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| January
31, 2001 Skiers, snowboarders learning to use their heads for safety sake By Deb Acord The Gazette COLORADO SPRINGS - One minute,
The next minute, the 76-year-old veteran skier was sprawled on the snow-covered ground after falling and hitting his head hard on what he thinks was ice. "I lay there quite a while," says Walford, from Colorado Springs. "Then, I got myself up and managed to ski to the bottom." But Walford doesn't remember getting up or skiing down the mountain. When he reached his friend, he says, "I wasn't able to answer sensible questions, such as where I was and what day it was." Physicians told Walford he had a mild concussion. He believes his injuries would have been more severe if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. An avid skier for years, Walford added a helmet to his ski gear. He has joined a growing number of skiers and snowboarders who now wear ski helmets in a move they say becomes as natural as throwing on a bike helmet before heading out onto the street or the trail. Wearing helmets and goggles, and using two-way radios are ways skiers and boarders can stay safer. Skiers caught on to goggles long ago, when they realized that the orange, yellow, or rose-tinted lenses could help define the terrain. Two-way radios became commonplace last season and are particularly helpful to children who ski and board different trails than their parents. But helmets were slower to catch on - until 1999. That's when helmet sales rose 66 percent, according to a Leisure Trends Group report for the National Sporting Goods Association. At Colorado resorts this season, helmets are much more common as skiers and boarders react to the perception more people on the slopes can mean more risk. Whether skiing is a dangerous sport has been debated for years, but recently it has become a more contentious issue. According to statistics compiled by the National Ski Areas Association, about 34 people have died skiing each year for 13 years. The ski industry notes skiing and boarding aren't any more dangerous than such other popular recreational sports, as boating, swimming, and bicycling. And in Colorado, skiing isn't the most dangerous recreational sport. A study by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment showed 37 people died in climbing/hiking accidents between 1996 and 1998; 36 died in skiing accidents (both Alpine and Nordic), and 30 in bicycling accidents. But all agree skiing and boarding - sports that combine speed and maneuvers on a slick, steep surface - have inherent risks. The National Ski Patrol points out most injuries to skiers involve the ACL, the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee. The patrol cites a study by the University of Vermont Department of Orthopedics showing a skier's chance of an ACL injury is about the same as a college football player's and about three times greater than the general public's. One of the most dreaded ski injuries of the past - a broken lower leg - is a thing of the past, thanks to safer equipment such as breakaway bindings. But head injuries remain the most common cause of death among skiers and boarders. During the 1997-98 season, two celebrities died in separate ski accidents, and people began to take notice. Singer/congressman Sonny Bono died after skiing into a tree at a California ski resort. Just days before, a member of the Kennedy family, Michael Kennedy, skied into a tree on the slopes at Aspen and died. Last year, a different kind of skiing accident was in the news - a collision between two people. Nathan Hall, now 21, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the groundbreaking court case. In April 1997, Hall was skiing swiftly down a slope on Vail Mountain and ran into less-experienced skier Alan Cobb. Cobb sustained severe head injuries and died. That case prompted a stern warning from Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar, telling skiers and boarders they're responsible for their actions on the ski slopes. Careless behavior could result in jail and fines, he warned. Skiers like Walford believe they are responsible for their own safety. "I belong to a seniors ski club called Silver Streaks. Last season, the leader and several other members went to helmets, and it sounded like a good idea," he says. Walford has been skiing since the 1960s, and since he turned 70 years old, has skied 20-30 days a year. He believes wearing a helmet is one way he can stay safe on ski runs that he says are more congested and have a different dynamic than in the past. "The crowd really varies with where you are and what day of the week it is, but it's definitely more crowded out there," says Walford, who avoids the resorts on weekends and holidays. "It gets more difficult to stay safe out there." |
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