ASPEN — Ski helmet use is surging overall and is particularly popular among kids and older folks, but there are still pockets of resistance among some age groups of skiers and riders, according to a national survey by the industry.
Nearly half of all skiers and riders wore helmets last season, according to an annual demographic survey performed by members of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). Usage climbed to 48 percent in 2008-09 from 43 percent the season before.
No figures were available from the Aspen Skiing Co.’s surveys of customers in recent years. But “we’ve consistently had higher helmet use than the industry as a whole,” Skico Senior Vice President David Perry said recently.
Younger generations of skiers and riders grew up with helmets, and they tend to stick with them, he said. Older clientele are likely to adapt and wear the protective gear.
“It’s really the middle demographic, the 30-somethings to 50-somethings, that have been slow” to embrace helmets, Perry said.
The latest national survey showed 77 percent of children 9 years old and younger wear helmets, as do two-thirds of those between 10 and 14. On the other end of the age spectrum, 63 percent of adults ages 65 and older wear ski helmets.
Only about one-in-three skiers and riders between ages 18 and 24 wore helmets last season.
Perhaps counterintuitively, helmet usage increases with the skill level of skiers and riders. NSAA said 26 percent of beginners reported wearing helmets, compared to 38 percent of intermediates and 55 percent of advanced skiers and riders.
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