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• Ski injury research on the pulse of time
  Gerhard Ruedl
  Published on: 9 January 2012

• Published on: 9 January 2012

  Ski injury research on the pulse of time

  • Gerhard Ruedl
  • Other Contributors:
    • Martin Kopp and Martin Burtscher

  We read with interest the recent article by Sulheim et al. [1] entitled "Risk factors for injuries in alpine skiing, telemark skiing and snowboarding - case-control study". We congratulate these authors for their well conducted study to explore the effects of a number of potential risk factors for injury, including age, gender and ability. However, there are a few points we would like to comment. In general, ski injury r...

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  We read with interest the recent article by Sulheim et al. [1] entitled "Risk factors for injuries in alpine skiing, telemark skiing and snowboarding - case-control study". We congratulate these authors for their well conducted study to explore the effects of a number of potential risk factors for injury, including age, gender and ability. However, there are a few points we would like to comment. In general, ski injury risk decreased over the past 30 years from 5-8 to less than 2 injuries per 1000 ski days [2,3], statistically meaning 1 injury in 35 years assuming an average of 14 skiing days per season. Not the injury risk is high as noted by Sulheim et al. [1] but the total number of injured winter sport participants because of the huge population at risk. Sulheim et al. [1] stated that the data analysed in their study were collected in 2002 and thus the authors do not know how changes in equipment or skier/snowboarder behaviour over the past years may impact on the relevance of their study. However, there are some remarkable changes in the past decade concerning, e.g. equipment, ski helmet use, and the occurrence of fun parks. A study by Burtscher et al. [2] reported that the introduction of carving skis and related equipment has decreased the overall injury rate by 9% in Austria. While knee injuries were not negatively affected by the introduction of carving skis shoulder injuries increased probably due to more backward falls caused by the shorter tail of the carving skis [2]. In addition, ski helmet use in the study by Sulheim et al. [1] was about 23% while there was a dramatic increase during the past ten years accounting nowadays for about 60% in Norway [3] and about 70% in Austria and Switzerland [4]. This might be of interest as there is an ongoing debate whether ski helmet use increases risk taking behaviour according to the so called risk compensation theory which is based on the assumption that safety appliances as ski helmets cause a false sense of security in their users [5]. If the risk compensation theory would work an increase in skiing injuries could be expected. Also, in the past ten years so called terrain or snow parks containing half-pipes, jumps, and metal features such as rails and boxes allowing aerial manoeuvres were built in many ski areas [6]. Studies reported that 19-27% of injuries occurred in terrain parks [3,6] and that these injuries were more likely to be severe, involving the head or back compared to injuries sustained on ski slopes [3,6]. In our opinion, conditions as terrain parks or changes in equipment and protective gear as helmets and back protectors should be considered to provide preventive recommendations being on the pulse of time.

  References (1) Sulheim S, Holme I, Rodven A, et al. Risk factors for injuries in alpine skiing, telemark skiing and snowboarding - case-control study. Br J Sports Med 2011;45:1303-1309. (2) Burtscher M, Gatterer H, Flatz N, et al. Effects of modern ski equipment on the overall injury rate and the pattern of injury location in alpine skiing. Clin J Sports Med 2008;18:355-357. (3) Ekeland A, Rodven A. Skiing and boarding injuries on Norwegian slopes during to winter seasons. In: Johnson RJ, Shealy JE, Senner V, eds. Skiing, Trauma and Safety,18th Vol. J. ASTM Intl. 2011;4:139-149. doi:10.1520/JAI102817. (4) Ruedl G, Brunner F, Kopp M, Burtscher M. Impact of ski helmet mandatory on helmet use on Austrian ski slopes. J Trauma 2011;71:1085- 1087. (5) Ruedl G, E Pocecco, R Sommersacher, H Gatterer, M Kopp, W Nachbauer, M Burtscher. Factors associated with self reported risk taking behaviour on ski slopes. Br J Sports Med 2010;44:204-206. (6) Brooks MA, Evans MD, Rivara FP. Evaluation of skiing and snowboarding injuries in terrain parks versus traditional slopes. Injury Prevention 2010;16:199-122.

  Conflict of Interest:

  None declared

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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