Ski Safety
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Health on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 8:02 PM
This past weekend, my husband and our oldest son went skiing up in West Virginia. It was our boy’s first ski trip, and my husband had not been since before we were married.
We wound up borrowing half of the gear they needed from friends, and then buying everything else (ski stuff in Georgia in March was on pretty good sale!). When the two left for the trip, they had heavy socks, thermal undies, ski bibs, gloves and two very heavy-duty helmets.
At one point, my husband called to touch base with me. I asked if they were wearing their helmets and Paul told me he was, but our son was not.
I had a mild freak-out/rundown of why “we” need to be enforcing this, and started throwing around names of all the famous people who had died in tragic ski accidents, as well as any other tale of ski injury I had ever heard.
“It’s not wise to not wear it,” I concluded.
“Rach,” said my husband, “I am literally the only person in the entire resort who is wearing a helmet.”
The only person? Out of all those people, no one else was wearing a helmet? The image was hilarious and startling all at once.
I believed my husband, but was absolutely shocked by this news. Of course, last time I went skiing (way back when) no one wore helmets. But I was under the impression that everyone did in this day and age.
Today comes the tragic news about actress Natasha Richardson suffering a serious head injury on a beginner’s slope in Canada. She was skiing in an area where helmets were not required, and I’m sure all kinds of skiers fall everyday. I’m guessing this is a very sad, but very random accident.
I’m curious to hear from readers who ski often—what is the protocol where you live or ski? Is wearing a helmet optional, and if so, what is your take on the need to wear one?
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