Every winter season, millions of people will grab their warm
clothes and hit the mountains across America in order to ski, snowboard, or
even tube down the snowy mountain. But
as fun as participating in these sports can be, they can also be quite
dangerous. Every year, thousands of
people injure themselves in a variety of ways, either due to their own
negligence, or due to unsafe conditions, negligent actions of others, or due to
failures of their equipment.
How are People at
Risk for Injury Doing Snow Sports
As snowboarding has become more popular over the years, it
has attracted more youth to the sport and many adults. Rates of participation in snowboarding have
gone up while skiing participation has gone down. As expected, given these differences, rates
of skiing injuries have halved. However,
snowboarding injuries have doubled from 3.37 injuries per 1,000 visits in 1990
to 7 injuries in 1,000 visits in 2001.
When people are injured participating in snow sports, they
commonly experience the following injuries:
·
Head injuries, concussions
·
Broken bones and fractures, including the common
mid tibia fracture
·
Knee injuries, including torn ACL’s
·
Spinal cord injuries
·
Back and neck injuries
·
Suffocation due to falling into deep snow banks
·
Death
When participants die during snow sports activities, this
commonly occurs on faster runs where the average speed of skiers and
snowboarders varies between 25mph to 45mph.
Often, other snowboarders or skiers lack the kind of control that is
necessary to ensure the safety of others and instead negligently create
accidents that could kill someone.
How You Can Try to Prevent
Injuries
If you’re going to go skiing or snowboarding, there are a
number of ways you can try to ensure both your own safety and the safety of
others on the mountain. It is important
to think about safety as you could literally end someone’s life, including your
own, if you don’t take the proper precautions.
These include:
·
Checking that your gear is working properly
·
Taking lessons if you are not sure of how to
operate the equipment
·
Resting on the side of the mountain instead of
in the middle of a run
·
Paying close attention to where you are going
and where people in front of you are going
·
Not stabbing people with poles and other parts
of your gear
·
Reducing your speed to ensure safety on the
mountain
·
Ensuring you don’t drink too much or use drugs
before getting on the mountain
·
Use the lap bar on the chair lift
·
Don’t attempt to use the chair lift in an unsafe
manner
·
Staying on the path and not wandering off path
into heavily forested areas or rocky areas
Winter sports can be extremely fun and satisfying, but they
also represent many opportunities for injuries.
If you’ve suffered an injury engaging in these fun sports, you may be
entitled to compensation. Call a skilled
personal injury attorney today to find out.
