So has the death of Natasha Richardson from a fall while learning to ski on a beginner’s slope made you think about getting a helmet for your own snow activities?

Do you agree with the various hand-wringers that have suddenly sprung up and decided that helmets should be compulsory for skiing and snowboarding (despite many of them never having even been to a ski slope)?

Do you, like me, have various relatives telling you that you should really wear a helmet because “Look at the poor Natasha Richardson..”

I was discussing this with a doctor friend of mine and here are a couple of pertinent facts:

• she died from an Epidural Hematoma. This type of injury can be caused by a tearing action when the skull stops suddenly and the brain continues. i.e. you can still sustain it even if you are wearing a helmet.

• the most common way to sustain this injury in sport is by being hit by a ball when playing squash, golf, tennis etc – none of these sports require helmets.

• it could equally happen to someone falling in the street.

All in all I’m sorry she is dead. It is very tragic. But I am more sorry that this means more nanny-staters noseying around winter sports and more people saying “Oh isn’t awful all these extreme sports? I don’t know why they don’t just stay at home and have a nice cup of tea where it’s safe.”

(Note: I am not trying to incite yet-another-helmet-debate. I’m purely discussing this incident and the way it has been jumped on by a media who are keen to marginalise any sport that isn’t football)

Its mostly the Brits that don’t wear helmets in European resorts, never thought about wearing one.

Me and my own family already wear helmets when skiing/boarding.

They shouldn’t be compulsory. It should be a persons choice. IIRC french ski schools won’t accept kids without them.

no

I have always worn a helmet when snowboarding since year 1 when I got some quite nasty concussion. Plus it gives you some extra warmth especially when sitting on the chair lifts. Think about it sensibly though skiiers/boarders are often riding the same slopes that we ride in the summer on MTB’s, doing similar jumps and going at similar speeds, but you wouldn’t think twice about going out without a helmet on your MTB!

I do agree though too much molly coddling, let us all make our own decisions.

I do already. Having been a ski patroller and cleaned up when several “good skiers/boarders” collide with trees, other skiers/boarders etc. It was an easy choice.

One of my mates knocked himself unconscious boarding in Italy after catching a toeside edge and headbutting hard snow. He stopped breathing and frightened the sh1t out of me and my mate. He however knew nothing about it! He does now insist on wearing a helmet.

It is down to each person to decide, but I do. My reasoning is that I ski fast and in control, but some people don’t. Mountains and other people are unpredictable and wearing a helmet reduces risk. (Nothing removes it altogether.) Also I find my helmet warmer and less itchy than a hat/no hat.

I would wear one, would of before hearing the tragic news. My mate crashed on the slopes the other year and gave himself concussion, he wasnt wearing a helmet.
But all in all in my opinion, they should be optional for adults but compulsary for kids.

My thoughts exactly Johni. Everyone in America wears a helmet they think it’s wierd if you don’t.

No,<minor rant> it has made me wonder what is so special about her that we all need to hear about her death on a holiday she chose rather than the silent majority who die in horrible circumstances but failed to become famous.

(I suppose it is a rhetorical question, she was famous, thats why we hear about it, still bugs me though).</minor rant>

I’ve worn a helmet snowboarding for about 6 seasons now. They are very common in North America. Quite a few resorts insist on them if you ride the big terrain parks. I’m not convinced it will save me in the event of a very serious crash, and there’s a lot of research to support that opinion. Even so I’d feel a proper arse if I crashed without it and spent the second half of my life messed up because of it.

So Tracker1972 you’ve not been following the Jade Goody story with interest then?

From what I’ve heard, she was standing still at the time, not actually skiing. What helmet for standing up?

Where are you people buying all these itchy hats from??

Do I have an abnormally insensitive head? (possibly from banging it all the time)

So you’ve not been following the Jade Goody story with interest then?

Yeah, but I don’t think a helmet would have prevented that either 😈

Note: I am not trying to incite yet-another-helmet-debate. I’m purely discussing this incident and the way it has been jumped on by a media who are keen to marginalise any sport that isn’t football

Good luck with that one!

the most common way to sustain this injury in sport is by being hit by a ball when playing squash, golf, tennis etc – none of these sports require helmets.

Maybe they should?

I think the fascination with this case is that it was a seemingly innoccuous accident. I think that had she sustained visibly horrific injuries at the time there would be far less discussion.

It’s, as TJ always says about helmets, it’s a risk/choice situation. I don’t wear a helmet skiing as I don’t perceive the risk is as significant as that when riding my bike, when I choose to wear one every ride.

No

i already wear one after one too many heelside edge head ice interfaces. it’s my free choice to wilfully protect myself from injury!

However yet again this is a family and not a national tragedy.

Press in knee-jerk reaction shocker!

I do agree though too much molly coddling, let us all make our own decisions.

Yeah but the problem is people make bad ones. There are speed limits to (vainly) try and stop people driving too fast. You might say if a 17 year old wraps his Corsa around a tree and dies, then that’s his problem. Except it’s not – that’s his family’s problem too. Some people need to be stopped from doing things that they’d otherwise like to do because of the problems it would cause other people if they died. How many 50 year olds are there in hospitals saying ‘You know, I’m so glad I took up smoking when I was 15 and smoked myself into lung cancer. I get to die early!’ I bet they and their families wish someone’d mollycoddled them.

Yeah but the problem is people make bad ones.

Agreed, but part of the reason that people make bad decisions is that they are fed bad and disproportionate information.

This incident is a classic example: the press have been all over it, publicly hand-wringing about how how awfully dangerous skiing is. But when was the last time that the quarter of a million people injured on UK roads each year got a headline?

I reckon James Bond won’t look the same skiing in a helmet.

There are too many people on the planet – personal safety should be down to your own judgement provided you are educated enough to make a rational decision.

Also, wearing helmets is quite fasionable now – wasnt always the case. That may change over time. Our kids may see us as boring safety freaks wearing helmets all the time.

A lot of people here are mentionin the fact that they/someone got concussion from a fall- your helmet will make very little difference to concussion, it will really only save you from the worst of the worst and flesh/bone breaking. I’m all for helmets and will always wear one on the bike/slope whether its compulsory or not, but I dont think it should be compulsory.

There are too many people on the planet

That argument is pretty pointless. In real terms, people dying or being maimed is bad. If you really believe that people need to die and are happy to preach that, then you are morally obliged to volunteer yourself or your family first to be sacrificed.

The way I see it is that a helmet cannot guarantee stopping any given injury, but it does give the wearer more chance of escaping the injury.

I ALWAYS ride with a helmet and on my last boarding holiday I bought one as it seemed the sensible thing to do. It saved me from a couple of potentially painful knocks but I don’t think it has saved my life yet. My bike helmet almost certainly has, after taking a rock full on right at the front, just above my eyes and cracking it clean in two – and that was on a simple section I had ridden a hundred times before but it caught me out on that one occassion).

molgrips: nah, what Trimix means is “There are too many other people on the planet”

It is a silent “other”, like the one in “There are too many cars on the roads” 🙂

There seem to be more helmets every year (in France at least), bought my lad one last time. If boarding I would definitely consider it, it seems really easy to catch the heelside edge and catapult yourself onto the back of your head. They seem quite cool now anyway ‘cos all the narly off piste or terrain park types all wear them, so the kids want them too.

Dunno if making beginner skiers wear one on the nursery slopes would do much, as you say in Natasha Richardson’s case it would seem not. But kids have to have them now in ski school most places, so it won’t be long before ski schools insist on adults wearing them as well, even if it is only to avoid any legal issues.

IIRC french ski schools won’t accept kids without them.

Kids should absolutely be made to wear helmets in ski school and IMO it should be a requirement of mountain access for kids.

I choose to wear a helmet as whilst there is a great deal of difference between the inherent risk that mountain biking and skiing have.. tree’s still really hurt when you ski into them.

I ski in a helmet, i ride in a helmet.

My business partner came off the side of a cat track (racing mates) and struck a tree 20 ft below the level of the piste… broke 2 vertibrae, 2 ribs, shoulder blade, spent 2 weeks in hospital. He now works as full time ski patrol, clearing up those same messes he was in a few years ago… bizarrely though, he still doesn’t ski in a helmet?!

I do think we’ll see helmets being a requirement at North American ski resorts at some point soon. It is a requirement at every lift assisted bike park after all.

staying inside and making cups of tea should be banned. Think of all the burns caused by pourover scalds/hot kettles/ lacerations caused by broken china. we should only drink water from plastic receptacles

My kids always ski in helmets. I’ve never hit my head skiing, had whiplash though. If I did more snowsport I might buy one, but a day or two at the Lecht per season, if that.

broke 2 vertibrae, 2 ribs, shoulder blade, spent 2 weeks in hospital…. bizarrely though, he still doesn’t ski in a helmet?!

Yeah, if only he’d been wearing a helmet… 🙄

we should only drink water from plastic receptacles

Are you mad..? What about the risk of drowning?

we should only drink water from plastic receptacles

What about nasties leaching out of the plastic and giving us cancer?

This incident is a classic example: the press have been all over it, publicly hand-wringing about how how awfully dangerous skiing is. But when was the last time that the quarter of a million people injured on UK roads each year got a headline?

Exactly, it’s interesting the way the media report on things involving risk. It’s awful for the families of people that do get hurt, but it seems like a disproportionate response given the numbers involved. As GrahamS said it’s because it’s not normalised in the way that other things that as just as dangerous (if not more so) are.

Christ! No TJ?

~No but when i broke my coolarbone on sunday i came down hard on the side of my head, pretty sure that the extra width my helmet provided saved me from a lateral injury.

Has her death made me think of Helmets?

No, not really, it made me think how awful it must be for her family.

I’ve only ever been cross-country skiing, and woon’t imagine that involves more risk than say running, buy I think I’d wear one for doing faster downhilly stuff. Quite a few people die from head injuries whilst skiing; hidden rocks, trees, etc pose risks.

The lady’s death is sad, for her family and loved ones. But the story of her death hazzunt made me think about wearing a helmet if I ever go downhill skiing; this thread has!

So, thanks.

This person is wearing a helmet. I’d consider that a sensible decision.

Think of all the burns caused by pourover scalds/hot kettles/ lacerations caused by broken china.

I’m considering getting some of these, to prevent any future ‘Avocado Incidents‘…

Graham_M- I have noticed the coverage Jade has been receiving yes. That does not make me much happier with the world either. Been trying to refrain from a full blown rant, each to their own, I get a bit obsessed with my own stuff from time to time but that is obviously different, to me 🙂

I was considering getting one, but TJ put me off the idea.

Always wear them, as a mum I would not let the girls board or bike without them

Tracey