So fed up of stories like this every single year. Stupid bloody Skiing.

Horse riding and skiing are risky and aren't necessary to live a fulfilled life, if people think partaking in sport is living a fulfilled life then they lack imagination!

I like some sports but it hardly ever snows where I live and there isn't a dry ski slope nearby. It therefore would involve the intermittent skiing trips which I can go on with my DH but I don't want to and neither do my teens.

Oh get over yourself. There are far more injuries from kids on bicycles, kids getting hit by cars, kids busting knees playing football, kids taking on trampolines. Or do your kids do nothing but play computer games wrapped in cotton wool? Skiing is a great way to learn respect for the outdoors and risk assessment.

Life can be dangerous and it's all about risk assessment. If you're careful and cautious when doing anything you reduce that risk. Do you allow your kids to travel in cars OP?

I get you OP my DH is a ski family and my kids have been skiing since they were 5 and are pretty good, but last year my eldest broke his collar bone, ambulance, hospital and 8 weeks of recovery at home.

We were in the resort when Schumacher had his accident on the Boxing Day, that's terrible.

I'm always on edge the whole trip and dreading the day they go with "mates" they both did school trips and were the year when they got Covid in Austria.

So my association with ski trips is pretty much way too much drama and I wish we'd never started taking them.

You can love ski and still admit that it’s one of the most dangerous sports out there , Michael Schumacher is still in a coma from a ski accident not a racing car one, Natasha Richardson , Gaspard Ulliel, Sonny Bono all died due to accidents , and just this month two died in Aspen.
the statistics are pretty high compared to other sports and hobbies.

Life is full of risk.

I'm not a skier or a beach bum, but each to their own

A young family member died falling off their horse.

Should horse riding not be allowed? Flights? Travelling in cars? Where does it end?

It's a tragedy but we can't remove risk from our lives, it would be joyless.

Scotland has a real problem with drownings in lochs, because tourists don’t realise that under the surface the water can be icy cold and can send you into shock in seconds and can get very deep very quickly. However people don’t go to Scotland just to swim!

I posted upthread that the young man I knew in my social circle was paralysed from the neck down from a snowboarding accident was an amazing snowboarder. The people I know who have broken the arm and injured back no so much.

I know someone who's leg is mangled from playing football.
And i worked with a man who had a limp from a childhood bike accident.

Accidents happen. You can't wrap yourself or your kids up in cotton wool.

My first ski experiences were day trips to Glenshee with school, a council school, with a teacher prepared to put time and effort in to running the school ski club.

There are risks on every holiday, pools always worry me, kids slipping, banging heads, drowning, the sun getting burnt.

I went skiing every year through childhood, though in the Cairngorms so little to no trees and so less chance of hitting an obstacle. Never any injuries with the group I went with, but it is a factor I think of as it can be very dangerous if you are skiing beyond ability, on the wrong slope etc, so much so my husband refuses to try downhill skiing as he just thinks it's too dangerous. And I know people bang on about how marvellous it is, but it is pretty marvellous when you're on your skis in the fresh air, zipping about (after the appropriate lessons and within your ability etc). Some nations grow up skiing and most ski on the right slope and to their ability, but when there is an accident it will often be catastrophic due to the speeds if out of control and the lack of protective gear.

This is the weirdest thread. Do you think the mountains are full of people tearing down slopes at uncontrollable speed and backflipping off deep ravines? This boy, and i say this with every sympathy for his family and friends, was going too fast for his ability and the terrain. Just like a teenager speeding in their car. It's horribly sad but not a reflection on how dangerous the sport is. I just got back from a week away and the worst I did was chipped a nail. As for the people who think you should only ski if you grew up in the mountains that's just some skewed form of xenophobia.

I don't see it that way. Most accidents happen at home, stretching to get a cup out of the cupboard!
But you can't protect yourself from other idiots on the slopes. People going on black runs when they are only a beginner. But you get that in every area of life. Car accidents the same.

Well this thread is just what I needed to read two months before my child goes on a school ski trip.

@beachcitygirl your comment is offenceive, and wrong!
I ski, I horse ride, I climb. My kids have skied and ridden from about 4. Most of my friends and their kids do so too.
My close friend died from an ecstasy overdose in 2014. Rob Hill. He could ski and horse ride and mountain bike. He died on the street in London.

And yes, I have the opportunity to go, my DH has just returned from skiing and I have Danish family, most of whom can ski well but saying that not all of them.

In response to the long list of things "we don't let kids do" well actually we do, kids ride horses, jumping, kids ride motorcycles and karts, and kids do other dangerous stuff too. Perhaps the difference is that parents don't always pay for sufficient lessons when it comes to skiing and helmets aren't always fitted properly.

I ski, ride horses and a motorcycle, perhaps I'm bias. Accidents happen and like with everything in life we need to take appropriate precautions but ultimately decide if you personally accept the risk.

Does going for a walk involve greater risk than skiing then? Do those statistics exist and how are they arrived at? It doesn't follow that those who don't partake in skiing are obese or suffering from mental health problems. Equally, skiing doesn't equate to fun in my world, that's not what embracing life looks like to me, I find that view to be really lacking imagination.

I don't ski. My husband does and we have several friends who do: one of them 2 or 3 times a year. None of them learnt to ski very young or from traditional skiing countries. The only incident in nearly 20 years is someone hurting their knee - though quite badly, admittedly.

People can die or be seriously injured doing the most innocuous things though. Shit happens

Indeed. There are always several sad cases every year of children drowning in swimming pools or the sea, but I never hear anyone say going on a beach holiday is too dangerous.

Ah another thread to bash skiers!

So much kak here. I’m Scandinavian too, learnt cross country from a young age and downhill skiing from teens. I’m very slow but I love it so much. Why would not Brits suit skiing too? If you live in Helsinki it’s not your natural landscape either 🙄 as you’d have to travel quite a bit before you hit a ski slope.

My SIL lives in Wales, learnt to ski as an adult and is very competent skier now. She’s in her 60’s now and still goes to ski every year. Very elitist for some Swiss geezer to declare that you’ll never be a good skier if you hadn’t learnt by the age of three 🙄.

I just spent a week skiing with my teenage daughter. We both ski fast on challenging slopes. I connect with her so much in the mountains, due to our shared joy, far more than just being at home. It’s our special place.

What a bunch of absolute bed-wetters posting here. Skiing and snowboarding are fun. Mountain biking is fun. Rock climbing is fun. Horse riding is fun. The people who do these activities are fitter and healthier than those who don’t and are statistically likelier to have longer healthy lives.

if you really want to keep your children safe from traumatic injuries don’t drive them everywhere and don’t sign them up to rugby club.

Almost everyone wears a helmet now. From my experience it is generally older locals who have been skiing for 60 years who don't wear them (and a few snow boarders but not many).

It’s no more difficult to understand than any other type of travel. What a strange, insular attitude you have.