I’m 33 yo. I’ve tried snowboarding for the first time last year. I’m pretty athletic. I had some basis from skateboarding. My heel edge was perfect by my toe edge not so much.
While practicing my toe edge, my board got stuck in the snow. I fell on my back and hit the back of my head on the packed snow. I had a mild concussion.
Never doing that again.
I wonder if skyiing is safer with respect to head injures.
Yeah helmets are absolutely mandatory for all downhill sports regardless of if you're snowboarding or skiing. The last 10 years I haven't seen anybody in any of the mountains here without helmets (something changed in this regard about 15 years ago I think when you could see people without helmets still).
But the next most important protection for snowboarding is a wrist rail protecting your os scaphoideus, it's the larger bone in your wrist (just at the base of the thumb) and it's the most common snowboarding injury as you fall backwards and instinctively reach out with the hands behind you and the impact most often fractures the wrist bones. This happens even with you standing still!
It's true that something has changed and nowadays almost everyone wear helmets. But I don't and won't. I learned (and taught) at a time where people didn't wear helmets. I've probably spent more than 300 days snowboarding and never hurt my head. Sure, it can only be safer to wear one than not wearing one. But I don't think it's "absolutely mandatory". If you're an advanced practitioner and not doing anything crazy, the risk seems low.
I’m a decent snowboarder. Was going slowly (maybe 30kmh) on a easy wide downhill. Weather was perfect. Piste was not huge but broad and empty. Got hit from behind by a Ski instructor who was doing 60kmh+. He had a ‘weak moment’ and didn’t see me. I couldn’t catch myself and fell on the back of my head. Even though I was wearing a helmet, still had a mild concussion. Now is 5 weeks later and still dealing with the consequences. Glad a buddy who was skiing behind me caught it on his GoPro because it seemed so bizarre.
Wear a helmet. You’re protecting yourself from other things than just your own lack of skill. (not to mention it’s mandatory in many parts of the world now)
It's just a matter of how bad it can be without it. If I do hit my head without a helmet, I could suffer permanent brain damage or die. Why would I risk that, even if the risk is small, when the risk mitigation measure (wearing a helmet) is so simple and easy? (And has the side benefit of helping to keep my head warm without needing a hat or balaclava.) Without a helmet, I need to be skillful, or at least lucky, 100% of the time. A single mistake could destroy my life. With a helmet, I can absorb quite a few mistakes and walk away from them.
Your perspective just sounds like someone refusing to wear a seat belt in a car because when you were a kid they weren't mandatory or common in cars. I would hope we can agree that would be foolish.
> If you're an advanced practitioner and not doing anything crazy, the risk seems low.
It seems pretty arrogant to assume that you'll never have a bad fall just because you have a lot of experience. On top of that, you can't control other people; maybe someone less experienced than you, who is stretching their skills a little farther than they should be, collides with you and you slam your head into an icy patch. Your advanced experience might not be able to help you there.
> I learned (and taught) at a time where people didn't wear helmets.
I really hope, for the safety of your potential students, that you don't teach anymore.
> It's just a matter of how bad it can be without it.
No, it's a matter of how bad it can be without it, but also, how likely you are to fall on your head. For instance, concussions are still common in car accidents despite the safety belt. Do you wear a helmet in your car? following your reasoning, you should.
> I really hope, for the safety of your potential students, that you don't teach anymore.
Everyone is free to decide what level of risk they're willing to take. This is true of wearing a helmet while skiing, but many activities are potentially dangerous (driving, cycling, sunbathing...) and we don't accuse people doing these activities of being foolish.
I'm not advising anyone not to wear a helmet, but as long as I don't have the obligation to do so, I won't, because I feel it's more enjoyable to not wear them.
> I really hope, for the safety of your potential students, that you don't teach anymore.
You are like those government, forcing some BS like sopa/pipa/etc. Of course, helmet promoting always gets much of upvotes online - but isn't it so hard to open your eyes for looking some cons, not only pros?
Bigger inertia of a head and bigger hitbox, that's why there are lots of videos called "i love helmets" with braking helmet shown, despite the crash was not any serious. If using glasses, they always limit and distort your peripheral sight. Also it is wrong to recommend _anything_ to a man you do not know nothing about. Maybe I want to train only maneuverability, not riding fast and not riding where fast riders may be happen. Maybe I love falling-prone disciplines and have some ability to fall down correctly. Maybe my wear has kind of head-protecting options like several hoodies and a tough knot of hair. Also do not forget that head damage is not the main issue in snowboarding - if someone has not been taught to fall down correctly, snowboard is not an easy way to start that learning because of bounded legs and skill-demanding brake (if some speed has been got and slowing is needed).
> I'd rather not be one of those "he died doing what he loved" guys when it is entirely preventable.
I do know such a guy, it was my schoolmate who rode a motorcycle and somehow he has rammed a car with his head. Good helmet might have saved his scull from a crack. Not being drunk on that moment might have save him IMO more likely.
You are wearing the wrong helmets if it's not enjoyable/comfortable. I wear a helmet when I ride a bike, motorbike, snowboard etc. I'd rather not be one of those "he died doing what he loved" guys when it is entirely preventable.
Can I ask you why? To me this feels very much like: "I never used a seatbelt in my life and I'm so far unscathed after a decade of driving."
The thing is, it takes a single event to ruin your life. You get a single bad concussion and your life will always be much worse afterwards. You won't be able to concentrate, you'll have issues remembering things, your moods may change, etc. The list is very long, and very gnarly.
You have one head, and for the foreseeable future, serious injuries have lasting consequences.
To me that seems like an awfully bone-headed (no pun intended) mindset to have about such a precious item. Your head is what makes you you. It's one thing to engage in dangerous activities that are nevertheless fun. Life would be boring otherwise. But it's entirely a different thing to willfully and deliberately avoid such an obvious and low-effort risk mitigation as wearing a helmet.
I'm an avid motorbike rider with more than a hundred thousand miles under my belt. I can count the number of times a helmet saved me on one finger. But that one single case would've completely ruined my life if the helmet wasn't there.
For context, I was in my prime when helmet were not a thing, even in the professional world. Simply nobody wore a helmet at that time (look old videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpYQ4nsd8xU).
> something changed in this regard about 15 years ago
Here in Europe, I think Michael Schumacher's ski accident in 2013 changed peoples' attitudes.
When I started skiing in the mid-to-late 2000s, there was maybe a 50/50 split of helmet and non-helmet wearers on the pistes. Since the mid-2010s, it's become extremely rare to encounter anyone not wearing a helmet.
I've been skiing in three different countries in Europe this month and could count on two hands how many people I've seen not wearing a helmet among thousands with.
Even if the helmet never saves you in an accident it's usually warmer and more comfortable than a hat and will save you from many annoying bumps on the head on the lift. Here in Europe all boarders are wise enough to wear a helmet, but some skiers still don't, usually old men who have been skiing since long before helmets were a thing.
I strongly recommend helmets for all snowsports, both skiing and snowboarding. I've personally witnessed (and experienced) head injuries with both.
The benefit of snowboarding is that you are much less likely to have a horrific injury like a major leg bone shattering. Most injuries tend to be cracked tail bones or broken wrists. With the latter, you can learn to fall correctly and that minimises the risk. Essentially you want to fall on your arm, and then roll onto your shoulders and back instead of taking your entire weight on your hands.
I 100% agree. As a beginner skiing person 5 years ago, I once went way too fast and had a very small (natural) lamp. I made a backflip and hit the back of a rock with my helmet and landed in the snow.
How does this happen? I fell down on the button lift and was forced to ski down from the button lift in order to enter the lower part of the piste. I thought I had enough skills to do it, but instead I lost all control and went straight down and eventually was going out of bounds, flying in the air hitting the rock with my head mid-salto and flying into the far edge of the lower (blue) piste area.
That helmet saved my head that day, I had zero injuries, not even a mild pain. In hindsight, this was a really fun experience! (in hindsight)
I was a loose projectile as a beginner, and it took quite a while to learn how to become a guided projectile.
> I wonder if skyiing is safer with respect to head injures.
The answer is: it depends. Friend of mine got pretty badly concussed skiing a blue run (easy) without a helmet.
I've done both skiing and snowboarding, always wearing a helmet for both after similarly hitting my head on day 3 of snowboarding (though without the concussion). Plenty of falls on both but I've hit my head a lot less frequently skiing than snowboarding. Still, it can happen and, realistically, it only needs to happen once for you to experience life changing injuries.
Wear a helmet, always, regardless of whether you're skiing or snowboarding. And don't screw anything to it or be tempted to wear a camera attached to it (GoPro, Garmin, etc.).
I've been snowboarding for a few years and I always wear protection. Helmet, goggles, knee pads, wrist guards, etc. And as somebody already mentioned it is very important to learn how to fall to minimize the potential damage.
Is it possible to not land on your tailbone when you fall on heel edge? I feel like the board guarantees I hit exactly the same spot each time. I took my first snowboard lesson a week ago and while the morning was fine, the groomers had been scraped away to reveal the ice underneath in the afternoon and I did a number on my coccyx...
Furthering this - before heading up to any slope as a beginner you should be tracking the conditions for at least the week prior. Has it snowed? Has it rained? Did it rain and then go down to -15F?
Knowing that they got 2" the day before you go up is nice but not indicative of what you'll find when you get there, especially on a busy mountain where fresh powder and courdory get skiied off very quickly. You don't want to learn on boiler plate!
Always wear a helmet! Even if you are in very deep powder there can be unexpected obstacles if you do take a tumble (rocks, etc). People who do not do winter sports have this misguided thought that snow is not hard. Any base layer of snow is somewhere between clay court hard and cement hard depending on temps and water content.
Helmets also give a degree of protection from tree branches when riding in woods or glades.
And remember - nobody is perfect - edges catch, visual/audio distractions - and snow conditions can change unexpectedly. Not to mention there is always the risk of being hit by someone else.
One dude I met got his spine injured after landing on his back in a big pile of fresh snow. There was a branch. Fortunately he's back to snowboarding after a surgery.
here's a video of very experienced snowboarder hitting his head on a fresh snow day(!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjWrLtvs6Ic
I just got back from a great week in Vail snowboarding.
I've been more hurt skiing more than snowboarding. No head injuries, but ~15 years ago I sprained my knee pretty bad snow skiing. When that healed, I switched to snowboarding and haven't skied since.
The most hurt I've been was tearing an ACL wakeboarding. I pretty much retired from going hard on the wakeboard since it beat me up more than any other sport I've done including fights sports like BJJ.
My experience is that not having binding release on the snowboards was effective at turning my horizontal momentum into angular momentum when the edge caught; anchoring and slammed me into the ground [head and all). In skiing it was more "gentle" slide across the surface (of coarse until you hit something like a tree).
When I snowboarded for the first time, I ended up accidentally going very, very fast and when I tried to slow down just ended up travelling backwards. Then I hit a ridge of snow, flipped over and head-planted.
I had a helmet on, but I still felt pretty sick for a while after. I suspect it was a mild concussion...
A good helmet should prevent or at least mitigate any concussion from a beginner type of fall. Do you ride a bike? I would worry much more about clocking my head on a curb even with a helment.
While practicing my toe edge, my board got stuck in the snow. I fell on my back and hit the back of my head on the packed snow. I had a mild concussion.
Never doing that again.
I wonder if skyiing is safer with respect to head injures.