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Tree-skiing - only for experts

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
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Was he wearing a helmet? If not, it might have made the difference... Still at speed, even with the best helmet you'll come off worse in an argument with a tree.

This guy was an expert skier, but I've seen some pretty average intermediates trying to ski/board among trees....
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Tmes change, 25 years or more ago ski school classes (at the top level) regularly took the kids and adults tree skiing, it was felt to be part of their education, no more I fear Sad
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
D G Orf, threat of litigation again.... still, just four or five years ago in the Risoul/Vars "Forêt Blanche" area, the ESF competition ski group was still mucking around in the trees. Not sure if that's still the case.
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He was wearing a helmet - but I'm not sure he was really tree-skiing. Sounds like he came off a piste and hit the trees on the side...
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I've lost count of the number of 'skier head-butts tree and dies' news reports this winter, all from the States (though that's doubtless because we get very little news of this sort from non-English-speaking nations). It seems to be the most common cause of ski-related deaths in the USA.

I suppose this has been going on for decades, it's just that we know about it now, because of this change in communications.
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I wonder if the US has a higher percentage of tree lined routes, over here in europe people often hit pylons but because they're usually padded it's rarely fatal, if you have a steep tree lined piste the danger must be increased
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I think that's true DG - trees everywhere in Panorama. Tree-lined pistes, lightly gladed pistes - i.e. where a few trees had been thinned out and, in some cases, lower branches had been pruned from the rest - and lots of full-on tree skiing.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
D G Orf, We're talking about the US here! Now you've come up with the idea, they'll be padding all the trees... Wink
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I am told by an expert (canadian instructor level 4) that the biggest problem with tree skiing is that when you know you're going to hit a tree it's instinctive to lean back... what this does is make your groin hit the tree hard and momentum will roll you torso and head into the tree - HARD and this is what causes the damage. He reckons the way to avoid injury is to just try and accept you're going to hit the tree and hit it full on, embrace it and do NOT LEAN BACK!
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Alexandra, I guess it might work if the tree has no branches below head height, more common is an impalement injury, that means the rescuers will need a saw Exclamation
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The other quite different problem with trees - which we've touched on here - is tree wells (the area of sunken snow around the base of the trunk).

Tree wells can be very perilous, sometimes swallowing the skier head-first. People suffocate and die in tree wells every winter, especially if their skis haven't released and they can't get their heads out. Nice.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
So all of you budding tree skiers out there may want to practise removing your skis whilst hanging from them upside down !
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Alexandra, like the guy in the "Problem with Gravity" article Madeye-Smiley Crying or Very sad (Sorry)
Seriously, trees are clearly a problem. I think it most unlikely anyone could resist the natural tendency to lean back as you head for a tree. The obvious answer is "dont ski fast near trees". But hundreds of lovely runs have trees down the side of the piste. Padding the ones on the edge is not such a crazy idea. We just have to balance expense and looks versus risks: it is probably impractical. And skiers also injure themselves skiing into buildings and over unseen cliffs.
I note this guy was reported to be wearing a helmet. As far as I know helmets have not any harmful effects, so I would still advocated helmets.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Another problem with tree wells is that whilst you're hanging upside down in them with your legs and skis twisted up behind you (and unrealeased) you pathetically cry "help" as people ski past... but the sound is muffled by the snowy branches. You either sit there until March or the FURY of nobody helping you spurns you into action. Agreed though, it must be hard not to lean back.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
One trick I was taught oh so many years ago was to remember to keep your arms foward you can then use your forearm to get between you body/head and the tree trunk, you may end up with a broken limb but are less likely to kill yourself, the other is that when skiing through trees you always work your route out several trees ahead of you, if you cant see that far ahead of you then the forrest is to dense to be skiing in
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Jonpim, on the subject of helmets not having any harmful effects, I read an interesting article a while back which said that since the wearing of bicycle helmets has become widespread there has been NO reduction in deaths or injury in accidents. I find this hard to believe! Author actually said that helmets may increase neck injuries due to the increased leverage of effectively having an enlarged head. Maybe it pays to be a pin-head!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
on trees: if I was about to hit one, I think my reaction would be either to get one/both skis out of the snow and 'land' on the trunk skis first, OR to lean into the tree and absorb impact with my arms... not to lean back. But I hope I don't get a chance to test this at speed.

on that article on cycling helmets: was there an allowance for a changed number of cyclists on the road? ("there are three kinds of lies. Lies, damned lies and statistics").
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
D G, I missed your reply, you were proposing a similar damage limitation strategy.

As for working your route out...I always found that as soon as I start skiing the trees, they quickly talk to each other and gather up in front of my line.
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Can't recall the details of the article, except to say that I took it with a very large pinch of salt.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
xyzpaul, it was done to death on cycling websites. Cedric was correct, they looked at actual numbers. The number of injuries did stay the same, although numbers of cyclists and numbers of accidents did increase. So there was a % decrease in injuries.
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Over here, skiing in and amongst trees is very common at all levels. It was not unusual for us to take a group of 7-13 year olds through trails in the trees. It's not so much the trees that are a problem as the slope, ability, and speed. Of course, one can always lose control, and there are no guarantees.

For my part, I think that when it's time, it's time. But, I am careful within reason...
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
One of the guys at work came off his bike and hit a lamp post (bit unlucky as it was the only one for miles around!!), cracked his bike helmet in half, trip to a&e for him to get checked out but nothing major. You can't tell me that the helmet didn't save him (at least from a much more urgent trip to a&e). Giro, the company that make his helmet (and my ski helmet) have a handy thing that lets you send broken ones back to them and they'll send you a new one for just postage (I guess they use the broken one for research?)
Back to tree skiing, I find a helmet quite useful for the occassional unexpected branch, haven't tried it on a tree trunk yet!! Shocked
Since finding tree skiing good fun I've also made my wife buy a helmet.
The worst tree injury I've personally seen was when I first started - a girl in my group lost control and 'jumped' off a bank of snow at the side of the slope (made by the piste bashers), straight into the trees on the side - a trip down in the stretcher for her with a broken leg Sad
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
stuarth, I should note that this is the first year that I have owned a helmet. I bought it largely because I was spending more time on easier terrain as an instructor and was concerned about collisions. I am grateful that my helmet feels like it's not there, though, and there will still be some days that I don't wear it.

Especially warm spring days when I want to feel the wind in my hair.
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I bought a helmet this year knowing that i would be spending more time in amongst the trees. It certainly proves useful for those lower branches especially as i'm quite tall. Fortunately the only time i have hit a tree was at a relatively slow speed and made sure i took the impact on parts of my body other than my head. Shocked

With regard to the comfort of the helmet i'm really pleased to say that the thought of taking it off has never crossed my mind, on the hotter days i have removable vent covers on the inside that i detach. It's a Boeri helmet altho not sure on the exact model.

Personally i really enjoy skiing in the trees as it improves my ability to pick the right line and makes me more compact in my skiing style. I took the time to have a lesson when i was over Colorado which concentrated on Trees & Moguls. Very Useful!
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
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WaistDeepInPow, I only take it off because I love the sun and wind on my face and through my hair (yes, I still have some!). Lotsa years without a hat or helmet, even in the really cold weather of New England. I guess I'm just old fashioned.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ssh, yeah know what u mean! I only wear my helmet when its sunny so that i can get those cool white patches from the ear sections!!! Wink
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