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

[ExcessiveNumberOfNinjas]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14427223/British-schoolboy-14-killed-skiing-accident-northern-Italy.html

This poor lad, only 14 years old, crashes headlong into a tree at speed and dies of chest injuries right in front of his parents.

What's so fucking great about skiing? Every year without fail there are stories like this and I'm sick of them. I know someone who became permanently disabled and slightly brain damaged after a skiing accident in his 20s.

As parents we don't encourage our kids to get into cars and drive them at speed round a race track with very little training every half term in February do we? We don't stick them on the backs of race horses and slap their arses and watch them go over hurdles. We don't encourage them to dive off high cliffs into the sea below and hope that they manage to miss the rocks as they land. So why do we continually let them hurl down mountainsides at god knows how many miles an hour, hoping that they manage not to collide with a tree or hit their heads on a rock?

I don't get it. I never will. However 'fun' it might be it can't possibly be worth the stupid level of risk.

My boy has had more injuries from playing rugby

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

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…

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

Oh the assumption making reverse snobs have woken up.

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Agree @CautiousLurker01 both my kids went on skiing holidays with their state schools in Y6. I bought them second hand kit from eBay. I was more worried about the very long coach journey up the mountains, than them skiing.

I'm not interested in skiing or other high risk sports, it's no different to a lot of more risky things that people enjoy though. DS went on a skiing school trip and enjoyed it, he also went skiing with his university friends but there is no way on earth you would get me on a pair of skis though but I wouldn't persuade others from doing it.

I love skiing and have been since age 5. It’s common where I live.

Your statement is incorrect and cruel though.

Accidents happen and sometimes the person hurt was trying to avoid other out of control skiers.

This is a thread about a 14yo.

Please be respectful.

What’s aspirational about enjoying clean, bright mountain air and enjoyable exercise? Why can’t brits enjoy this too? Is it too good for us?

For Christ's sake, a 14 year old boy has literally just died! How on earth can you think that’s an appropriate comment?

Perhaps people should be made to have insurance to take the load of the NHS who eat fast food or smokes or drinks a lot or cycles or drives or uses a motorbike or rock climbs or does drugs or eats lots of UPF or is overweight or doesn’t exercise……

I bloody love skiing. And running. And cold water swimming. And cycling. Perhaps I ought to stay home wrapped in cotton wool though 🤔🤔

I go skiing and never had more than a bruise or two - one pretty bad bruise but even that was gone in a week or so.
I also ride horses - used to compete, again nothing worse than bruises though I did have to get an x-Ray once after a fall - nothing broken in the end.
I also cycle - mountain biking I smashed my face once (with helmet but hit the ground cheek first), road cycling I have been injured by cars three times and one more time due to a fuel spillage on the road where bike went from underneath me in the middle of a junction.

I also hike and surf and run and swim outdoors and indoors, minor injuries whilst doing all those through the years.

It shouldn’t be, but cycling 20-30min on the road daily is the most dangerous activity from above (even though only about 5-10min of that is on an actual road, the rest on bike lanes) - I’m firmly of the opinion that you can get hit by a bus crossing the road and life is for living. My mum was very anxious about my activities growing up but it seems to have made me more determined to enjoy my life and not sit inside terrified most of the time.

I've been skiing since I was a child and I'm far more worried about the bus journey from the airport these days. I'm taking my kids for the first time next year. Yes it can be dangerous due to people skiing out of their depths but no more so than an 18 year old make getting into a car and speeding to show off to his mates. And we experience that on the roads more than we experience bad skiers. It's an amazing holiday. I feel safer in the Alps than many places in the world quite frankly.

If skiing is not your bag due to fear, fat or finances, then great.

All the more piste available for those of us who like to live a little, risks and all.

My kids have skied since 2, DD also did baby bmx, we went and watched one tournament that was hosted by the bmx club. And that was the end of bmx for us. If you want to see a dangerous sport that’s the one to watch! Those kids are made of something else

OP, do you make such gross generalisations in all aspects of your life, and is this disdain for skiing down to jealousy? It's a shame you seem so taxed about something that doesn't affect you, nor are not forced to participate it.