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Original poster

Adults - do you wear a helmet?

84 replies

scopello · 04/04/2016 05:04

It's been over a decade since I've skied. I've been a handful if times so not a novice but choosing to take intermediate lessons as a refresher. Hat only in the past - I've never worn a helmet. Do you choose to wear one as an adult?

OP posts:
foxessocks · 08/04/2016 16:13

Yup, we never used to when we were kids and I've been skiing for years and years but the last time I went everyone was wearing helmets. It seems it has definitely been realised how mad it is not to!

hejsvejs · 08/04/2016 16:14

Yes, always do and always have done. I'm surprised some people don't.

lampygirl · 08/04/2016 19:35

Didn't bother when learning as I didn't want to buy kit yet and didn't want to wear a rental one as it could be just as useless as nothing if it had already been in a few crashes over the years. Now I ski all over the mountain including off piste from time to time I do wear one (I actually own 2 now) as the risks are far greater than they are on the nursery slope.

CaurnieBred · 25/04/2016 10:35

I started wearing a helmet because DD was about to learn and I wanted her to wear one (I try to model best practice for some things . . .!) so ~ 2010 I think. Also, during the previous trip I had fallen and cracked the back of my head on a solid slope and decided I didn't want to do that again as it hurt.

DH started wearing one a year or two later.

AppleSetsSail · 25/04/2016 10:39

Helmets all around here.

My sister and her daughter don't wear them and it makes me unreasonably irritated with her.

ValiaH · 25/04/2016 10:42

Yes, ever since one of our friends had a relatively minor ski accident and hit his head- he wasn't wearing a helmet and the concussion caused him to have short term memory loss and to not remember the accident for over a year- at least 2 years later he still wasn't feeling "right". We bought helmets and have worn them ever since!

FayaMAMA · 13/07/2016 02:42

I didn't when I was 18/19 but absolutely do now, as do most people. Honestly. My father had a terrible ski accident not wearing a helmet the same week as Michael Schumacher a few years ago and we've been counting our blessings and taking every precaution ever since. I would say 90% of people wear helmets now, in Austria at least. Even the ski instructors and guides wear them most of the time now. They're also so good at keeping your head/ears warm, lol.

Liz09 · 13/07/2016 03:17

It's law to wear a helmet here in Australia, so yes. Considering how dangerous skiing is, it'd be stupid not to wear one when it's so widely accepted now.

SienaSun · 27/08/2016 07:16

A few years ago adults wearing helmets were rare in the Alps - don't know about other places. Now it's very common.
I don't tend to fall but I still wear one because I make my son wear one (they are compulsory for kids).
I actually like wearing it - it has headphones so I can plug it into my iPod Smile

TheProblemOfSusan · 11/09/2016 22:35

Yes. Always. And in fact I've been in the Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead today and can't recall seeing anyone not wearing one, even though it's not compulsory there and it's a much more controlled environment.

I didn't like it at first, the hire one I had wasn't very comfy, but then I really got the point of them - I was standing still on a flat part at entering a gentle slope, very tired after having done drills, someone called to me and as I turned my head I managed to wipe myself out. Went down backwards so hard I would have knocked myself out without a helmet. Never not worn one since, really scared me.

emski1972 · 18/09/2016 19:13

Yes! I have a very cool purple one. We all bought them a few years ago when a pal got hit in the back of the head with a chair lift...loadsa blood and there is forever a piece of her going up and down the mountain..

ruthieruthuk · 04/12/2016 22:55

Yes, always, can never be too careful

MoonlightandMusic · 05/12/2016 23:06

No and nor does DH. Last time we were out was in the Portes du Soleil in 2014 and, for skiiers, I would have said the wearing/non-wearing split for adults was about 30:60.

I'd also agree with buying not hiring if you are going to wear one though - the hire shop has no way of knowing what bumps the helmets have been involved in that would compromise the interior.

Small child will be wearing one for their first trip in Feb mind. May as well start as you mean to go on.

BoffinMum · 21/12/2016 18:10

I didn't used to but I started last season, because I saw a couple of nasty accidents. I think it gets so busy you really need to have one now, as many of the lunatics are wearing them, as other people have pointed out.

AmberEars · 21/12/2016 18:12

I never wore one until I had DC. I started wearing one purely to set them a good example, but now it seems crazy that I didn't before!

HardcoreLadyType · 21/12/2016 18:15

You'll find most people do, these days.

OldGuard · 21/12/2016 18:38

Why on earth would you put two slippery things on your feet and head down a mountain at great speed and not project your head ?

Stupid not to wear helmet

Everyone does where we are - and if you don't you are viewed as a twit

thatdearoctopus · 23/12/2016 11:17

Huge increase in the numbers wearing them in recent years. I actually think it should be mandatory.

For those who don't wear them themselves, but ensure their children do; you're presumably keen to protect your kids, but would it not also be a good idea to protect them from the possibility or being orphaned or landed with a brain-damaged parent? Harsh but true.

BoffinMum · 23/12/2016 20:34

I think if they were mandatory that would encourage people to be even more reckless. Like with bikes.

itsawonderfulworld · 25/01/2017 12:00

I didn't as a teenager but have done ever since I started skiing again shortly after Natasha Richardson died. Can't understand how anyone could choose not to these days when they're pretty much standard equipment!

dontcallmethatyoucunt · 25/01/2017 18:08

I looked around the (large) queue at Christmas in Whistler and I counted just 2 people without. Really noticeable.

Pinkponiesrock · 25/01/2017 18:30

thatdearoctopus
That's exactly my view on it!
Harsh as it sounds but a parent becoming brain damaged due to a fall is going to have a much greater impact, from a practical point of view, on a family than if it happened to a child so why would anyone helmet them up but not yourself?

One partner would be left caring for the other and the DCs, possibly unable to work due to having to look the entire family.
We all ski, horse ride, cycle etc with the best possible safety equipment. A lot of people think nothing of spending hundreds of pounds on ski wear or new skis but a helmet is grudged expense?! Hmm

Buttercupsandaisies · 25/01/2017 19:45

I'll be wearing one as will the kids. DH refuses

I was suprised to go to chill factor last week, it was packed and not s single person had a helmet! I presumed we'd be made to wear one!

dontcallmethatyoucunt · 25/01/2017 20:04

I'd refuse to wipe his arse then if he gets a brain injury buttercup. Also make sure he's got life insurance.

It makes me sad that people can disregard their families in such a way. It might not be him that suffers from his choices...

mycavitiesareempty · 27/01/2017 11:55

I suspect that most if not all of those who don't wear a helmet will never have seen a horrible skiing accident or had a narrow escape or powerful clunk on the head themselves. It does tend to sear the vital importance of helmets into your brain if you've got dorect personal experience of skiing injuries or brain injuries or both.

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