What Are the Risks Involved With Skiing?

When actress Natasha Richardson recently died due to injuries resulting from a skiing accident, it brought more attention to the dangers of skiing. But if you’ve been watching the news for a while, you’re already aware: skiing took the life of Sonny Bono, for example. So if skiing is such a dangerous sport, why do so many people continue to engage in it? To answer that question, we’ll need to go to the heart of the matter.

First, understand that risks are part of life. If you never go skiing, there’s about a 100% chance you won’t die in a skiing accident. But the same logic could be applied to driving cars, flying in planes, or even taking showers in your bathroom – a room in the house where many people die each year. Risk is a part of life; human beings aren’t immortal and physical activity will put us in potentially risky situations.

According to the FAQ at the web site Ski-Injury.com, approximately 2-4 skiers out of 1,000 will require medical attention of some sort – though it does note that some types of skiing have more risks of injuries than others (consult their chart for more information on these types of skiing and the injury rates they see).

Second, understanding risks is not a license to be reckless. It’s important to note that it’s impossible to go through life without some risks, but it’s also important to talk about minimizing risk. Understanding that an activity is risky is not an excuse to be cavalier about that activity. Instead, you should be working harder to minimize risks when you take on riskier activities, as this will give you a better shot at staying healthy and, in some cases, alive.

As for the risks involved with skiing, they are varied. There are small injuries that are possible, not to mention more serious ones like concussions and knee problems, to the mortal injuries – injuries that cause death. One frequent theme amongst ski injuries are knee injuries, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only body part you’ll want to protect.

A good attitude to take is that life does require a healthy amount of risks sometimes, but if you’re not preparing yourself for those risks, you’re exposing yourself to unnecessary danger. If you’re prepared and take things slowly, you should have very few problems with skiing.

Photo Credits: bgraun

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cause death, concussions, dangerous sport, driving cars, frequent theme, heart of the matter, human beings, knee injuries, knee problems, medical attention, natasha richardson, physical activity, risky situations, showers, ski injuries, ski injury, skiers, skiing, sonny bono, watching the news

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ski safety, ski tips

Posted by Ski Snowboarder on December 8, 2009 in ski safety, ski tips. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.