Natasha Richardson’s tragic ski accident should remind everyone to strap on a helmet before setting foot on snow, industry experts said yesterday.
Richardson wasn’t wearing a helmet when she fell during a private lesson on the bunny slope of a Canadian ski resort Monday.
“I don’t know if there’s a solid argument against wearing one,” said Troy Hawks of the trade group the National Ski Areas Association.
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“There might be limitations of what a helmet can do to protect you, but that’s not a good reason to not wear one.”
During the 2007-08 ski season, about 43 percent of recreational skiers wore helmets, according to an annual survey by Hawks’ association.
That’s up considerably from 25 percent when the survey began in 2002.
Hawks and other ski enthusiasts said they’re not aware of any local laws in North America that mandate helmets on the slopes.
Former Olympian Andy LeRoy said he’d support such legislation, but believes recreational skiers are already getting the message.
“Even if you take the free-ride culture, the most resistant to conforming – you know, the snowboarders, the guys on the half pipe, wearing their pants around their ankles – even those guys are wearing helmets,” said LeRoy, who coached his University of Denver squad to the NCAA ski championship this past weekend.
While helmets are automatic in competitive skiing, even the beginners should be forced to don protective headwear, according to Dr. Phil Steig, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
“If there’s a young skier on the bunny hills or an older person who isn’t terribly experienced, they should be wearing a helmet,” Steig said.
“There isn’t a good argument against this, other than not liking the way it looks.”