DOWNHILL SKIERS - WEAR A HELMET!

The RA Ski club strongly recommends that downhill skiers wear a ski helmet. (Note that although this is a recommendation, you can still ski with us if you don't wear a helmet.)

Wearing a helmet gained a lot of attention with the death of actress Natasha Richardson after her fall at Mont Tremblant in March.

One of the RA Ski executive members, a black and double-black diamond skier, now swears by a helmet. Last Monday she was skiing on Pineault (a
beginner run at Camp Fortune, and the only run open), when a skier barrelling down the hill ran into her. She was knocked down, one ski came
off, and her helmet and goggles were damaged. She was taken to the hospital and examined, but fortunately nothing was broken. She still has
a sore neck a few days later. She says, "The helmet definitely saved my noggin from a very serious injury, probably a concussion or a gash that
would need stitches. I swear by my helmet, and now it must be replaced as it has a dent in it from the fall. Better the dent in the helmet than in
my skull."

The skier who hit her was not a new skier. He was an expert skier.

Several points:
1.  One is never safe from the carelessness of others, even on a beginner hill.
2.  It is essential to keep your skis and bindings in top condition. Her skis had just come out of the shop. If the binding had not released and
the ski had not come off, she would definitely have broken her leg.
3.  Pay attention when you ski. The person downhill from you has the right-of-way, and it’s your responsibility to avoid him/her.

[The following is taken from a Globe and Mail article on March 18/09.]

People who snub ski helmets "are putting themselves at risk. You are exposing yourself to risk of brain injury," said Dr. Tatos, founder of
Think-First, a non-profit organization that encourages safe sporting practices.

"Wearing a helmet in snow sports is essential, and not only for kids, even for adults." Without a helmet, "when the head hits the ground, there is
no cushioning effect." He said that once the head is injured, there is no cure for a brain injury.

There were 138 hospitalizations in Canada due to head injuries from skiing and snowboarding accidents in 2005-06, according to figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. In Quebec, a 2008 coroner's report found that of the 26 deaths on the provinces ski slopes from 1990 to 2004, more than half were due to head injuries. In all but two of the cases, the skiers were not wearing helmets.