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

As a non skier (I have tried it) I think yabu. Yes there is a risk but there are risks every time you get in a car. People often believe they are better skiers than they are and get into difficulty. It all happens v.fast. Thousands do it some get injured and sadly some get killed. When I cycle to work today it might be me but I will try to avoid that.

I ski (slowly) My exH is an excellent skier and is very risk taking eg jumping off the ski lift on a black run. He's been skiing since he was a small child in Canada (came to England at 8). Both of our, now adult, children have skied since they were about 4.
My daughter has ridden horses since she was 5, like me. Her own pony from 8. She fell once, on a jump, but was fine.
Of course I was worried about their safety but they wore protective clothing/helmets and were supervised. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
As adults, they choose to ski and horse ride. Dive, rock climb.
My son did gymnastics from age 3. Acrobatic from 5 as he was chosen to be in the squad. That's the only sporting activity that I stopped. The coaches were cruel.
I would rather have my kids on skis or on a horse, than a gym squad.
I was more worried when my son was out on his bike and I didn't know where he was. He rode in the local woods and ended up with a broken collar bone and badly cut knee. He wasn't wearing a helmet so grateful he didn't fall on his head! (He had one but took it off when he knew I couldn't see him) Luckily he had a phone so his friends could call me and an ambulance.
He's never had a skiing injury.
My great neice, 7, is currently away skiing. She's having a great time.
I'm just gutted that I can't afford to go this year. My daughter has.

Most people who can afford the costs that come with ‘extreme sports’ pay national insurance….

Where?
I love skiing and ski several times a year in large resorts in France (will have been five weeks this season n between Jan/April) and almost everyone does wear helmets -only people who don’t are the leathery old Parisians in their 70s.
I am in my 60s-never had any injury.
The newsworthy accidents are always boys or young me who are inherently the greatest risk takers in any context.

I'm bemused by the number of non skiers who think they know what skiing is all about. For me it's not about hurling myself down a slope as fast as I can. It's about being in a beautiful place, understanding and appreciating it, paying attention to what's happening in the moment and to what being in that exact place and time is requiring of me. The mountains are glorious and I can be a part of them.

The worst accident I've had in 50 years was slipping on the ice when I got off the bus.

My husband started to learn to ski when he was three, he had lessons at nursery and also at weekends. Our daughter is doing the same, our son was older when he started due to it not being practical where we lived. Virtually everyone goes skiing where we live, we’re not a pile of mangled bodies or all walking around in break boots.

I think UK skiers tend to be at additional risk as they generally ski for one week then do no other skiing for the other 51 weeks of the year.
Other riskier sports tend to be done far more regularly so risk is balanced over time by increasingly advanced skills and fitness.

When we went skiing I noted that a lot of people couldn't ski properly but were brave enough to go on the more challenging slopes. It is different to driving as there is no test to pass. If people learn to ski properly and stick to the slopes for their level, I am sure the catastrophic injuries would lessen.

Oh the assumption making reverse snobs have woken up.

And if in the 70s, you survived 'clackers' without a broken wrist or 2, you were titanium!

This!
Ban rugby?
Hideous injuries and death caused by dogs -but can you imagine if anyone came on here to complain about the pointlessness of dogs…

Oh, don't be so holier than thou.
Horse riding, BMX'ing (or any bike riding),?rugby, football, any sodding sport, carries risks of injury.
People die fro gardening injuries
People die from gentle hikes
Flying isca risk
Driving is a risk
Sex can cause serious injury

My boy has had more injuries from playing rugby

I think that as a country we are becoming increasingly risk averse. Of course the downside of this is we are become increasingly sedentary, obese, lonely and struggling with mental health.

Obviously it’s really sad whenever someone dies but pretty much everything we do has some element of risk attached.

I'm 54. I've surfed for 20 years. This year I learned to snowboard. At 54, which I'm pretty proud of.

I have spent so far 4 months in the snow and I love it. I'm in the best shape of my life.

I had several lessons to begin. I know my limits. I take my time. I wear a helmet and knee pads. I've had loads of bruises and torn a muscle in my abdomen. I've not broken anything.

I'm getting sunshine, fresh air and massive amounts of exercise.

Surfing and snowboarding keeps me young and fit. I'm slim and my blood tests show I'm healthy, especially for my age. What's not to like?

Life is for living. I choose life.

As PP have said, it’s about weighing up the risk/benefit balance.

We live a couple of hours from some ski resorts and aim for 3 weekends a year. I can’t imagine how this accident could have happened unless the boy was off piste.

The confidence and sense of accomplishment it gives to my anxious ND child is worth the very small risk of injury. We also live by the beach and I let him play in the sea. I am a nervous overthinker so am often thinking of the worst that can happen, but you have to teach them to be sensible and let them live.

It’s one of these middle class ‘i’ve made it in life’ sports in my opinion. I went on a school ski trip and one of my friends was so close to going over the edge one day (with a big drop). I was so glad none of my kids asked to go!

I think there are inherent risks to skiing of course, but these would be minimised to acceptable levels if there were a better safety culture within the sport. It seems that many people ski beyond their ability, on dangerous overcrowded slopes and without basic safety equipment such as a helmet / protective clothing.

There may not be a lot that can be done about knee and leg injuries (similar to eg football they're just inherent to the sport even at low speed / on easy courses etc) but some life threatening injuries could be avoided.

If it's worldwide, this statistic will include cross country skiing, which is regularly done by huge amounts of Scandinavians and Europeans and is no more dangerous than going for a jog.

The fatality rate for downhill skiing, which is the type of skiing posters in this thread are talking about, is enormously higher than that

The thing is, the kind of people who go on skiing holidays are privileged, and far more likely to have a sense of entitlement and think this kind of thing couldn't possibly ever happen to them.

That’s a lot of pretty nasty assumptions. Whereas I read the OP and just felt really sorry for the family involved.

The driving analogy is a really poor one - almost everyone who drives/gets in a car does it because they need to in order to get somewhere. Skiing is a hobby, there's no corresponding need to do it

I hear you, OP. I hate skiing. And I've been on six skiing holidays and dry-skied in the C team (the bad team!) at uni. So no one can say I haven't given it a go.

I have never experienced a leisure activity that was so frustrating. The sheer amount of effort expended to get up a wretched hill only to be at the bottom again shortly was crazy. Maybe you only get something out of it if you're really good and can really ski through the mountains. I was mostly just blue runs and spent as much time on the lifts as I did on the slopes. But I did have some times of skiing some longer runs pretty freely, and still didn't enjoy it. The weather was mostly foul. In all those hols I remember one sunny day, and that was pretty nice, I admit.

I also think it was dangerous. It was very easy to get lost in the thick fog - it was always foggy - and I could never get the hang of the chair or button lifts. Easy to fall off the buttons or mess up the getting off and on the chair lifts, which did terrify me.

In total, the entire thing was 90 percent hassle and 10 percent fun, if that.

Sorry but isn't plane travel the safest of them all ? Have I got that wrong ?

@LiquoriceAllsorts2 we also hear more about plane crashes than car crashes as
A) less common so more newsworthy
B) drug deaths sell papers

He was drunk on a night out. If it is the one in Avoriaz. DC have skied since they were 3, never had a serious accident, nearly always the less experiencedskier who had accidents on the piste. Yes back country skiing is riskier.

When marrying DH I accepted there is a risk he may kill himself doing an extreme sport, it is part of who he is though and would be miserable with out those things in his life.