Skiing and Safety

Of an estimated 5 million skiers in the U.S., 250,000 will probably be injured on the slopes this winter. Can the risks of skiing be reduced? Ski-school directors and designers of ski equipment have long argued that better instruction and improved equipment could cut the injury rate considerably. Three doctors from the Boston School of Medicine question this. Drs. Joshua Gutman, Jonathan Weisbuch and Milton Wolf write in the A.M.A. Journal that despite better equipment and training, the injury rate for skiers has changed little, if at all, in twelve years. What has changed is the nature of ski injuries.

The Boston physicians base their conclusion on a study of 792 skiers injured at Vermont's Mount Snow during the 1972-73 season. The current rate of 3.4 injuries per 1,000 skier-days was virtually the same as that observed at the same mountain in 1960-61. But the pattern of ski injuries was greatly changed. In the past, the classic ski injury, the broken ankle, accounted for nearly half of all ski fractures. Now, because of stiff plastic boots that protect the ankles, and bindings that release under bone-breaking tensions, such injuries make up only 16% of the total. "The reduction in leg injuries has been bought at the expense of the arm and torso," the doctors say. Twelve years ago, sprained and broken ribs, arms and shoulders were relatively rare among skiers. Since then, sprains have increased fourfold. Arm and shoulder breaks have gone up by a factor of three, rib breaks by a factor of ten. Obviously, the force of a fall once absorbed by the legs is now being taken by the trunk, arms and shoulders.

The Boston physicians also dispute earlier surveys which indicated that beginners were the ones most likely to fall and hurt themselves, and the implication that ski lessons could help prevent injuries. The new study suggests that skilled skiers, who move faster and on more challenging slopes, fall harder. Of the 792 casualties, no fewer than two-thirds classed themselves as either intermediate or expert skiers.

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