 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
Last year i suffered a whiplash injury which finished my ski holiday early, I had a nasty fall and landed on my back, head pointing down the slope. As I was wearing a rucksack, when I landed my head jerked back over the rucksack causing the whiplash. Although the rucksack probably provided some cushioning for my back, don't think I would have got whiplash had I not been wearing it. Will shortly heading off for my first skiing since so wanted to know if it is generally considered sensible or not to wear a rucksack while skiing or was I just unlucky?!
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Steve146, Welcome to Snowheads. Many people wear backpacks when skiing/boarding so you could have been unlucky. How big was your rucksack and how fast were you skiing?
Have a good trip and hope you get plenty of fresh snow.
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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?
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It's not the rucksack but what's in that may have done the damage.
Ask yourself if you really need the contents.
good luck
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@Steve146, in the old days the weapon of choice was a bumbag. If you are paranoid about this why not put the bare essentials in one of them instead?
Personally I think there is almost no substance to your theory about rucksacks, I've seen many people with similar injuries that weren't wearing a bag of any sort, and indeed seen the bag take the impact of a crash that might otherwise have caused more serious injury.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Why do you take a rucksack?
What do you need to carry?
Liftpass, wallet, piste map, sun cream, phone or
spare batteries, water bottle, Mars bars, sandwiches, spare jumper, spare goggles, rope, avalanche gear.
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all the spare jumpers and gloves for the others in the group who don't have any room in their sacks.
Honestly I don't think there is any need for a rucksack in normal piste skiing
its bad for the posture and even worse for the style.
In Canada they can always spot the Brits skiing because of our addiction to rucksacks, but there again, their skiing areas are quite small and they leave all there kit back in the lodge.
Try skiing with just the essentials in your pockets, it wont take you so long to find them.
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Don't agree that a small back pack is bad for either posture or style as long as you have some technique and you have not stuffed it. Was complemented on my style while wearing one by a guide a few years ago although the 1990's Nevica fleece may have blinded him  . Stuffed pockets making you look about 20 kg overweight is a much worse look....
I generally take spare googles (broke a pair with an unexpecteded face plant), spare gloves (had a pair nicked by an a-hole at lunch), mars bars, small water bottle (I sweat like a hog just thinking about exercise even though I'm pretty fit) plus a decent ski lock and you just can't stuff that lot into pockets.....
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@Steve146, I got whiplash in a similar fall on my back where my head snapped back. I was not wearing a rucksack at the time. Fortunately, I wasn't injured badly enough to stop skiing (I just had a bad headache at the time, the whiplash making itself apparent after tea), so I don't know if a rucksack would've made it worse. I don't think a slim ski back pack would make much difference.
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I have skied for years with a small, slim Northface backpack which I love. It's just big enough for goggles, sun cream, wallet, phone small water bottle, mini Mars for the whole family, plus other bits and bobs. It's slimline enough to not bother taking it off on the lifts, and I doubt very much it would cause whiplash if I fell backwards.
As a girl, I don't want my pockets being stuffed with everything - it looks awful.
It sounds like you were just very unlucky with your fall. I hope your next ski holiday is a great success.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Invariably when I don't carry my backpack with avvy gear, I find myself in deep powder in a couloir somewhere.
Disappointingly so far I haven't carried it at all and still haven't found any deep powder.
There is still time...
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Thanks for the replies everyone!
Good points, most the stuff in the rucksack I didn't really need and yes think I was quite unlucky with how I fell. Also might have been going just a bit too fast for my level of talent! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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i got a whiplash also (years ago), but without a rucksack...i dont think that the rucksack was the problem
it was probably the movements of the failure and the way you touched the ground
another day (last winter) i had also a small accident, and landed on the back, left side...i had a rucksack from ortovox with back protection, but i finished my skiing for one month with a broken rip...
the most important is the way you fall and how you hit the ground
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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.
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Biggest danger with rucksacks is lifts. There was a tragic fatality last year. Always take them off before getting on a chair.
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We wear slim backpacks, always keep them strapped up, nothing dangling. Do not consider our backpacks a hazard at all.
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You know it makes sense.
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IMO The biggest risk on chairlifts is not backpacks, it is the bizarre habit of leaving the safety bar up. I only take mine off if forced to, or if I am using lifts to access a tour start with a large backpack.
Someone will always find a way of injuring themselves (or worse), using something that millions use without any issue
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| DrLawn wrote: |
What do you need to carry?
Liftpass, wallet, piste map, sun cream, phone or
spare batteries, water bottle, Mars bars, sandwiches, spare jumper, spare goggles, rope, avalanche gear.
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all the spare jumpers and gloves for the others in the group who don't have any room in their sacks. |
Obviously liftpass, wallet and piste map all go in my pockets but I still carry a bag. I pretty much only carry it so I can take a big bottle of water everywhere. I'm a bit on the hefty side and sweat quite a lot so will easily get through 1.5l of water (plus whatever I have at lunch) and still be dehydrated. As I've got the bag with me anyway I also usually take some Tracker bars, suncream and a spare pair of goggles with a different type of lens. But unless someone can come up with an easier way of carrying a big bottle of water then I'll keep skiing with the bag on and I guess that my posture will just have to suffer
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Steve146 wrote: |
| Will shortly heading off for my first skiing since so wanted to know if it is generally considered sensible or not to wear a rucksack while skiing or was I just unlucky?!Thanks! |
If you're heading off-piste then I'd say a ruck-sack is mandatory, otherwise it's doubtful you're carrying enough gear!
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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?
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Frequently I find myself skiing where the temperature differential between top and bottom is > 15 Celsius (and not always colder at the top, in Jackson Hole last week it was +2 at the top and -20 at the bottom) and as I carry for myself and my wife (she hates skiing with a backpack whereas I'm rarely aware I have one on I've done it for so long) I usually have a 30 litre pack on. Mainly spare clothes, or room to put clothes no longer needed as I'm not a fan of skiing with garments tied round my waist. (plus off-piste gear when the plan demands)
Never, ever been an issue over the last 20 years
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Never had an issue either in over 20 years. I take everyones (wife and now 3 adult daughters) spare fleeces, sunglasses to look cool, appropriate headgear to cover up helmet head at lunch etc.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Another point about lifts and rucksacks is if there are any straps that hang down (particularly those with a clasp at the end) you MUST HOLD THEM while getting off the lift. A few years back I didn't do this and the strap got caught in a gap between the cushion and the framework which resulted in the lift being stopped and me getting a proper ticking off. If the guy manning the lift hadn't been so quick to stop the lift it could have been much worse.
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Learnt to ski with a rucksack and wore one every day on skis until last year. Getting back to the bottom of Whistler in 10 / 15 mins made it feel a bit pointless.
Reality is I didn't need it. When you are less certain about conditions (because new to mountain environment etc... or are travelling a long way within a day) it is useful to have some extra space so you feel confident, but having one does just make you a magnet for other people's extra base layers and bottles of water.
That said I did wear one on the first day of my New Years holiday (we couldn't quite believe it would stay above 0 degrees up the hill, but it did) and fell on my back wearing it: much more comfortable than had I not been.
But, that only happened because I managed to catch an edge - on the GRASS - not planning to repeat that...!
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@SkiTsar, The bizarre consequence of being forced to remove your rucksack is that you will have more loose straps and buckles, than it you were wearing it properly with the straps done up.
The real issue is design of chair lift "chairs" with narrow gaps. Either make them with no gaps or big gaps, problem solved.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@PowderAdict, You're right. Some of the more modern lifts have a single big seat where this is less likely to happen but there's usually a bit of a gap at the edge. I don't think there's much that can be done about it though (straps will always find a way to get stuck!) and incidents such as mine are probably fairly unusual.
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Not as unusual as you might think! I've witnessed it happening several times. And yes @PowderAdict, there might be more loose straps when sack is off but a) it's no longer attached to you so not a safety issue and b) the sack is now in front of you and away from most things that the straps might catch on.
I mostly ski off-piste and so pretty much always ski with a sack.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| SkiTsar wrote: |
| Another point about lifts and rucksacks is if there are any straps that hang down (particularly those with a clasp at the end) you MUST HOLD THEM while getting off the lift. A few years back I didn't do this and the strap got caught in a gap between the cushion and the framework which resulted in the lift being stopped and me getting a proper ticking off. If the guy manning the lift hadn't been so quick to stop the lift it could have been much worse. |
In a recent well publicised case a young lad that lives in a town near me died after getting tangled up trying to get off the lift. I've always tried to make sure that I'm not caught up but on my last trip made a more conscious effort to take the bag off when getting on and then hold it well clear of anything it might get caught on when I get off. The problem is when you're in a busy lift queue or on a small lift which can make it more difficult to put the bag somewhere. On more than one occasion I ended up with it in an awkward position in front of my face and sat on top of the bar, which makes getting of the lift a bit more difficult.
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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.
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@Steve146, Some people genuinely need rucksacks, but I can't say I'm a fan. They seem to be a particularly British obsession as most of the continentals don't seem to wear them with anything like the frequency that we do. certainly none of the people I ski with uses one. The short answer is that only about 10% of skiers use them. Do you really need to be one of the 10%?
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@SnoodyMcFlude, That's awful to hear. It just goes to show the lift operators at the top seem to have an easy job but they can't let their guard down for even a few seconds.
@MadMountainMan, in my case it was a "slingshot" style camera bag which you can flip around to the front without removing it, so in that case at least there is still some danger. A lot of people will put the bag on backwards using both arms (less likely to drop it that way) which if anything is more dangerous as it would be harder to remove if it's being pulled back towards to the chair.
The point is hold any loose straps from bottom to top (or at least tuck them into a zipped pocket) and you should be ok.
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You know it makes sense.
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
| IMO The biggest risk on chairlifts is not backpacks, it is the bizarre habit of leaving the safety bar up. |
I've never experienced that, is it common? Don't the lift attendants stop the lift?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Themasterpiece, Try riding the chair lifts in Whistler, probably 50% of the chairs have the bar up. It seemed to be a macho thing, with no one wanting to be the person lowering the bar. When I closed the bar no one ever commented or complained.
When I mentioned this to the local I was skiing with in Switzerland, he mentioned that they don't lower the bar if they are out with their mates, and no one else was on the chair.
I suspect that the lift attendants are more concerned about the next group getting on the chair, so don't notice whether the bar had been put down, and at the top, the bar will always be open by the time it reaches the top.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@PowderAdict, I've seen liftys stop the chair on a number of occasions because of the bar being left up - usually due to men on snowboards, alone or in twos.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Steve146,
Back in the day I managed to get whiplash type injuries without wearing a rucksack (struggle to lift your head off the pillow in the morning!). I'll join the chorus saying it probably wasn't your rucksack.
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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?
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
@Themasterpiece, Try riding the chair lifts in Whistler, probably 50% of the chairs have the bar up. It seemed to be a macho thing, with no one wanting to be the person lowering the bar. When I closed the bar no one ever commented or complained.
When I mentioned this to the local I was skiing with in Switzerland, he mentioned that they don't lower the bar if they are out with their mates, and no one else was on the chair.
I suspect that the lift attendants are more concerned about the next group getting on the chair, so don't notice whether the bar had been put down, and at the top, the bar will always be open by the time it reaches the top. |
Just back from Lake Tahoe; the American habit seemed to be leaving the bar up. We insisted on lowering the bar to an odd muttering and attempts to raise it way, way before it was necessary (leaning my 17 stones on the bar put a stop to that one!) 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I hate skiing with a rucksack, I feel it restricts my movement. So I make my wife carry one!
If you want to put your goggles in ours, I'm sure she won't mind.
Ouch! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Hi @Steve146,
I ski with or without a pack or Camelbak depending on how far I'm going, packed lunch / not, who else is in the group, weather... My first snow time was on an arctic expedition when you needed a rucksack to attach the pulk , never bothered me since.
If you're still concerned, take me with you and I will happily put your bits in mine.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I saw the osprey version of that in a shop yesterday. Looked like it would hurt if you landed on your back with a bottle of water sticking out.
I try not to take a rucksack but i usually take some photography equipment and it`s difficult without a pack. Anyone recommend a good rucksack for skiing? I use my hiking one just now but it`s not ideal.
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| DannySimpson wrote: |
| Hi @Steve146, I will happily put your bits in mine. |
I've never heard it put quite like that before!
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| Deedee wrote: |
I saw the osprey version of that in a shop yesterday. Looked like it would hurt if you landed on your back with a bottle of water sticking out.
I try not to take a rucksack but i usually take some photography equipment and it`s difficult without a pack. Anyone recommend a good rucksack for skiing? I use my hiking one just now but it`s not ideal. |
Got one from Decathlon, that's ski specific, to carry my digital camera and dvd camera and doesn't get in the way while skiing or on the lifts.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We have the Decathlon rucksack that unclips and twists to the front when getting on the lifts. Dead easy to use and can hold all our essentials.
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@Tom Doc, things I'll do for some white stuff...
Oh, wait...
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