 Poster: A snowHead
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Having not been skiing for a few years, I'm not really sure what the ratio of helmet to non helmet wearers is any more. They were certainly becoming more apparent the last couple of times I was on the slopes, so I'm assuming the trend has probably continued, but it would be interesting to see what the consensus is on here.
Is it now a slopes faux pas to step out without a lid on - should I be looking to buy one?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oh dear 
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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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Take cover! 
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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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Here we go again!
Buy one if it makes you feel better, with or without is acceptable, it's just down to personal choice... Certainly not faux pas either way.
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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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In Austria couple of weeks ago. Based on a completely unscientific methodology I would venture to suggest that helmet wearers were about 90% of skiing adults and 100% of kids.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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It's definitely got more popular, mainly due to the stigma of being a helmet wearing gimp disappearing I guess!
I've bought one for this season. Never worn one before, but think it's sensible. Will miss the rush of wind passing my head though
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| nylo wrote: |
Having not been skiing for a few years, I'm not really sure what the ratio of helmet to non helmet wearers is any more. They were certainly becoming more apparent the last couple of times I was on the slopes, so I'm assuming the trend has probably continued, but it would be interesting to see what the consensus is on here.
Is it now a slopes faux pas to step out without a lid on - should I be looking to buy one? |
Who cares? Do what feels right to you.
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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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nylo, can-of-worms 
and wot clarky999 says.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Tue 28-02-12 14:04; edited 1 time in total
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nylo, It is your choice - but over this season and last we have observed that in Austria most people wear helmets, in France many less - probably a minority. Switzerland was between the two. We haven't been to Italy recently, but the last we were in the Dolomites helmet wearing was pretty common.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash....
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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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| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you.
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Wow... I was only just thinking that we didn't have enough threads on the subject of helmets. It's a shame this forum doesn't have a powerful search function... 
Anyway, on the plus side, this gives me a chance to air my observation from my week in Austria just recently. My observation was very much along the lines of what Tirol suggests - a very large majority of skiers were wearing helmets. I put this down to the way that skiing as a sport (as opposed to a pastime) is ingrained in the Austrian psyche, and most of those on the slopes probably grew up racing. Apparently, the ski school were quite insistent on people wearing them (even an older guy who was staying at our hotel commented that he'd been guilted into getting one by his instructor).
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You know it makes sense.
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nylo, It's your head. Protect it if you want to or don't if you're not bothered.  Do you cycle, and if so, do you wear a helmet for that? #canofworms
I was quite glad of mine last season when I was walking on a wooden walkway in Les Gets and slipped on a wet patch - equipment yard sale - and as I fell my head connected with a low stone wall. I think if I hadn't had my lid on I could have quite seriously hurt myself. OK, not technically a skiing accident and I wouldn't normally wear a helmet while walking around but I was glad to have it on all the same.
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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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James the Last, there is proof that both your statements are wrong... but I am guessing that the evidence doesn't interest you since it has been posted so many times before.
In other words clarky999 has it nail on head...
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've never skied with a helmet prior to this season but my Gopro wouldn't stick to a bobble hat so I bought one.
OK the latter part isn't true but I ski a LOT harder than I ride my Mountain Bike and I'd never dream of going lid-less on that so took the sensible option.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oh, and I've no doubt that a helmet heled three people in our group last week, one a total novice falling backwards several times onto her head and at one point the helmet came off as she hit it so hard (may or may not have been properly adjustded, I dont know). Two, Mrs. Double being clipped on the back of the head during a chair lift tangle. Three, Mrs Double Junior when she fell between the moving charlift and the magic carpet and the underside of the chair hit her helmet fairly hard.
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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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| clarky999 wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you. |
+1 for the right to make one's own choice without being influenced by nonsense.
http://www.ski-injury.com/prevention/helmet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12415801
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| homers double wrote: |
| Oh, and I've no doubt that a helmet heled three people in our group last week, one a total novice falling backwards several times onto her head and at one point the helmet came off as she hit it so hard (may or may not have been properly adjustded, I dont know). Two, Mrs. Double being clipped on the back of the head during a chair lift tangle. Three, Mrs Double Junior when she fell between the moving charlift and the magic carpet and the underside of the chair hit her helmet fairly hard. |
While not wishing to fuel the trolls I find that because a helmet makes your head larger than normal you hit it more frequently than you would if you weren't wearing one. You move your head out of the way of something (such as a bar on a chair) but forget the extra distance needed to clear the helmet because you are not used to wearing one all the time.
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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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looking around Les Arcs today I would say about 20% wearing them. I resisted a helmet for quite a few years - this is my second year with it - have no problems re comfort/itchy head/too hot/too cold etc. I dont think it makes me ski differently either; in any fall Ive had Ive never banged my head (luckily) so I worry more about broken bones.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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A lot more than 20% in St Anton.
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| Tiger2 wrote: |
| homers double wrote: |
| Oh, and I've no doubt that a helmet heled three people in our group last week, one a total novice falling backwards several times onto her head and at one point the helmet came off as she hit it so hard (may or may not have been properly adjustded, I dont know). Two, Mrs. Double being clipped on the back of the head during a chair lift tangle. Three, Mrs Double Junior when she fell between the moving charlift and the magic carpet and the underside of the chair hit her helmet fairly hard. |
While not wishing to fuel the trolls I find that because a helmet makes your head larger than normal you hit it more frequently than you would if you weren't wearing one. You move your head out of the way of something (such as a bar on a chair) but forget the extra distance needed to clear the helmet because you are not used to wearing one all the time. |
I did think that whilst typing number three, but numbers one and two deffinalty benefited from a good helmet.
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you. |
I'm glad that you feel like I do about this.
Cycle helmets are a complete waste of time too.
Motorcycle helmets are fantastic. If any of the nutters who whinge about helmets were serious about protecting their heads, they would wear a motorcycle helmet when skiing/when on a bicycle.
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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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Tiger2,
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While not wishing to fuel the trolls I find that because a helmet makes your head larger than normal you hit it more frequently than you would if you weren't wearing one. You move your head out of the way of something (such as a bar on a chair) but forget the extra distance needed to clear the helmet because you are not used to wearing one all the time.
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Thank you! My helmet seems to protect me more from the safety bar on chairs than anything else, I was pondering why the bar seems to be hitting my head! Your post above goes some way to explaining that. 
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| James the Last wrote: |
| clarky999 wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you. |
I'm glad that you feel like I do about this.
Cycle helmets are a complete waste of time too.
Motorcycle helmets are fantastic. If any of the nutters who whinge about helmets were serious about protecting their heads, they would wear a motorcycle helmet when skiing/when on a bicycle. |
You do talk some rubbish
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Oh God, what IS it about this topic?????????
Boredsurfing, the bar never hits my head, helmet or no. I wonder why that is? 
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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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Pedantica, Yep 85%+ when I counted 100 people when sat on the lift in St Anton in January......how sad eh?
Lower %age on Rendlbeach where the slopestyle dudes hang out, but they're just hard eh?!
I've had 3 events in my life in last 5-6 years when I could have been killed/ very badly injured and on each occasion my helmet got trashed and I reckon saved my life.........fell off my KTM 1000 Superduke and bounced and scraped my brand new Arai down the road (still got a chin although 3 days in hospital stitching my hand and thumb back on), dented my old POC helmet real bad when my ski released and hit me in mid-air on Mont Gele in a major wipe-out (back of my head still intact, helmet badly trashed, I was still out cold for a minute or so and fell 200m), and Giro MTB helmet dented beyond wear when I hit ice and fell AOT off my Orange MTB full-on descent on a quarry track 50-60kph+ and bounced along the unmade road for what seemed an eternity, (gravel rash and mashed up ear but no broken bones).
Nobody can tell me, including trolls that helmets are not a good thing.
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Obviously the only answer is, it's entirely up to you (until they make it a condition of your insurance - assuming you bother with that, of course).
But I always wear one.
As have said before in these threads, I was skiing in the States four or five years ago, got taken out by a boarder (ie entirely not my fault), landed on my back and my helmet took the full force of 16 stones doing probably 40 mph, hitting a stone in the middle of the piste right at the base of my skull.
Put a dent half an inch deep in the helmet and I think I would probably have been killed without it.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
Nobody can tell me, including trolls that helmets are not a good thing. |
It's because they focus on the "helmets are useless when subject to an impact greater than 12mph (or 15mph or whatever it is)", which while a valid fact is pretty irrelevant because most crashes don't involve skiing headfirst into a wall at full speed.
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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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bobmcstuff, Yes I guess your right, but I know I'll be wearing one anyways when I'm skiing............each to their own, but I know my heads worth £150 to me, end of.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| James the Last wrote: |
| clarky999 wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you. |
I'm glad that you feel like I do about this.
Cycle helmets are a complete waste of time too.
Motorcycle helmets are fantastic. If any of the nutters who whinge about helmets were serious about protecting their heads, they would wear a motorcycle helmet when skiing/when on a bicycle. |
I know I shouldn't respond but that's just rubbish. A work colleague got cut up the other day on his roadbike as he commuted to work. He went over the handle-bars and landed head first. The helmet took the impact just above his forehead and actually got cracked the whole way through. Now I'm no medical expert so I won't suggest it saved his life but if you're going to get upended on tarmac when you're cycling at 20mphs then I'm guessing most people would like a thick bit of hard plastic to take the impact rather than their cranium.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| bobmcstuff wrote: |
| Markymark29 wrote: |
Nobody can tell me, including trolls that helmets are not a good thing. |
It's because they focus on the "helmets are useless when subject to an impact greater than 12mph (or 15mph or whatever it is)", which while a valid fact is pretty irrelevant because most crashes don't involve skiing headfirst into a wall at full speed. |
Agreed but even then the initial claim is a bit misleading. A helmet may not guarantee your safety at speeds above 12/15 etc mph but wearing one may well give you a better chance than not wearing one.
That said it's personal choice. I'm happy to wear one, I'm happy for others not to.
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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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| Tirol wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| clarky999 wrote: |
| James the Last wrote: |
| Provided you are happy to waste £100 when there is no proof whatsoever that they do anything other than make skiers overconfident and so more likely to crash.... |
*WWOOOSSSAAAAAA*
Dude, just, just don't say stupid things that will make me rant about this again, PLEASE???
As before, do what feels right to you. |
I'm glad that you feel like I do about this.
Cycle helmets are a complete waste of time too.
Motorcycle helmets are fantastic. If any of the nutters who whinge about helmets were serious about protecting their heads, they would wear a motorcycle helmet when skiing/when on a bicycle. |
I know I shouldn't respond but that's just rubbish. A work colleague got cut up the other day on his roadbike as he commuted to work. He went over the handle-bars and landed head first. The helmet took the impact just above his forehead and actually got cracked the whole way through. Now I'm no medical expert so I won't suggest it saved his life but if you're going to get upended on tarmac when you're cycling at 20mphs then I'm guessing most people would like a thick bit of hard plastic to take the impact rather than their cranium. |
He would have been better wearing a Leat, right Mr. Mcstuff?
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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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Oh helmet thread, why do you do this to me...
Do you know why pregnant women can't take so many drugs you'd normally wolf down without a second thought? It's because you can't ask a pregnant woman to take a drug when you don't know what the result would be to her and the child. And if you can't verify the result how can you say it's safe? you can't.
CEN 1077 is the cause of pretty much every issue with helmets. It's the basic safty standard to pass for a rating sticker. Why do you have to throw the helmet away after 1 impact? Because the test only tests the helmet once. Why does it only work up to 12mph? because thats the speed it'll hit the floor at from the 1.5m static drop test.
CEN1077 sets out the minimum performance of a helmet, NOT the maximum, NOR does every manufacturer build only to just pass CEN1077.
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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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homers double, indeed... Skiing world should really catch up with that one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
CEN1077 sets out the minimum performance of a helmet, NOT the maximum, NOR does every manufacturer build only to just pass CEN1077.
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+1
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plus of course focussing on CEN1077 is fairly irrelevant anyway because most crashes don't involve skiing headfirst directly into an obstacle.
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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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Chasseur, you must have been bored that day! 
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Shimmy Alcott, bored is certainly one word....
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