helmet usually goes on, particularly where there is a possiblility of bare ground/exposed rocks nearby.

I do think there is a problem with the perception of wearing a helmet for skiing. If you put a helmet on for cycling, you are viewed as being sensible. If you put one on for skiing, there seems to be an opinion that you going to take more risks! Maybe some do, but I am sure most won't.

[www.scomuir.com]
Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 11.48hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
After 35 years experience, I had a spiral fibular fracture from a slow speed on the flat fall at Swinhope. I lost concentration on what the left ski was doing whilst correcting the right ski having gone the wrong way around a clump pf reeds. A fine day, only, about 5 people on the hill at the time, so no crowded pistes. I only use high elasticity bindings, usually set at a din level 1 or 2 below reccomendation. But nevertheless in a stupid place, at a slow pace, momentarily the torque forces hit maximum a millisecond before the binding released. However, the most immediately concerning part was the smash of the forehead onto the soft snow and underlying peat grass (ie a very benign surface to connect with). It took a long time to pull together, and I didn't even realise that there was leg problem until trying to put the ski back on.

Prior to that, the only serious spill I had experienced was in Tremblant, where on my son's recommendation tried out some blades. On a steep mogulled slope, they went forward, resulting in a reverse half somersault onto the back of the head. I realised that things weren't 100% when a kind passing lady skier stopped to assist, then said "Do you need me to get some help, you don't look too good ?"

I decided that as I make a living by using my brain, I needed to protect my prime asset, and got a helmet three seasons ago. I find it much more comfortable than a hat on cold days, and far better than getting that disconnected feeling (coupled with overheating) I used to get when wearing a hood on the really bad weather days. It doesn't restrict the ability to move the head around quickly, and surprisingly doesn't seem to affect the hearing (I can still detect the very subtle sound changes as the skis progress through varying snow conditions). I do get a hotter head on hot sunny days, but take it off to ride uphill, and the heat on those days is not as bad as I thought that it would be. I have had one afternoon when it just got too hot, but that was the last week in April at over 3000m blasting the Stockhorn moguls at Zermatt, when it reached 28c in the village.

I have taken the view that broken bones can be fixed, but broken brains can't, therefore it is worth the slight discomfort on the really hot days. And don't forget that paralysis, loss of motor control, memory loss, etc etc, are also results of brain damage, not just death.

Frankly, I believe that using statistics to correlate between snow-user deaths and helmet wearing is misleading. In the same period, the capability of hardware (skis and boards) has made it much easier for "average" users to go faster and undertake manouevres and venture in to environments and conditions that their ability would have not allowed even just 10 years ago - the disbenefit of which is increased risk. Arguably therefore, the death rate would be higher if helmets weren't being worn.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 11.50hrs Fri 20 Mar 09 by Hipennine.
paisleyboarder


Posts: 593
Joined: Nov 2005
Last Visited: 19:44
15th Feb 2018
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 12.13hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
always wear my helmet now especially after i had fractured my skull 1995, for years i didn't bother wearing one but have done since 2001 and will continue to do so.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 13.31hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
I think through helmet converts I'm understanding how religion works. winking smiley
ali-g


Posts: 56
Joined: Mar 2008
Last Visited: 17:14
11th Apr 2014
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 15.39hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
i think it's a shame that it has taken this 'freak' accident this week for so many people to decide helmets are the way forward

have sold 4 adults helmets this morning alone - thats usually the number i'd do in a week - but if it even saves one life no matter how freak the accident then its worth it


www.ski-board.co.uk
flugeryl


Posts: 2307
Joined: Oct 2004
Last Visited: 12:40
11th Mar 2021
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Ski Helmets
Date Posted: 15.47hrs on Fri 20 Mar 09
cmorrison Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm undecided about the helmet issue, but on piste
> I think it can sav ou from the stupidity of
> others...
>
>
> When I was at the Gorm the weekend befor elast
> some idiot had lost his snowboard halfway down the
> gunbarrel. It came flying past me (sat at the
> bottom across from Cas tow) and then took off over
> the wee lip below the cas loading area and took
> off, missed a young boys head by about a foot.
>
> Now if the snowboard had hit the boy without a
> helmet I'm pretty sure he would have been dead
> instantly. If the boy had been wearing a helmet
> he would probably still have been in a bad way but
> it might have saved his life.
>
> The only problem with this story is that if the
> snowboard had hit him in the neck it would have
> made a good attempt at removing his head from his
> body. So should we wear nek protection too...full
> set of armour etc etc.


snowboard leash....but dont say it too loud

Be Nice to Skiers, they have it hard enough already
Goto Page:  Previous12345678Next
Current Page:5 of 8
Your Name: 
Your Email: 
Subject: