Ski-helmet use is surging overall and is particularly popular among children and older folks, but there are still pockets of resistance among middle-aged skiers and snowboarders, survey results show.
Nearly half of all skiers and riders wore helmets last season, according to a survey by members of the National Ski Areas Association. Usage climbed to 48 percent in 2008-09 from 43 percent the season before.
The new survey showed 77 percent of children 9 years old and younger wear helmets, as do two-thirds of those between ages 10 and 14. On the other end of the age spectrum, 63 percent of adults ages 65 and older wear ski helmets.
About one in three skiers and riders between ages 18 and 24 wore helmets last season.
“It’s really the middle demographic, the 30-somethings to 50-somethings, that have been slow” to embrace helmets, said David Perry, senior vice president of the Aspen Skiing Co.
The Aspen Times
