I don't really care if someone I don't know and have no connections with chooses to ski without a helmet. And I don't certainly don't care if it's not made compulsory - too much nanny state as it is. But if your brains are smashed to a bloody pulp (or you get a fatal concussion) on the piste, and a helmet would have saved you, a lot of people will be affected.

The people you were skiing with
Anyone around who witnesses the accident
The person(s) you collided with/who collided with you
The rescue services
Your friends
Your colleagues
Your family

Possibly the only person positively affected will be your undertaker and coffin maker.

Or have I misunderstood what you mean by "how can you argue with something someone chooses to do when it cannot possibly affect you?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono#Death

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael..._Kennedy#Death

I was actually in Aspen the day that Michael Kennedy died.

As the spring season starts perhaps we should also add other sports to the poll as cycling, skating and rollerblading (not even talking about motor sports where helmets are compulsory).

Helmets should be compulsory in golf and tennis as well

And here you are not very far from the truth... I hate playing doubles with senior people as I like hitting the ball hard and sometimes onto the guy at the net. I received lots of complains addressed to me in the past and I have tremendously improved in this respect.

I came back from a skiing trip yesterday and it was the first time I’ve worn a helmet.
When it comes to my kids wearing a helmet is the norm but I never considered it for myself. I’m surprised I needed an incident like a celebrity death to make me consider changing a habit instead of just using my own common sense.

I had an accident the same week as Natasha Richardson and feel rather fortunate.

A snowboarder was racing his friend to a restaurant and quote "didnt see me" as he hit me at around 50kpm from behind. A wide open blue, hardly anyone around or on the slope so no excuse really. Sadly (for him) all caught on film (thank god) as I cant remember anything from that day!

Unconscious for 3 hours and airlifted off the mountain, lost my sight, face pretty mashed up, leg and arm in plaster....

But two things saved me - I had a Dakine ruck sack on which seems to have a built in back protector which took the impact when he hit me from behind and my helmet which took the impact of his helmet (and his head) hitting me. Convinced that both saved my life!

Thankfully on the mend and sight came back after a few weeks - I do think that there should be speed restrictions in Europe - the guy who did it should have had his pass taken off him immediately and even a resort ban.

Interestingly BUPA are now chasing the guy as they are claiming back all my medical expenses on account of negligence.

Yours is a sobering story. Thanks for sharing.

The same kind of thing happened to my wife whilst snowboarding a few years ago. She was just getting off a ski-lift when a skier coming down the mountain fast 'out-of-control', and hit her.

She was unconscious, air-lifted off, broken bones etc.

It seems that even if you are an expert skier / snowboarder, protection such as helmets and back protection can, and does protect you from others.

Thanks Tom - hope she is ok now? Off lift - thats worse than on an apprach to a restaurant!!
Out of interest were the police involved at all? The police were desperate for me to press charges as they are trying to make an example of people like him - I am told you can even be imprisoned? But the guy was an English Trainee Doctor (ironic) and was worried that he wouldnt be able ot get a job with a criminal record. I was so pleased I was alive I let him off - 2 months of pain & physio later, not feeling so generous!!!

Sorry to hear that for both of you Tom & Leavesm. Has the trainee doctor been checking in to see how you are doing and showing the appropriate level of concern for you given that he caused your predicament? If he has, then I would not press charges. If not, then I would.

It was a few years ago (I did mention that).

Is she okay now? I'm not sure whether she was crazy before or afterwards. She certainly is a bit mad now.

The police were involved. Automatically. They even visited by wife in hospital and she had to make a statement.

Hi Breezy,

No interestingly havent heard from him - he left his contact details (well kinda had to really with the police involved) and said if I wanted to call I could. Not quite the same..... a friend suggested that he may have been advised to avoid contact in case things got legal and he said anything he'd regret - what is the world coming too?

It appears that covering one's backsides takes priority over interest in someone's wellbeing....

He's 27 years old so hoping the situation has scared the living daylights out of him so he and his friends will think twice about racing each other in the future.

I never used too, untill I got a bit more serious into freestyle skiing. Now I always wear a helmet while skiing, and mountain biking. Its just kind of a habit now.

Wearing a helmet becomes more and more important as more people are wearing them. To think I used to ski and board without one scares the crap out of me.

Ps. its not just for your own crashes. Its for other people wiping you out, or a rogue board or ski coming flying down the hill into your head when you are stopped having a little break

I've always been a bit perplexed that as you learn, it's more likely you will hit your head frequently = need a helmet.

As you get good, you go faster, jump higher, etc...... more likely to REALLY hurt yourself when it happens (albeit less frequently) but = need a helmet.


I say, each to their own.


Personally, I wouldn't wear one at the start until a mate of mine showed me the MASSIVE ding in his helmet from his first day, so I bought one.
.... I then proceeded to get my own matching 'helmet ding' not long after.

Helmets are the way forward. But feel free do as you please.

Sort of relevant - After watching On Her Majesties Secret Service yesterday there is a part of me that yurns for Skiing to be what it used to be: An all-in-one romper-suited posh pub crawl up a mountain; more fur than fear.

The helmetisation of the pistes was all part of the transition...most snowboarders now dress like they're off to fight the Alien hoard rather than pootle down a slope.

If i was a millionaire i'd open a non-pisted, spandex and helmet free ski resort with old school lifts that someone has to lock you in. Maybe with Telly Savalas smoking furiously at the top of the ski lift. Maybe Diana Rigg as a Chalet Girl. This post may have reached its natural end.

Being Swiss, I've skied since I was about 18 months ... and I just hate wearing any kind of hat- if it is really cold I wear a headband. So for me, wearing a helmet would be a total pain, and I just can't get used to the idea. OH started learning late in life, and got used to a helmet when skiing in Colorado and loves it. I shall certainly encourage my grand-children to wear helmets. As a very experienced skier and snowboarder, I would say that in the majority of severe accidents I've witnessed in the past 55+ years would have benefited from a helmet.

For those of you who are cyclists, would you go cycle touring without a helmet? Or do some of you still go around driving without a safety belt?

A helmet isn't just reassuring, it's also surprisingly good insulation (I'm happy with mine down to -25 or so), and nice for attaching thing like microphones or cameras. Never had a ding, but counting all the bonuses, tend to lug one around.

Never wear a helmet before, but after read through all the above post I decide, no helmet, no skiing. Thank you all.