part of the fun of skiing is the adrenalin rush, and sometimes skiing out of your comfort zone, i"m not saying dont wear a helmet, if it makes you feel more secure then thats fine, but to make everyone wear a helmet is wrong, riding a motorbike at 100mph on a motorway is one thing, but a leisurely cruise down a blue ski run is another.

You could be in perfect control on a nice blue, but what if someone else isn’t and hits you? Could be the end of your beloved sport as you know it and not your fault.

I’d like to see some figures of how many people ski and how many incur serious injuries (with and without helmets) before jumping to conclusions about the real added value of a helmet. Do any of the ski resorts capture this info?
 
In theory it seems to make sense but personally I don’t like the enclosed feeling and have chosen not to wear so far. On the other hand I never drive without seat belt on…. I have questioned myself recently when skiing off piste where a fall would take you over rocks but still not bought one.
 
In my experience the biggest risk of getting hit on the head is when getting out of a cable car when people are swinging their skis over their heads and poles are going everywhere. 

Yes Wendy I was skiing in perfect control on a blue and someone came from behind out of control and hit me. Now guess which one was and which one was not wearing a helmet.
 
Bobinch, the ski resorts do collect detailed figures about accident and some of this is published and it is discussed at international conferences. Unfortunatley the statistics do not point to any significant benefit in wearing a helmet from the point of view of serious injury or death.
 
However, they tend not to consider the minor issues such as you point out with being hit in the head with skis while walking around the resort. Though if this required any medical treatment it would appear in the statistics.
 
While many people are advocating the wearing of helmets, we must remember that different helemts are designed for different things and not all helemts are the same. A bicycle helemet for example is designed to protect against blunt impact (and may have saved Ms Richardson’s life) whereas a climbing helmet is designed to protect against penetration, ie a stone or rock coming through, and has minimal blunt impact protection (probably would not have saved Ms Richardson’s life).
 
Skiing helmets are likewise designed for different purposes. An American Snell standard helmet, for example, will give better penetration protection than a European CE standard, which does not consider hemispherical or edge anvil penetration. It is designed for blunt impact. As such a CE standard helmet may be of little use off piste or in the trees where rocks and trees may be encountered. Not unsuprisingly the more protection you get the heavier the helemt is.
 
To quote Mike Langran
 
"So, to conclude, I am a helmet wearer and recommend others to wear one too. There is good evidence to indicate that a helmet will protect you against many of the common injuries that the head is susceptible too when on the slopes. They are especially important for children, who run a higher generic risk of snow sport injury. Helmets seem to have their most protective effect in incidents involving low speed impacts (below 15 mph) and for falls leading to blows to the head on the snow surface."
 
Me, I wear a helmet for racing, because it is compulsory, but in general I prefer not too.

I was waiting a draglift on a beautiful Saturday morning, when I spotted a VERY attractive woman on my left. A pleasure for the eye. I turned my head and the time was lost. Suddenly the drag hit my head. I can’t describe you the feeling of the iron hiting the head. My bad, I’ve discovered I have a strong scull and the first thinking of wearing a helmet passed my mind.
Several days later, I was sitting at the side of a piste having a short brake and enjoying the view. I chose the spot carefully so I could be seen from far. Then I heard Tarzan’s yell. I turned and I saw Tarzan coming down with maximum speed and no control at all. As I was trying to get up, Tarzan made one of his famous jumps and his right ski passed 2cm from my eye. Luckily I wasn’t hurt and Tarzan landed with his belly a few meters away, for my pleasure, hurting his knee badly, for my pleasure also. Sorry Tarzan, you should stick to the jungle…
His bad, but next day I bought a helmet.
Helmet didn’t make me more careless but it gave me a small feeling of security against stupidity. Mine or other’s…

Ken R requested that we post his view (also under the Safety section)
 
Hi,
 
Was in US when this tragedy happened, only recently back. The proportion of US skiers / boarders wearing helmets is about 75% or more. When you look at the trees on the side of pistes etc, you can see who would loose if you collide with one. YOU!!
 
I have been converted for some years. It is the same argument about seat belts and crash helmets on motor cycles.
 
Ken R

So would you wear a helmet if offered one for free as part of your holiday booking? Would such an offer influence your trip planning/booking etc? (see our News item)
 
W

No

I’ve used a helmet for a couple of seasons, mainly after being taken out by an out of control snowboarder and looking up to see a sharp piece of rock an inch from my head. I originally had a Caerrea helmet, which was solid but you couldn’t hear a thing once you were wearing it. I changed to Salomon, more confortable and you can hear everything around you and they’ve been my favourite brand ever since. On the longevity comment, I was advised that helmets should be replaced every three years because of the effect of ultra violet rays on the plastic shell.

I echo BobInCH’s comment about a helmet being a good investment to protect your noggin from other skier’s poles and skis when exiting gondolas. Also useful if you get someone who hasn’t checked to see if every one is okay before pulling the bar down on the chairlifts - the helmet saved me from a few klonks that way.

Wendy,
I would definately report the effect to Salmon; in fact it was from Salomon that I got the advice re the helmet longivity from (ok acknowledging that obviously Salomon wouldn’t say no to extra sales, I’ve always found their advice to be honest). I wonder if any other forum users have noticed issues with different colour helmets?