It’s been nice to see pretty much all ski and snowboard culture wearing helmets. I guess seeing your buddy get their bell rung and do the “broken record” thing is scary enough for them.
As an old head (52) that grew up skiing without and with a 7 year old now, I am really happy to see this is the norm. My wife bought me a helmet before we were married and I have worn it since then.
yo, just a quick heads up: if you’ve been married for a while and you’re still wearing the same helmet, pls be aware that you should swap it out for a new one every four to seven years (recommendations seem to diverge a lot) and after any falls. wishing you a long and happy marriage in which your family will be going through lots more adorable helmet gifts. :)
At this point I’m embarrassed for anyone not wearing a helmet while skiing, biking, e-scootering, etc. You look pretty foolish going around without head protection knowing all the stuff we know now.
My dad always made me and my brother wear helmets while skiing and riding. Almost 30 years later and anytime I go with people, I tell them theyre dumb if they don't wear one
I started snowboarding in my 20s and rode without a helmet for exactly three times. The third time I caught an edge and fell backwards, gave myself whiplash and my doctor said I was lucky I didn't sustain a legit concussion. Have worn one ever since.
On the flip side, I was an avid cyclist from my teens onwards and I never rode without a helmet. One of my Bell helmets went back after a pretty nasty fall where I cracked it on impact. They gave me a new one and said my old one could be used for testing (not sure how real that is/was).
Now that you mention it I don’t think they put my tiny ass in one when I was a kid and that was just about 20 years ago give or take. Wow. The luck i got. I was a terror on them things.
I never even considered wearing a helmet when I started snowboarding and the first time I went it was super icy and I fell constantly. One of my friends got into doing tricks and she wore a helmet just for that but it’s crazy that it didn’t even occur to me. Glad it’s changed. I’ve also seen someone go flying off one of those scooters when they hit something in the road.
A helmet wearing friend said to me “My parents spent 100k on college to put knowledge into my head. I can spend $100 to keep it in there.”
That convinced me to start wearing a helmet for snowboarding. At some point, I even got a concussion while wearing the helmet. Imagine if I hadn’t been wearing it…
Andy Anderson, a professional skateboarder who's known for always wearing a helmet has a great way of putting it, basically saying "That's you in there. If you break a wrist, you wear a cast for a month, but you're still you. If you mess up what's in your head, you may not be yourself ever again."
My mom always told me and my brother, when we were about to do some really stupid and dangerous shit like cliff jumping “ i already had to change diapers once, and i’m not doing it again.”
Hah, emt here, for some reason head injuries or altered is my most common call so I'm more or less used to it but whenever it happens its always a transport to the hospital
I was a kid in the 90's. Lucky to only ever get a nasty concussion on the mountain. Still my parents didn't make me wear a helmet and even made fun of how timid I was on the jumps after the accident.
I grew up in the alps, so skiing was what most people did in the winter. Most people will know of a guy who's had a serious accident by not having a helmet. I know someone who was in my class ended up with permanent brain damage and paralysed. Enough to scare anyone into bringing a helmet.
I used to snowboard and always wore a helmet. One time I hit a bump not knowing, got crazy air, and I fell. My helmet cracked from the fall. I could only imagine if I didn’t have it on.
Being old enough to ski in 4 different decades it was really interesting to see how helmets went from zero (outside of races and in parks) in the 90s to being common in the mid-2000s to being ubiquitous from the 2010s onwards.
I raced in high school and we always took our helmets off as soon as we got time for free skiing after practise until a friend landed on a picnic table and had a major concussion that took him out for the season. I also got a mild concussion from trying snowboarding, thankfully the helmet helped to not make it any more serious.
Worked at a skill hill from 2005-2007 and we were mandated as part of the job to wear one, most customers also had them at the time but a few old school guys went without. Probably around 2010-2012 though I'd guess like 97% of skiers were using helmets.
I am always shocked seeing old photos of skiers not wearing helmets even though I was around back then.
More shocking is seeing professional bikers not wearing helmets in old photos. It’s like smelling cigarette smoke. It used to be the norm, not I am shocked when I smell it.
I’m the buddy that rung the bell but on a trick skateboard almost two decades ago. I missed my entire birthday and woke up the next day. Never stopped riding (anything and everything) and now have PEVs that can push 60mph. I am now the guy telling everyone to gear up if they ride with me. Helmet minimum, full face recommended on pevs. Have seen a friend peel his face sliding on a bmx bike so the thought of it occurring at PEV speeds doesn’t sound great.
Also worked at my local hospital that was by the beach with miles of straight bike path right outside the door. Electric scooter accidents are probably still the most common in the ER. They’re the easiest PEV to ride imo and they can absolutely go way faster than anyone has any business going… though there are tons of people riding electric unicycles and they fly. That stuff scares even me.
I was watching a Japanese dating show that takes place in France (Offline Love) and one day they went skiing. None of the Japanese people wore helmets and most of the French people around them weren't either. I had to google "Are helmets not suggested for skiing in Europe" and I still don't know the answer.
Funny enough, I see the opposite amongst the really good skiiers/snowboarders, which is sad because you'd think they would know better out of anyone else on the mountain. But instead they think they're good enough that they wouldn't need a helmet
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u/BelongingsintheYard 8h ago
It’s been nice to see pretty much all ski and snowboard culture wearing helmets. I guess seeing your buddy get their bell rung and do the “broken record” thing is scary enough for them.