Friends seemed curious when I bought my ski helmet: you’re not exactly a candidate for reckless skiing they said, nor do you spend that much time off-piste…so it went on.
 
Having recently seen what an "ordinary" on-piste fall can potentially do to one’s head, I wouldn’t be without mine, but what do others think?
 
Does wearing a helmet make you ski faster for example - a false sense of security?
 
It seems more of us are wearing them these days; but a lot don’t. And why do we think it is okay for children to be required by law to wear them - but not their parents?
 

Here’s the story:
http://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/news/Helmet_saves_skier_in_piste_fall/

Personally I don’t wear one….yet. My kids all wear them and a couple of my friends wear them. I wear a helmet whilst cycling, so why not when on the snow? I very rarely wear a hat either, as I love the rush of cold air through my hair.
That said though, I think it only a matter of time before I do buy one. I could not beleive the amount of people that were wearing them a couple of weeks back in St Anton - I estimate around 40-50%.
I also think we will probably see some resorts making them compulsory soon, probably eminating from the other side of the Atlantic.
Interestingly one of our friends bought one on Whistler at New Year, and was always a very timid skier. Now the helmet has given her a lot of confidence and kept up with us whilst away at the end of Jan.
So in conclusion, whilst not exactly a fan of them, they do make perfect sense and I will undoubtedly be buying one in the not to distant future.

Hi Wendy,I bought and wore one for the first time this year. Various reasons really, loss of hair ( they`re nice and warm ), nearly got wiped out myself last year and the final nail in the coffin was watching the downhill in Kitzbuhel and the horrific accident. I think it`s only a case of time before they are compulsory, and certainly more and more people are wearing them. Just one point though, could we have some clarification as to how long they will last without a bump or damage. Is it correct that the materials they are made from deteriorate after a few years and should be discarded ? Could be expensive !!

Hi. Bought a helmet last year after seeing the result of a friend being hit in the face during a collision. Also thought it would be a good idea with the lack of snow in Kitz. Was a little worried how hot/cold it would be and the effect on my hearing, but it’s ok and don’t seem to notice it now. Does anybody know if after an accident insurance policies cover replacing the helmet? They should be replaced if seriously impacted even if they don’t show any damage.

Scully: if ski helmets are anything like cycle/climbing helmets, then I’ve heard that they should be replaced every three years - which doesn’t seem very long (and I haven’t replaced mine yet!). They should also be replaced if you take any impact on them at all, even if they don’t show any sign of damage. It will be interesting to try and find out some more about this.
 
e.g - good point of yours about insurance too. The guy in my news story bought a new helmet straight after his crash, but we did wonder then about insurance. Guess it could depend on the type of accident.
 

I too had a pretty hefty fall whilst schussing in Zermatt in February. The vis was poor and I lost sight of the piste markers for a split second, causing me to run into a low side bank. After a rather swift 360 flip I landed amongst a group of boulders. Fortunately, I came to rest in a soft snowy patch between the rocks, my head and shoulder nestled beside a large angular boulder. Other than dented pride, I was miraculously unscathed. Whilst my helmet did not hit the rock I can not claim that it saved me. However, had I not been wearing one, yet hit the boulder, I would have been in serious trouble.
 
I would council everyone to wear a helmet. An accident can happen in a split second, regardless of your ability. You don?t get many second chances and you?ve only got one head.

My husband and I started wearing helmets about 4 years ago in response to our 13 year old daughte asking why she had to wear one if we didn’t.  I love my helmet - as well as protecting me against serious head injury (we have experienced the consequences of serious head injuries via 2 friends), it keeps me warm and doesn’t itch like my hat did.  It doesn’t seem to interfere with my hearing and hasn’t made me ski in ways I wouldn’t have before I got it.  I think school/college ski trips should make helmet wearing compulsory.  Our local education authority leaves it up to the tour leader.  Our 17 year old daughter’s college tour leader said he’d ensure our daughter wore a helmet if we asked him too.  A complete cop out I thought.  We battled peer pressure and the ‘No way I’m going to wear one if my friends aren’t’ and got agreement to wear one through bribery - purchase of a very expensive hat for apres ski!

Lt year a girl in my party was minding her own business following her instructor near the end of a blue run when a passing boarder collided with her.  She banged her head on the piste and was knocked out, duly hospitalised and kept in for 24 hrs.  She was ultimately OK, the boarder was fined 50 euro and a goodly proportion of us decided then and there to get helmets.  It does not matter what your level of expertise, or what your are doing, you can easily be taken out by someone else(just like driving in fact).  Just as wearing a seat belt when driving makes sense, so does wearing a helmet while skiing.

There are specific reasons why children (thinner skull) & older people (inner lining of skull less firmly attached) are more likely to suffer serious consequences of head injury. There will always be sceptics & of course, a strictly controlled trial is impractical, but surveys in Scandinavia & elsewhere have pretty clearly shown the benefit of wearing helmets. I think in childrens’ ski schools in Italy & N America, the wearing of helmets is compulsory. There are 2 main reasons why one might die as a result of a skiing accident - head injury & being overwhelmed by an avalanche !

This was sent in from reader Ted Ford:
 
"This year is the first time i have fallen when skiing and it happened like this:
 
My oldest son with whom I go every year had skied a long way ahead of me and I decided to catch up so into the middle of the piste and off I went on a fairly steep red run for me (as you know I am 79 )and lo and behold the old saying there’s no fool like an old fool ’ came home to haunt me, as having reach a fair (estimated at 35mph) I hit ice and my left leg just left me and then my right and finally my poles and my hat and I was on my back going down hill a fair old lick banging my head several times, (again the old saying where there’s no sense there’s no feeling) was true, for I felt not a thing and it was only when another skier stopped to ask if I was O.K. and he saw my head did I realise that I several cuts to my scalp for he went to the side of the piste and brought a large helping of snow and panted it on my head to staunch the bleeding.  I feel now that had I been wearing a helmet the cuts and abrasions would not have happened. 
 
I would also say that had I had my loop of the poles round my wrist I could well have had a broken wrist instead I ended with a dislocated thumb which when the gentleman who planted the snow on my head Commented on it and gave the base of the thumb a sharp slap and put it back in to place . I think in hind sight he must have been a doctor as he certainly knew what he was doing.  My ski’s and poles and hat by now had been returned to me by a young lady and as I was only about a third of the way down on a 3.4 km run and there was a black section , or a red one under trees I decided on the Red one, horror of horrors the snow had melted off the trees and frozen so it was ice all the way down the rest of the time.
 
However since I am now typing this on the comfort of my home you will realise that all is well., and that next year when I am 80 I WILL WEAR A HELMET even if I do look funny. "  Ted Ford

This is the second season I have used a helmet.  I do not notice it when on - it does not affect my hearing, or seem to weigh much. I don’t think it makes me any bolder. I started wearing it after my 20-something son, who did a course in Whistler, said I should; also some very small boys in a telecabine nagged me to!
When I had a bad accident last year, it is debatable whether the helmet saved me from worse injuries, but the fact I was wearing one was noted down in the doctor’s notes. (Collecting data?) As some of your correspondents have already noted, YOU might not fall, but someone might hit you; also, by definition, accidents are random and unexpected.
 
The 20-something, expert son of our friends fell on a flat schuss, and hit his head hard.  His helmet cracked with the impact as a result; although winded, he suffered no head injury.  Might well have been a different story.
 
I recently heard of a nasty accident where a woman lost control and ended up off piste, with serious facial injuries.  She was wearing a helmet, which didn’t seem to save her face much, but who knows about her head?

I spent the first two weeks of February in Whistler. Skiing the powder through the trees was a new experience.  My helmet returned to Australia with a few scratches.  My head returned with none.

Some very interesting stories here - and just heard about a guy dying in Tignes from a head injury sustained while traversing between two pistes (something quite a few folk regularly do as off-piste ‘play’).
 
Seems we also have two threads going now: the other asks for advice on what type to buy.

In motorsport, helmets have for several decades had to be replaced after ANY impact.  But what would hire shops do if this were a requirement for ski helmets?  At present, children in particular give helmets a very hard life, but most hire shops re-use them for years.  Realistically, some hired helmets must give very little protection.
Should we all buy helmets then?  Personally I’ve never worn one despite knowing there could be a lower risk in some accidents if I did so.  I also recognise that children must do so, but prefer adults to have freedom of choice.
My instinct is against their universal use, in part because they do seem to convey on many users a dangerous feeling of invulnerability - and one part of that danger is that many helmets DO inhibit either hearing or seeing other piste-users - or both! 
Sadly, there are two reasons why I suspect universal use, possibly by law, is not many years away:  first, equipment manufacturers will seek to supply a new market (helmet as fashion accessory?);  secondly, the tide of increasing health and safety regulation in this and most other aspects of life is unstoppable.

Don’t hold back the tide. It’s only a matter of time before helmets on slopes are seen as much as cycle helmets on roads. Shouldn’t the older generation of skiers who have "never had an accident" be setting an example for the newbies who are probably most at risk?

I throw into the debate a couple of observations I have made in another thread:

We are talking here about probabilities.  I am convinced that helmets reduce the risk of serious head injury in certain circumstances, but not others. My experience is that wearing a helmet (a light one, with adjustable ventilation) on a snowy day in mid-winter is entirely pleasant. Just a different kind of hat, really, with the advantage that if the sun comes out it gives me somewhere to store my goggles. On a warm March day, it’s different. So: I will regularly wear a helmet when it suits me (which is most of the time), and not when it doesn’t. By doing so, I am simply reducing the chances of a serious head injury while not seriously interfering with the pleasure of skiing.

Having reviewed the evidence a year or two back, I think it is particularly valuable to wear a helmet when skiing on rock-hard pistes.

Chris