Make Sure Your Ski Helmet is Still Protecting Your Brain.
I’ll Take Your Brains to Another Dimension.
pop quiz: the lyric above is from what song and artist? clue: these youngsters with exceptional ability want to send him to explore the universe.
In every ski resort I have been to, it is very rare to see a skier or a boarder not wearing a helmet. Those not wearing helmets tend to be ‘old locals’ who only ski on ‘bluebird’ days. They are also wearing 80s ski suits and rear-entry ski boots!
The rest of us have invested in a ski helmet and wear it, as a matter of course, whenever we ski. I think the explosion in helmet wear came towards the end of the 1990s. By the mid-2000s almost everyone had one.
Now, if you were among those that bought a helmet as an ‘innovator’, an ‘early adopter’ or even one of the ‘early majority’, you have probably now owned a ski helmet for between 10 and 20 years. And, if you are still wearing your first one, isn’t it about time you got a new one?
In conversation with experts, Joe Jackson for Outside Magazine concluded that your ski helmet should be replaced after every head impact with the ground or every five years if you manage to avoid hitting your head on a ski slope.
A new ski helmet is going to set you back anything from about £50 up to around £300, a bit pricey if you are not sure you need a new one, but what price do you put on the ski helmet’s cargo? – your brain!
This season we’ve bought new ski helmets:
- Women’s: A Giro Strata MIPS ski helmet.
- Men’s: A Sweet Protection Trooper MIPS ski helmet.
The research we did before buying also identifies other reasons, mostly technology/safety related, for considering getting yourself a new ski helmet:
- Check out MIPS.
- Plastic has improved; ABS, carbon fibre and graphene are being introduced.
- Some have integrated camera mounts.
- Most have audio integration of some kind.
- Built in visor/goggles is an option.
- The fit and adjustment is better.
- Adjustable ventilation is pretty much normal.
- The under-chin strap fastenings are easier to operate with ski gloves or mittens on.
So, don’t put it off, use your brain, and ensure your ski helmet is up to the job of protecting your brain.
