Idaho Mountain Express: Margin of safety

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Margin of safety

Helmet or hat?

That is the question every skier and snowboarder must answer every time they decide to slide down a mountain.

With research mounting on the serious long-term consequences of head injuries, the question could also be asked as Shakespeare did, "To be or not to be?"

Last week, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming became the latest resort in the West to require all on-mountain personnel to wear a helmet while working.

Earlier in November, Aspen Skiing Co. announced that it would implement a similar policy this winter. In 2009, Vail Resorts began to require helmets for 6,500 employees at the five ski areas it owns.

It's a trend that should be welcomed and encouraged given the life-changing consequences that too often result from head injuries.

The human brain gets mashed against the side of the skull when it smashes into the ground or into a stationary object. Estimates of the risk of head injury while skiing or boarding differ widely, but suffice it to say the risk to most mountain riders is pretty low. Even so, no matter how good the athlete, no matter how conservatively skiers and boarders navigate the mountains, accidents happen.

Unlike a hat, a helmet can provide a critical margin of safety and can mean the difference between a minor bump on the noggin and debilitation or death.

Helmets today are light, warm, comfortable and make it easy to hear. Yet wearing them is a habit that has failed to catch on with many adults, even adults who insist that their kids wear them.

Ski resorts have long known that safety is good business. Even so, given the West's politics of helmets vs. free choice, we'd be surprised to see resorts require helmets on all riders. But requiring mountain personnel to wear them makes them cool and is a good way to encourage old and new generations of riders to follow suit.

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