I have been a skier for the past 33 years and consider myself of aggressive advanced ability and take appropriate judgement. This is my last ski season without a helmet, Movie and stage actress Natasha Richardson's ski accident this past is my tipping point.
She took a spill on a beginner run at Mt Tremblant north of Montreal late yesterday afternoon on spring snow which is heavy, wet and soft. Richardson took a spill, hit her head on the snow, was attended to by ski patrollers and her instructor, 24 hours later is now lying in a hospital in New York, condition unknown. Richardson was not wearing a helmet.
Brain injuries are scary as there is so little knowledge in on the human brain, we do know sudden impacts are a bad thing for grey matter. I wear a bike helmet in the Summer while cycling because it is a given human brain and skull plus gravity, speed, pavement and sometimes stupid inattentive motorist do not mix well together. The Outcome after such an encounter is really simple, you're dead or your choice of salad ingredient.
Most head injuries involve out of control skier hitting trees and as you read in newspapers or watch on the evening news, in most situations, the tree wins. In case of Richardson, she was not moving fast and took a spill in some heavy wet conditions, it does not take much. As someone skiing for most of my life, spring snow is tricky and you can catch an edge of your ski easily and fall.
So come August when my local ski store haunt Corbetts opens up for the season, I am buying a new Ski Helmet. I'm going to lose on the peripheral vision but reducing a chance of head injury even by a small percentage is a good thing. Helmets are not a cure all, being in control and aware of your surroundings while skiing will go a long way ensuring you are at the apres ski bash not in an ICU.
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