Overall Injury Rates

Snow sports, surprisingly, are relatively safer than other sports. The participants may perform dangerous stunts but that does not necessarily make the sport perilous. One of the objectives of this website is to alter people's erroneous perceptions about the snow sports. The statistics for injury rates were derived from incidents involving snowboarders and skiers.

Injury rates can be conveyed in one of two different ways Mean Days Between Injury (MDBI) or Injuries Per Thousand Skier Days (IPTSD). The latter has been conventionally used to signify an overall injury rate and it can drawn from dividing the number of injuries within the total number of boarder/skier days and then multiplying the quotient by 1000.

Alpine skiing holds a risk of not more than 3 injuries for every 1000 skier days. So for every 1000 persons skiing on any given day, less than 3 of them will incur injuries that necessitate medical treatment. For snowboarding and ski boarding, the rates are somewhat higher more than 4 injuries for every 1000 boarder days. Therefore, it follows that a lower IPTSD figure also means fewer probable injuries with a total percentage of 0.3%. Consider a regular 90-minute soccer game wherein more or less 3 players suffer injuries within the given time frame or 14%. That statistics would make soccer at least 35 times more injurious than snow sports.

The Various Snow Sports

Alpine Skiing

Around a third of all alpine skiing injuries involve the knee joint. There is growing confirmation that existing ISO binding settings, though it definitely shields against lower leg injuries, could possibly be lowered a bit so as to better safeguard the knee. There is an intense argument whether present bindings can guard the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) from damage. The double pivot binding is a promising recent development that can provide protection to the ACL.

Snow Boarding

It is the fastest rising snow sport in the 90's but its fame has settled down in the past three seasons at around 25%. The revival of skiing's attractiveness, plus the appeal of ski boarding, has had an indubitable consequence on the plateau of snowboarding's renown. When it comes to injuries, it has a dissimilar profile compared to skiing. Upper limb injuries are more common and usually result from falls onto a stretched arm. The incidence rate of wrist fractures is especially high – particularly among beginners.

Ski boarding (a.k.a Snowblading)

For at least five seasons, it has had a conspicuous attendance on the slopes and has founded itself as a distinct snow sport. Ski boards are miniature skis shorter than 1 meter and commonly fixed with non-release bindings. The rising injury profile involves lower leg fractures.

Nordic/Telemark/XC Skiing

On-piste Nordic skiing has a lower injury risk than any form of snow sports though the exact rate is difficult to estimate since the total number of skiers on any given day is unknown. Falls, in leather boots, are more inclined to result to ankle fractures and sprains. The introduction of plastic boots significantly decreased the risk for both downhill telemarking and mountain touring due to the better support they provide.

Ski Mountaineering

The majority of ski mountaineers are competent skiers, which explains why there are less injury incidents from this sport. However, it is difficult to accurately declare an injury rate since the total number of people that are ski mountaineering on any particular day is unspecified. In the event of injuries, the typical pattern is similar to that of alpine skiing.