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

Well thanks very much DebbieDowner OP, I’m off skiing tomorrow, been to indoor slopes dozens of times and probably ten holidays. I went riding last week, I have been doing it for 50 years, I’m nearly 59.

my DC have done all the above as well as played rugby. I’d rather that then spend their lives on the internet (which IMO) is a damn sight more dangerous and bad for their health in countless ways, than being in the fresh air, having fun and making friends.

I will think of you when I’m sat in my deckchair, sun on my face with my Croque Monsieur and Aperol.

Well I hear about a lot more ecstasy deaths than I do ski deaths

Well maybe, but only if those who are overweight, smoke/vape, drink, have more than 2 children, sunbathe etc. also have to pay it. The NHS has to pick up the pieces of these self inflicted issues too.

A lot of skiing accidents happen because people are learning, go just once a year and then push themselves when they are tired on slopes they probably shouldn’t be on. Then you have other people in the same boat who have no control and ski into you. Personally I hate skiing. I’m simply crap at it and don’t enjoy it.

My husband and kids ski. One child ski races and so spends a lot of time racing on dry slopes here in the UK and on snow abroad. It is dangerous. He wears a helmet and back protector etc, but as with any other sport it carries a risk. Are we irresponsible to allow him to do the sport he loves? No more than parents whose children ride horses or cycle on roads imo.

How many kids drown in the sea each year? Shall we stop beach holidays too??

You're more likely to die in a car accident than skiing. Nonetheless, we don't see people flooding to safer busses and trains, because they like the convenience. In a similar vein, people like skiing.

Risk is part of life. People who insulate themselves from risk lead pretty boring and meaningless lives. They never learning anything new or overcome challenges, and as a consequence, never achieve anything.

Skiing terrified me and I'm glad we no longer go. My in-laws owned a house in the French Alps for around 8 years and we went every year.
Like driving, your safety is generally reliant upon the competence of people around you and I found I was often surrounded by idiots with no regard for others.

I get your point but it's not comparable to kids getting in cars. 3 out of 5 teen boys died in a crash near me last month and last Summer six people were killed near here in one crash one summer afternoon. I'm going to drive past the crash site in an hour as I do every day but it's not stopping me driving.

I very much enjoyed skiing, riding, climbing, caving, wild swimming, canoeing and all sorts of other outdoor activities as a child and teen, until my disabilities caught up with me and made themselves known anyway. I did those things from pretty soon after I could walk, as they were the things my parents did.

I'd be pretty miserable to have not had those experiences now I cannot do any of them.

Where do you draw the line - getting in a car is dangerous, walking along a busy road is dangerous - shall we only take risk if it is boringly necessary and not remotely enjoyable?

Perhaps that is how you want to live but it's not for everyone!

Accidents when skiing are pretty rare considering how fast people go and how many people do it - vs falling off balconies, down their own stairs, or under the wheels of a car anyway. That's why it is news.

And much of the time these accidents, on further investigation, have some other factors at play - like alcohol, not wearing protective gear, or being dared to do something stupid, or all of those.

All sports have risks, but so does not doing sports. And the benefits of sports usually outweigh the risks (I'd say that's not the case with base jumping, for instance). My 7 year old plays ice hockey, that has risks. My teenager DD plays volleyball in the boys' league (not enough girls to form their own team) which also has risks, because the boys hit the ball with so much more power and speed - not good when that hits you in the head. I'd be just as happy taking them downhill skiing, and hope to do that in the near future now I can afford it (live an hour away from ski slopes)

I'm old enough to remember when the chief medical officer said he would rather his kids took ecstasy than ride horses or ski - statistically safer
He was forced to
Resign which was bloody ridiculous- he was accurate

I was taken to a dry ski slope on a school trip as a teenager.

They'd insisted we had to wear jeans. I never wore jeans ever. My mother had to buy me jeans. New, thick stiff jeans that I could barely walk in. I fell on my arse immediately, knees in the air, back on the ground, feet locked into the very heavy skis that were dragging me down the slope at speed. I slid down that thing half on my back. My jacket, jumper, top, vest came up as one and I went home with bloody burns all up my back. Imagine the worst carpet burns you've ever seen. That's once and only a part way up. No snow. No cold and, crucially, no obstacles. I was in agony for months.

Fuck. That. Shit.

You hear of more people of this age falling off of balconies in Spain than you do this kind of accident.

Things that are common do not make the news. This is very tragic but I would imagine it mostly depends how you ski. I might also be opening myself up to attack here but in my experience boys aged from about 9 upwards seem to have absolutely no fear or regard for others so may be more likely to get injured. Not all boys obviously but this is the demographic I most often see and think wtf and am actively aware of. I'm not blaming them for their behaviour, children don't have a sense of mortality.

If you mean through vat then so are skiers.

Surely helmets would cut down the risk of the worst accidents. I barely see anyone on the slopes apart from a few older people without helmets on these days.

Incidentally I can think of around 10 young people who died in car accidents in my rural community when I was young myself - skiing deaths = none.

I don't think this is true. I grew up poor with lots of other poor kids. (I first went skiing on a funded place with school. I was in a single parent family and in receipt of free school meals back in the early '80s.)

We all took risks all the time. Less to lose in many ways.

Rich people paying money to go skiing aren't any more risk taking than poor people in the boxing gyms in London. Or the kids playing chicken on the dual carriageway.

I can ski and love it. It’s a real mental break when I ski and I just completely get in the zone and it’s so fun. But I will no longer risk it having had a hip replacement. I live abroad in a ski region and everyone skis here and it’s normal for your very young children to start but I just haven’t been able to bring myself to get my children enrolled in lessons. Michael Schumacher is the one I always think of that stops me. I’ve known seriously capable skiers that have been skiing since 3yrs old to get injured or had near misses with avalanches (there’s a fantastic show on Disney plus with Jimmy Chin about this exact thing and it’s harrowing how even professionals have been killed or seriously harmed skiing and snowboarding). It just has to be a no for me now.

Well, the only safe sport is "channel surfing" and too many parents have let their children become pros at it.

It used to be tiddlywinks was considered a safe sport until the thumb injuries from over-use and bending them to tiddly those winks started becoming a problem.

What an absurd and elitist view. Firstly, as PP has mentioned, some Brits are brought up near ski resorts and do this from a young age. Secondly, saying that if you haven’t done something every weekend from age 3 then you should never try it would rule out 99% of activities for 99% of people. What a boring world that would be.

This argument doesn’t work unless you also want to start charging smokers, drug users and obese people for using NHS services - in fact, anyone who lives a less than virtuous life. Tbh, given how expensive skiing is, these people are probably net tax contributors anyway which can’t be said for most drug users and yet we still help them because that’s literally the whole point of a national health service.

As with any sport that involves risk, it's important to be properly equipped (helmet, warm and waterproof clothing) and to be aware of your limitations and lack of experience. There are basic safety measures to follow: Never ski off-piste unless accompanied by an experienced guide, take lessons until you're skilled enough to handle tougher slopes and conditions by yourself, stay hydrated and never ski when you're tired or injured.

Dear friends of ours lost their young child in a skiing accident. They'd had a few years of lessons and were on 'safe' slopes. The family is shattered. The guilt the parents feel. One has completely spiralled.

I'm 70 and have been skiing for 63 years. I'm an expert skier and I've never injured myself. I plan on continuing as long as I am physically able. It's one of the main reasons why I work out vigorously for an hour or more most days. For me, it's the most wonderful sport there is. There is nothing like it and I love it so much. YMMV, and that's okay.

Isn't Rugby a popular sport at most British schools?
I grew up skiing but the thought of a bunch of schoolchildren ploughing into each other on a muddy field doesn't seem that much safer to me. Brain injuries are a well known factor in rugby.