 Poster: A snowHead
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This thread is born from another thread .... on goggles
There's not much data around. A reliable source (the International Society for Safety in Skiing) from the USA last week quoted 28% of skiers, which I think was a US figure. Maybe we can collect some European data. On the other thread, eng-ch reckoned 50-60% of skiers in Switzerland were in helmets, snowbunny observed 40%.
If you're out on the slopes, maybe count 100 skiers at random from a chairlift [if you've got nothing more interesting to do!] Then 100 boarders.
Note the resort and country. Maybe by the end of season we can build a picture?
If snowHeads compiles original data like this, over a period of time, it could attract keen media attention - if that's desired.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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David Goldsmith, Bowles Ski racing club - Friday night...... all skiers, all wearing helmets ... Does that help ? 
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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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On my recent trip to Les Arcs I'd guess at roughly 1 in 4, at most, 1 in 3.........
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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100% of me is wearing a helmet, perhaps not a representative sample though.
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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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| rungsp wrote: |
| 100% of me is wearing a helmet, perhaps not a representative sample though. |
useful in some of these topics though when you're banging your head the wall.
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On a recent visit to Banff, we were told by our rep (a Canadian) that about 70% of skiers and boarders there wore helmets. I'd say it was perhaps slightly higher than that, so much so that after one day I didn't want to be the loner who wasn't in a helmet and went shopping. The only people not in helmets were Brits and people who'd grown up on the mountain and preferred to have some sort of dead animal on their heads!
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| rungsp wrote: |
| 100% of me is wearing a helmet |
Wouldn't that be more of a suit of armour?
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Not a statistic, but perhaps relevant: When I spoke to a Swiss instructor about gear I'd need he clearly said "buy a helmet". I asked about renting, but he said that it was the sort of thing you're better off owning and to expect to spend about 100CHF (65EUR). Also said there's very little helmet rental availability in many Swiss facilities.
I was wondering if I really needed one on the first day, and his advice was that ultimately it was my choice but he felt it was "part of the game" so to speak. I'd feel like an idiot now if i turned up without a helmet and then proceeded to sustain some sort of even minor head injury! If this advice is given by many instructors, then that will push the helmet usage up. There's also a share of helmet-usage advertising here in Switz (billboards, tv, cinema) sponsored by insurance companies.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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It varies according to who's on holiday when, as well. Different age groups, different nationalities, at different times, varied amounts of time spent on the slopes. Locals v. visitors. Building a useful picture would be pretty complicated. You would need all sorts of facts you can't get from simple observation. Counting 100 skiers at random from a chairlift? Wouldn't tell you much.
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| michaelc wrote: |
Not a statistic, but perhaps relevant: When I spoke to a Swiss instructor about gear I'd need he clearly said "buy a helmet". I asked about renting, but he said that it was the sort of thing you're better off owning and to expect to spend about 100CHF (65EUR). Also said there's very little helmet rental availability in many Swiss facilities.
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My own reservation about renting helmets is you don't know the history. A helmet is rendered ineffective after a serious blow after all.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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mountainmammoth, sounds high to me, although my last Canada trip there were quite a few around.
Just to be controversial, do we care? Does peer pressure make that much of a difference to what you wear/use? (Well clearly it does!) We've done the helmet discussion to death. Until someone comes out with incredibly clear reasons to wear or not, then people will wear or not. No that is not an invitation to start the discussion again!
PG, agreed. Anecdotal evidence won't really contribute a great deal to anything. Heli skiing in Canada 3 years ago 70% of the North Americans were wearing helmets, none of the Europeans and none of the guides.
I'm not sure quite what that tells us...
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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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| Quote: |
roughly 1 in 4, at most, 1 in 3
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Nowhere near that in Courchevel this January, less than 10% of adults wearing helmets I reckon.
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David Murdoch, quite right. Unless it's made compulsary, wearing a helmet will remain a personal decision. Although we all know how fashion and snowsports are inextricably linked! I agree, let's not open the debate up again, but perhaps if we snowheads do as David Goldsmith, is suggesting, we'll at least have a clearer picture than we seem to now. 
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You know it makes sense.
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| ise wrote: |
| My own reservation about renting helmets is you don't know the history. A helmet is rendered ineffective after a serious blow after all. |
is there any way you can test whether a helmet is still sound or not? I've fallen over and hit mine a couple of times, most recently last week, but it seems ok and i've checked it thoroughly, but is there a test you can get done somewhere?
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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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| zippy wrote: |
| ise wrote: |
| My own reservation about renting helmets is you don't know the history. A helmet is rendered ineffective after a serious blow after all. |
is there any way you can test whether a helmet is still sound or not? I've fallen over and hit mine a couple of times, most recently last week, but it seems ok and i've checked it thoroughly, but is there a test you can get done somewhere? |
not that I know of, or least an availabe and cost effective one, I replaced a helmet this season after hitting it fairly hard in fact.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I wear mine (& so does the gf) 100% of the time while snowboarding. It takes a while to get used to at first due mainly to the difference in hearing.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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This is getting dangerously close to a helmet debate again...
I wear a belt and braces to work. How many people do you know who do the same?
Just to make it spicier, how many girls do you know wearing holdups with suspenders? Extra points for the lacy ones. Extra extra points for piccies...
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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26.94%
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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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interestingly at the SIGB industy test 5 years ago there was maybe 3 or 4 of the 100 people wearing helmets, by last year i would think it was more than 50% of the 150 people taking part in the test, it may be that it is because these people are all in the ski industry that the ratio is higher
either cheap acces to helmets or the fact they all ski like nutters 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have a helmet. Two weeks ago in Soll Austria I would say 1 in 10 were wearing helmets maybe even higher. I was very glad of mine as it was pigging cold.
Does anyone on here polish or regularly clean their helmet?
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| ian bloomfield wrote: |
| Does anyone on here polish or regularly clean their helmet? |
What sort of a question is that?
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ian bloomfield,
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Does anyone on here polish or regularly clean their helmet?
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I believe that ise, fell on his head recently so he could buy a new, clean, shiny, red one 
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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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| ise wrote: |
| zippy wrote: |
| ise wrote: |
| My own reservation about renting helmets is you don't know the history. A helmet is rendered ineffective after a serious blow after all. |
is there any way you can test whether a helmet is still sound or not? I've fallen over and hit mine a couple of times, most recently last week, but it seems ok and i've checked it thoroughly, but is there a test you can get done somewhere? |
not that I know of, or least an availabe and cost effective one, I replaced a helmet this season after hitting it fairly hard in fact. |
Some helemts (I forget which) are quoted as adhering to a particular certification that means they are safe for multiple blows. Not sure how you grade a blow as within the tolerance or not. Not sure I would want to find out either 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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CEM,
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snowbunny,
Helmets
Quote:
shiny, red one
where are you going with this
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Nowhere in particular. ise, got a new red helmet after falling on his head in a collision this winter. Go and read his blog! 
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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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| PG wrote: |
| Building a useful picture would be pretty complicated. You would need all sorts of facts you can't get from simple observation. Counting 100 skiers at random from a chairlift? Wouldn't tell you much. |
PG, I think that's a big negative!
Counting the percentage of 100 skiers or boarders from a chairlift is a valid sample. It's better than counting 10, and more practical than counting 1000. It's also a good protection from counting anyone twice, because everyone's going in one direction.
If you were to count the number of helmeted skiers from a chairlift in Les Arcs it would provide something .... more accurate than a guesstimate.
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You know it makes sense.
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| PG wrote: |
| Building a useful picture would be pretty complicated. You would need all sorts of facts you can't get from simple observation. Counting 100 skiers at random from a chairlift? Wouldn't tell you much. |
PG, I think that's a big negative!
Counting the percentage of 100 skiers or boarders from a chairlift is a valid sample. It's better than counting 10, and more practical than counting 1000. It's also a good protection from counting anyone twice, because everyone's going in one direction.
If you were to count the number of helmeted skiers from a chairlift in Les Arcs it would provide something .... more accurate than a guesstimate. |
I agree, so where are you next going skiing then? and you'll count for us all?
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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we were in the Apocalypse Park at Arc 1800 last week and were commenting on the fact that it seemed that the vast proportion of the boarders were wearing helmets, but the freestyle skiers weren't...ok not exactly scientific but it does seem that more and more boarders are wearing them. There are even some fetching camouflage US military style helmets out now so they are becoming more fashionable and hence more acceptable....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I wear a helmet where the risk of stone or icefall is real:
2 out of 12 skiers (17%) were wearing helmets in the couloir above. I think this figure wil rise over the coming years though.
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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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| davidof wrote: |
| 2 out of 12 skiers (17%) were wearing helmets in the couloir above. I think this figure wil rise over the coming years though. |
Great photo. I'd want a lot more protection than just a helmet!
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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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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| PG wrote: |
| Building a useful picture would be pretty complicated. You would need all sorts of facts you can't get from simple observation. Counting 100 skiers at random from a chairlift? Wouldn't tell you much. |
PG, I think that's a big negative!
Counting the percentage of 100 skiers or boarders from a chairlift is a valid sample. It's better than counting 10, and more practical than counting 1000. It's also a good protection from counting anyone twice, because everyone's going in one direction.
If you were to count the number of helmeted skiers from a chairlift in Les Arcs it would provide something .... more accurate than a guesstimate. |
Between a guesstimate and a scientific study there is room for all sorts of errors. If I counted 100 people at 9am in February they could well be mostly French, mostly skiers, and mostly neither youngsters with hangovers or parents with young kids still trying to get their boots on back at the apartment. It also depends on the difficulty of the slope as well as the other factors I mentioned.
I reckon it would be easy to get results from samples deliberately taken at different times in different places on the slopes, in different months, that would vary radically. If my 9am Feb sample above a black slope produced a 35% figure, a 2pm January sample above a blue close to resort could be half that.
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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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I guess helmets have foam cores. It should be relatively easy to determine any damage used the "coin tap" method. Simply tap the entire shell with a coin or something similarly hard. A "dull" thud rather tha a sharp "knock" will reveal any cracks within the foam or delams between foam and shell.
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Sharkymark, It's not that simple. There can be space between the core and shell by intent (for ventilation, for one). For an example, take a look at some of the transparent Leedoms when you have a chance. I found a crack of the core from the inside.
Imaging solid-body sonar, now. How good is your moveout/stacking freeware?
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My figures were only a guesstimate and by no means scientific, but is very noticeable that
a) more people in the shops are buying lids and being fitted for them and
b) a large proportion of people are wearing them here. My gut still says around 50% of all people on the slopes, give or take
Maybe another factor is that our local slope is not a holiday resort, it's mostly regular sliders so maybe the perceived risk is higher the more often you are out?
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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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There seemed to be a far lower proportion of people wearing helments in Westendorf this year than there were in Val Thorens last...
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eng_ch, good point about holiday resorts, but consider that it may not be a question of perceived risk as much as acculturation: the eye getting used to helmets as usual skiwear.
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FAQ
*) I am actually rather glad I -was- able to see the styrene as on a bike helmet and not have the crack masked by a cloth liner.
