Liz Hunt on Ski Helmets

British men are divided on the issue of ski helmets. For years, a woolly hat, with or without a pompom, sufficed. Even the death of the actress Natasha Richardson, who suffered a brain injury after a minor fall last year, didn't persuade a hard core of enthusiasts to embrace this accessory. Instead, they blamed the growing fashion for protective headgear on the wimpy and interfering diktats of the 'ealth and safety mob.

Will this change now that Vladimir Putin, the most macho of world leaders and a man given to baring his chest at every photo-opportunity, has posed on the slopes in a crash helmet? No doubt the message he intended to convey to the Russian people was that their prime minister skied hard and fast – unlike President Dmitry Medvedev, who was sporting a hat with a dinky tassel.
By Liz Hunt.

Reporter for Telegraph.co.uk

Ski Helmets

Hi all,
Talking of ski helmets, Gail & myself decided to give them a try this year. Gail is quite a warm blooded person so she found her helmet far too warm for comfort, sweat was actually running down her face on occasion even with the vents fully open, so after the first day her helmet stayed in the boot room.
I on the other hand am prone to the cold so I found my helmet to be warm which I found to be of great benefit but I found that I needed to remove it in the Telecabins due to over heating.
This year was the worst we have known for injuries on the mountain, the accident services were in action every day but none of the injuries we saw were to the head, so the jury is still out for us as to whether a helmet is a must have piece of ski kit from a safety aspect, we can however see ourselves using them again on those bitter cold white out days in January, and they do provide the perfect anchor point for the new breed of minature video cameras now to be had.
Mervyn.