Helmets are now hot on the slopes
Published 2:40 pm Monday, March 1, 2010
Helmets, one of the fastest growth areas in the snow-sports industry, have moved over the hump and are no longer considered too niche or too dorky for the masses.
Safety is the driving reason to wear them, of course, but improved styling and comfort may be what make them no-brainers.
“In the last couple of years, you see a big movement toward helmets. It just makes sense,” said Ted Ligety, the U.S. Olympic skier who sported a bright orange helmet in Vancouver, B.C.
“I started wearing a helmet when I was 4 years old. I feel super naked if I’m not wearing a helmet. My parents did a good job ingraining it in my head.”
Wearing helmets for recreational skiing and snowboarding often starts with the kids, and then parents — who find it easier to practice what they preach than incite a meltdown — find they’re comfortable, warm and sometimes wired for cell phones and iPods.
The National Ski Areas Association recommends helmets for all, but especially for kids, and some ski schools require helmets. Once kids get used to them, they’re likely to keep wearing them. The helmets are as much a part of their gear as boots or a parka.
Skicrosser Casey Puckett feels like not wearing one actually draws unwanted attention.
“I never used to wear one when I was younger. Ski helmets just weren’t really a consideration. But probably in the last five to 10 years, helmets have made a real push onto the scene to the point where it’s almost like you look strange if you just go out with a hat or something,” Puckett said.
Of course, high-profile accidents, such as actress Natasha Richardson’s death last year of a head injury sustained while skiing without a helmet, also raise awareness of helmet use.
Ligety has tapped into the business with his own line of helmets with the brand name Shred, which he started first with the plan of making goggles. The protective eyewear was so intertwined with the protective headgear, he decided to do both.
“Being a ski racer, I knew what feels good and what works. I knew I had to have the highest quality and safety. We’ve tried to make them light and adjustable so it feels like you get a custom fit.”
Some Olympic skiers, including U.S. silver medalist Julia Mancuso and the entire Swedish team, wear Poc helmets. “There’s a trend in society toward anything to do with safety and health and that drives helmets as well,” said company founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn.
He also thinks there’s a link between increased helmet use and the carving skis that started to boom about 10 years ago.
“Everyone suddenly became much, much better skiers, and people started to ski faster,” Ytterborn said. It’s also changed the lines of skiing, with more carved turns, and there are also more daredevils out there in this X-Games generation.
“I feel uncomfortable not wearing a helmet. It makes me feel safe and it just makes me feel like I’m having a better time when I do wear a helmet,” said Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, who took a silver medal in freestyle skiing. “Plus, they are warm. It’s the way to go.”
Alpine skier Stacey Cook said she learned to wear a helmet the hard way: sustaining several concussions. “I think it’s a very valuable thing not only for me but for other people out on the ski hill to protect that noggin,” she said.
Poc’s president of U.S. operations, Jarka Duba, predicts improving technology and electronics will lead to more safety features in the near future, including the ability to track a skier or boarder who has crashed in a remote area.
There’s also development of multi-impact helmets, which will serve like the crumple zone of a car’s bumper, Darba said.
Even the best, more advanced helmet won’t do any good, though, if people don’t wear it, said U.S. team snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, who developed her signature camel-colored helmet with Oakley. Helmets should become the norm — and they’re headed that way, she said.
“If everyone is wearing them, then they’re not uncool.”
AP writer Megan K. Scott contributed to this report.
