Do people wear helmets on Ski slopes these days?

It's a few days early for April Fools.

I'm a hold out unless I'm going big for the day.

Sonny Bono says wear your helmet.

Don't forget your day-glo uni-suit.

Young Jake was the best skier to ever post on the Zone. FACT.

Yes, helmets are just about universal on the slopes these days.  Though I never wore one in my youth (nobody but pro ski jumpers did), I think the risk is real and it's probably worth protecting your noodle.  If you break your head, there will be nowhere for the drugs to go!

Helmets are for pussies.  If you can't ski in control, then you shouldn't be out there.  FACT

I miss young Jake. We had a weekend in Vegas once. He's tight with Russo.

Fitzman do you have an email for deadhead ed?

Liam Neeson's wife, Miranda Richardson, might still be alive if she wore one. 

Helmets are for pussies.  If you can't ski in control, then you shouldn't be out there.  FACT

Opinion, not FACT. There is a lot to be said for helmets. Brain buckets absolutely give more protection to a rather important area of your anatomy (Your anatomy may differ). They are a lot warmer than hats on really cold days. On days where you are pushing the envelope, you are skiing on the edge and not always in control, no matter how good of a skier you are. There are plenty of places that are hairy enough that having a helmet on may save your life. Think cliff bands, tight trees, etc.

But for most people, it's a preference that gives that person peace of mind. If you feel more confident, you usually ski better.

p.s. Since any number of states now demand that minors wear helmets, those people are going to continue to wear them into adulthood. As such, you will see more and more helmets as the years go by.

p.p.s. As for young Jake being the best skier, I'm sure MikeW would argue that is not true.

lol

Most skier deaths result from blunt force trauma to the torso (organ damage), and not head injuries.

I like my helmet speaker earphones...

Good thread. To think of all the years I skied w/o a helmet as a teen. 

Hoping to return to skiiing next winter, better look for an end-of-season helmet sale. 

I could ski circles around "Young Jake" ....minus helmet

jake is a budding homosesual, and def wears helmets when he never skis anymore, cause he lives in calli....

Custies

never been skiing. indoorsy.

so then no helmet mountain biking either?

Long time downhill skier. Grew up skiing in blue jeans with no hat, much less a helmut.

Fast forward many years....my brother was skiing VT sans helmut one day....he "comes to" in the Ski Patrol hut at the bottom of the mountain standing and conversing with the staff. They told him that he had skied down, took off his skis, placed them nicely in the rack, walked in and began a normal conversation with them before he "came to". As he sorted through it, his prior last memory was riding the chairlift. Best he can figure is that the lift clipped him in the head as he skied off it. 

He began wearing a helmut that trip. I did and my kids did and do as well.

Fast forward even more years to last Wednesday. I'm skiing Snowbasin in Utah. Please do NOT take this as bragging, but the reality is that I had not fallen in decades and I do not hold back (top speed last week was 62MPH. Cruddy snow, poor visibility and I go down. Left shoulder followed by full upper back and then back of head slams into the ground. I black out for a second convinced I've had a complete yard sale. When I "come to", skis are still on and son is standing over me. Was able to continue that day and rest of week, but shoulder and neck muscles were incredibly sore. Head was fine.

Would add two more things: you get accustomed to wearing them quickly and, during cold or precipitation, they are fantastic. Skied Thursday in near whiteout conditions (14" of new powder) and with helmut and goggles, I was snug as a bug in a ......

Moral of the story, you only get one head. If I wasn't wearing my helmut on Wednesday, I can guarantee that, at a minimum, I wouldn't have been able to ski the freshies on Thursday and Friday. Will gladly take any "pussy" shots.

Not about condoms? 

Helmet? Yes. 

Sometimes people get hit by OOC skiers. Also rocks become visible again in the spring. 

If you think you don't need one, try running head first into an immovable object. How fast can you run? 5-10mph? You'll wish you had one. 

Yes.

My mom bought me one for Xmas.  It's actually surprisingly comfy and I'm looking forward to getting some earphones 

How much does skiing cost?

If I still skied I would probably helmetize these days- I had some close calls way back...one in particular at Boreal Ridge- major face plant near a couple of trees.

Didn't get knocked out but it was bad.

Stowe VT is something like $110 a day. A burger is $17.

Walking, XC and snowshoeing are free.

Started skiing when I was 4, and don't think I ever had a serious head blow.

Snowboarding is a different story. More than a few time my helmet has kept my brains in my head. Catch a nasty edge at a high speed and you're bouncing off your skull.

6'r sorry to break it to you but skiing in Vermont is not real downhill skiing.  What you ski on our hills. We have real mountains. 

JR - sorry to break it to you - but this is my first post in this thread. Who the fuck did you think you were you talking to you completely feeble-minded idiot?

Apparently I will have to add your handle to the list of folks I have blocked with the new ignore feature Judit gave me the code for. Enjoy talking to yourself - which I am sure you do often anyway.

Meanwhile - this is to the sane and reasonable Brian K.

>>Stowe VT is something like $110 a day

Be happy - Aspen is $119.

Besides - if you buy tickets online - Stowe is only $85.

Cross country sounds peaceful and fun. I'm glad my wife hates snowboarding 

and doesn't want me to teach our son. 

Cross country skiing is most excellent exercise. I live surrounded by woods that are full of cross country (winter)/mountain biking (summer) trails.

Cross country is definitely the more peaceful of the two.

Downhill has those zen moments, when you find that line and are one with the mountain.

Cross country is just peaceful, unless you're on snowmobile trails.

Hills vs Mountains 

I wear custom gold reflective Bolle goggles. 

I'm glad you noticed that too, 6. I was scratching my head on that one.

There are quite a few zen moments in downhill skiing. The White Room is one. Perfect spring corn is another. Still, my # 1 zen moment is when you rip through mogels without a thought. It is much akin to flowing water, which is about as zen as it gets.  

Does Warren Haynes ski?

mm

no i do not wear a helmet....

Is that a waterfall, Jonny? 

Helluva lot of float in those sticks, Jon.

Only the "SPECIAL" people do. You know the jokers that should be up there at all.......

yes a frozen waterfall...  and i love my KURU'S!

Has Glen Plake ever worn a helmet? 

Has Glen Plake ever worn a helmet?

Yes.

Maybe he ran out of hairspray or wood glue.  

He has one helmet that the manufacturer made with a cut out for the hawk. That's only for special occasions. Other times it's just a standard helmet.  The hawk is set with gelatin, ironed and then finished with hair spray.

I would never not wear a helmut, googles, and at least decent shell / pants material ... simply for having a barrier between you and the elements / terrain.  I'm in the trees quite often and you just don't ever want to have to worry about getting poked in the eye, ear, forehead, etc. ... let alone full on blunt trauma (even if ned is correct about "the odds").

 tried skiing for the first - and last - time when I was 42

ten minutes in and fucked up my back on the bunny slope...and little kids flying by me, some who didn't look old enough to be potty-trained

that was one day when i actually appreciated alcohol

never again..

Helmets??

Come on.

I do not wear a helmet.

Do zoners ski that much?

I was a super late adopter but after the last couple years of being one of the last holdouts out there, I made the permanent switch to a helmet last year at Steamboat. 

First, I'm now a 40-something, no longer a youngster.  Secondly, there are morons everywhere.  I'm not worried about smacking my head on a tree but the other idiots on the hill might knock me into one...

That, plus you have more to lose as you get older...

Pushing branches out of the way with a helmet gets tighter lines.  Twenty years ago today I came to killington for three days of skiing.   On day four it dumped.  Over four feet that month.  Soon I been here so long I got to calling it home.   6 we skied the hellgate chute at stowe two weeks ago    over 40"    sick.  Day 90  today. Looks like snow tomorrow. We got max creek on the 22.   Let the games begin

>>6 we skied the hellgate chute at stowe two weeks ago    over 40"    sick

Nice!

Started wearing one as a role model for my kids.  Soon after had a bad spill.  Helmut saved me from a pretty bad injury.

Never wore  a helmet, but not a bad Idea. Used to ski as a youngster;  places like Hunter, Jay Peak, St. Savêur, Smugglers Notch and various NE places.

The early-mid 1980's I attended McGill in Montrëal and joined the Ski Club. For abooot 20-25 bucks or so you'd get the Magical Mystery Ski Bus, lift ticket and maybe a Box-Lunch.  If you could meet the Bus on campus around 6 AM they would take you to the Snow.

The border patrol never checked us out much, maybe opened the cargo door and said "Yeah there's some ski gear there, any Fruits or Vegetables ?"

So I dropped out for a long time, then went Snowboarding in OR mid-90's. Just once as a Lark.

Meanwhile my Nephew got really into the Snowboard sport over 10-12 years, and eventually Bonked his Head w/ a Concussion --- could've killed him. He got really good at it though, instructing and {almost} Pro. The accident put Him on leave for a while.

So just a couple Winters back, I visited Nephew in Truckee/Tahoe region and visited the Ski world. He lived out there and was back on the Slopes again.

He was boarding and/or skiing at various spots that Winter, but it was a very poor Snow year. Mostly he was playing Bass in some bands.

Looks Snowy there at the Donner Pass region, but most areas were pretty dry that Winter.  That foto is the day I rode up to the area from East Bay, when it actually Snowed a bit.  It had not in quite a while.

So Nephew's Buddy arranged for some free lift tickets for us all, and I rented some boards/boots at the shoppe in Truckee, after a Hearty breakfast.

We grabbed some Cold Ones as a "Thank You Note" for the fellow with the x-tra day passes.