Helmets, Wrist Guards, and Bindings. You can't ski or snowboard without bindings. Helmets and wrist guards, they're completely optional. Skiing and snowboarding is supposed to be fun, but if there's an injury the fun is over. With the use of proper safety equipment as stated below to prevent injury, you'll continue to have fun on the slopes for many years to come.
Although snow is soft, ski conditions will vary as temperature changes. Some of these condition include popcorn, mashed potatoes, boiler plate and blue powder. Skiers fall ass over tea kettle and their equipment results in a yard sale. A helmet will reduce chances of a head injury in any of those conditions. Snowboarders ride on piste, if they catch a backside edge they can fall backwards in a snapping like whiplash motion. Without a helmet this could result in a concussion or worse. A helmet is good for one collision only. Then it needs to be replaced.
Think of those who wear helmets, including cyclists, football players, construction workers, rock climbers and Nascar drivers, skiers and boarders should be just as careful. Both the National Ski Patrol and the Professional Ski Instructors of America encourage wearing a helmet, but it isn’t mandated.
Wrist guards should be standard equipment for any snowboarder. Snowboarding has a different pattern of injury compared to alpine skiing. Snowboarders are far more likely to sustain an injury to the upper limbs and less likely to injure the lower limbs. The reason for these differences is the design of the equipment and the way it is used. When snowboarders ride they stand with both feet fixed firmly to the snowboard in non release bindings. The upper body is used to help generate turning forces on the board. In the event of a loss of balance and a subsequent fall, the instinctive reaction of a snowboarder is to outstretch a hand in order to try and break their fall. You'll hear the ski patrollers refer to this as 'FOOSH' (Fall Onto an Out Stretched Hand). As a result, the wrist is the single most common site of injury amongst snowboarders, an area that is rarely injured among alpine skiers.
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