KillingtonZone.com

Men Die More, Snowboarding Is Safer, and More Surprising Insights From Lifetime Ski Study
https://gearjunkie.com/winter/ski-helme ... t-insights

none of the findings are surprising to me. males in general have a higher tolerance for risk, weigh more and go faster. at the learning stages they try to brute force their way into making their equipment do what they want, instead of using proper technique to do so. whereas females tend to take instruction better and learn technique instead of brute forcing it and are more naturally risk adverse. bad skiers can go much much faster than bad snowboarders - going straight, flat and fast is very easy on skis and very hard on a snowboard for beginners. just like car accidents speed is the main risk factor for a fatality. even competent skiers and riders - skiing is still faster. and of course the skis can pop off, leading someone to slide to their death whereas on a snowboard one can usually get the edge to grab something to slow down even when fallen. and blue trails have always been more dangerous than blacks - one doesnt need as much skill to ski/ride a blue and can gain considerable speed without feeling the need to turn. a black is more intimidating and requires more skill - blues look easy in a "what can go wrong" kind of way.

i wish they included alcohol use in the study. i hate that it is considered socially acceptable to pound f*** fireballs on the lift and then become blue square assassins on the trails. people dont take the risk of life changing injury or death inherent in skiing and snowboarding seriously.

I thought it was an interesting notion that because the snowboard doesn't detach, you have a greater chance of slowing yourself down on steep terrain before colliding with a tree. I do both and find that I get minor injuries much easier on a snowboard as it's easier to lose balance and hit the ground hard. But when skiing I'm always scared of tearing an ACL or some other knee injury, though I very rarely fall.

Helmet stuff is interesting in that after a certain speed, your helmet doesn't do much to protect you from collisions with hard objects. Also interesting that most people die on blues rather than blacks due to speed. Really drives home the point that the asshats who ski way too fast on blue/green trails are creating the biggest hazard on the hill.

Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.

It’s on your pass. Read it, live it.

RustyK wrote: ↑Jan 14th, '25, 20:47 Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.

It’s on your pass. Read it, live it.

Happy hour is a dangerous sport. Look how many of our friends have got DWIs or worse leaving K bars. Luckily I'm too old for that stuff now.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

A quick walk around the medical center at any major ski resort, and the conclusion that snowboarding is safer than skiing will be a hard point to argue. Not saying that the statistics are wrong, but if you are smart, you can more easily avoid becoming a statistic on skis.

GlenPLake wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 12:32 Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

A quick walk around the medical center at any major ski resort, and the conclusion that snowboarding is safer than skiing will be a hard point to argue. Not saying that the statistics are wrong, but if you are smart, you can more easily avoid becoming a statistic on skis.

The article says skiing has a significantly higher fatality rate, but it also says that Snowboarding has a much higher injury rate. The boarders are just not getting killed as often.

The biggest difference was between men and women, with men being about 9 times more likely to die out there.

It is collisions with stationary objects (like trees) that will kill you, and, according to the article, at lower speeds than I would have guessed. So stop bombing down those Intermediate groomers.

To be specific, at just 19mph, not even your helmet will save you if you hit a tree - there's a 99% probability of death.

easyrider16 wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 16:07 To be specific, at just 19mph, not even your helmet will save you if you hit a tree - there's a 99% probability of death.

But at least you can still have an open casket!

easyrider16 wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 16:07 To be specific, at just 19mph, not even your helmet will save you if you hit a tree - there's a 99% probability of death.

Maybe if you hit it head first, but if I hit a tree with my legs at 20 mph there is a 99% chance of living.

daytripper wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 17:19

easyrider16 wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 16:07 To be specific, at just 19mph, not even your helmet will save you if you hit a tree - there's a 99% probability of death.

Maybe if you hit it head first, but if I hit a tree with my legs at 20 mph there is a 99% chance of living.

Not concerned with kzoners, skilled group generally. Yet, i've heard it said from others in everyday life- 'i'm wearing a helmet, so...' Seems they truly believe that, as in, they're 'all set'!

Probably about 20 MPH

I grabbed a tree right before I hit another one, had a nice bruise on my arm for about 6 months, no head impact luckily.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k3xgJU ... p=drivesdk

daytripper wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 17:19

easyrider16 wrote: ↑Jan 15th, '25, 16:07 To be specific, at just 19mph, not even your helmet will save you if you hit a tree - there's a 99% probability of death.

Maybe if you hit it head first, but if I hit a tree with my legs at 20 mph there is a 99% chance of living.

Just quoting the article, but I believe it is talking specifically about head impacts. Although, at 20mph, I'd guess there's probably a higher than 1% chance that hitting legs first will not prevent an eventual fatal head impact.

Still plenty of reasons to wear a helmet, as the article states it will prevent head injuries at slower speeds, which isn't uncommon.

The most important job of the helmet is to protect your head when people pull the bar down a millisecond after they sit. Second would be low branches in the woods.

Oh, that reminds me - I got a pretty good knock one time while riding in the woods. My forehead hit a low branch hard enough to knock me on my ass. Felt like I got belted with a baseball bat. If I wasn't wearing a helmet, who knows how bad that would have been.