"Speed Kills" May Explain Increase In Ski Accidents

The Denver Post
January 19, 2001
Section: A , Page: A-13
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post Business Writer

Six snowriders dead on Colorado's ski slopes. Two paralyzed. Two fighting for their lives under the sweating brows of some of the state's most gifted surgeons. Could there be a reason beyond a statistical flare-up? Is it just an anomaly? Perhaps the proliferation of shaped skis, the prevalence of high-speed lifts, increased grooming and a growing number of half-pipes have helped pave the way for more injuries. Or more severe injuries.

Or maybe there's just more publicity about the deaths that occur.

"I think it's fair to say there's a strengthened awareness of skier safety and safety issues in the general populace," said Jim Chalat, a Denver attorney who specializes in ski-related cases. When shape skis hit the market a few years back, Jasper Shealy, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology said he anticipated an increase in knee injuries, specifically to the anterior cruciate ligament. For three decades he has followed trends in slope-related injuries and deaths.

Twenty years ago, instances of ACL injuries shot up, from 3 percent to almost 15 percent, with the advent of high, rigid plastic boots and more technologically advanced bindings. That number stabilized about 10 years ago and has remained relatively constant.

What Shealy has observed is a slight increase in injuries to more advanced skiers on shaped skis and a decrease in injuries to novice skiers on shaped skis. Beginners tend to fall less on the new skis, and skilled skiers tend to struggle with the transition from the longer, straight skis, he said.

"It's kind of like you spend your life driving a station wagon and all of a sudden you're in a sports car," Shealy said. "You tend to over-control." "If anything, they are safer because they are easier to control and if they are easier to control, you fall less," he said. "As best as I can tell, the effect of the new shaped skis will be an overall decrease in injuries." Critics of shaped skis, who point to the lack of stability at high speeds and the relative ease of learning, argue the supersidecut skis are providing snowriders with a false sense of security.

Scott Brewer, a professional skier who has appeared in several ski movies and works as a ski coach, said the proliferation of shaped skis, when combined with what he called overgrooming, will soon cause a rash of ski fatalities and injuries.

It's not often, Brewer said, that snowriders die on bump runs where they can't reach high speeds.

According to Shealy's numbers, most on-mountain deaths—like all six of Colorado's ski deaths this season—happen on groomed runs. "People are flying down the hill, lulled into a false sense of security by shaped skis and overgrooming, and they think they are better than they are. They just don't know they have exceeded their ability," said Brewer, a 36-year-old who grew up skiing in Colorado and still skis more than 100 days a year. "It's like everybody is in a Porsche."

Word of injuries and deaths spreads quickly in ski towns. On Jan. 12, a Vail school canceled its weekly ski day—a day after two men were paralyzed in separate accidents on Vail Mountain. "A doctor called from the clinic and said that there were two paraplegics and a high rate of fractures, and he recommended we think twice about going out," said Honore Everly, with the Vail Mountain School. "We canceled the ski day. It was the first time we canceled for that reason."

The resorts do not report the number of ski patrol or safety personnel on the mountain on any given day, or whether those numbers have increased from year to year. The best evidence is anecdotal: skiers such as Andrea Godfrey, who sports a 41/2-inch scar from her encounter with an out-of-control skier. As a lifelong skier, Godfrey said she has watched her beloved sport mirror a crowded freeway.

"On the highway I'm practicing defensive driving, and now it's defensive skiing," said Godfrey, a longtime Summit County local. "I know I have to accept some risk when I go skiing, but I should not have to worry about my life on a casual day of skiing.

"So many people are talking about this this season. A guy I know was hit twice in one day. Ski patrollers I know are coming back home overworked because of all the injuries."

Experts agree on one thing: Helmets have reduced the number of head traumas.
"There's no question we are seeing the value of helmets," said Dr. Craig "P.J." Perrinjaquet at High Country Health in Summit County. "We are seeing fewer head injuries, and the head injuries we are seeing are people without helmets. Please tell people to wear helmets."

All content © 2001—The Denver Post and may not be republished without permission.