Protection on the slopes: a guide to helmets and goggles

Helmets are growing in popularity on the slopes, particularly after the death of Liam Neeson’s wife, Natasha Richardson, whilst skiing in Quebec. A lot of people remain sceptical and dismissive of ski helmets, arguing anything from being uncomfortable to being a hindrance to moving your neck, but with impact protection technology and development of lighter and stronger materials, this argument is becoming increasingly obsolete.

 I’ve been skiing, on-and-off, for 15 years now, most of which has been done without wearing a helmet. In that time, I had some pretty gnarly crashes and have lived to tell the tale, giving some weight behind the argument against. But a year ago, when I was beginning my season, I began to realise a helmet was probably a sound investment. I had recently had a stack on my bike, going over the handlebars and landing on the back of my head, at 40 km/h. Had I not been wearing my helmet, I’m pretty certain I wouldn’t be writing this post today. I put a high price on my head, forking out $300-400 on my bike helmet and that had saved me, so in a place where you travel at higher speeds, on steeper slopes with much more dangerous hazards than can cause significant head injuries, a ski helmet seemed a sound investment as well. I settled on a Giro Omen (US$200).

Needless to say, I was still not entirely convinced that it would provide me with as little restriction as my trusty beanie (or toque if you’re Canadian). The result speaks for itself: I didn’t ski one day without it. That’s 153 days straight in a helmet. On the comfort front, it’s got beanies beat everyday of the week and twice on Sundays. The padding is tremendously comfortable and the In Form fitting system means the helmet fits snugly to your head. The Omen also has a terrific adjustable venting system, which has two slides on top of the helmet, which allow you to have the vents open on a warm, sunny day, partly closed or fully closed for those deep, snowy powder days. The second best thing about it is the light weight - you barely notice it on your head – which is thanks to a strong polycarbonate outer shell over a reinforced, energy-absorbing foam.

The best thing about helmets though are that they work. I had a couple of ripper crashes in Canada where my head hit the snow pretty hard. The one I recall, in particular, was when we were visiting Big White for a weekend. Skiing some bumps under the Bullet Express lift line, I caught an edge at speed, got flipped upside down and smashed the front of my head on a mogul as hard as a diamond. It left me dazed and with a fairly bad headache for the rest of the day and evening but the helmet survived without so much as a scratch or dint on it. This was just one of a few biggish crashes where I landed on my head but I managed to survive all of them. I’m convinced now that, particularly if you are a confident skier of black runs and in the park, I wouldn’t ski without a helmet.

The only downside to helmets is that some goggle compatibility issues can become annoying. Early in the season, I had problems with my goggles fogging up because they didn’t form a proper seal on my face with my helmet on. So bad the problem became, I had to buy a brand new pair.

Goggles are another extremely important piece of equipment to get right on the snow. In my mind, it ranks fourth in priority behind only boots, base layers and gloves respectively. There are 4 important criteria to buying the perfect set of goggles: aesthetics, comfort, lens options and helmet compatibility. On the first front, most companies do a good job. Smith, Scott, Anon, Oakley, Bolle, whoever you go with, chances are, they’ll have a great selection of designs to choose from. Make sure you pick something that goes with what you’re wearing.

Comfort is also critical. Manufacturers tend to design their goggles to fit a specific size and type of face. Make sure you pick one that forms a good, tight seal but isn’t digging in too much in particular spots.

Perhaps the most important criterion is the lens. There are plenty of different styles, tints, shapes and price points to go for and it really depends upon what kind of skiing you’re doing and visibility you want to have. The key is to strike a balance on the lens performance: good enough in low light to give you good visibility but also tinted enough to withstand brutal glare. I have a pair of Smith Phenom’s (US$130) with the Sensor Mirror lens. The lens was great because it had great definition at low and medium light whilst the mirror quality reflects some glare in bright light. The Phenom is also part of Smith’s Spherical Series goggles which employs their Tapered-Lens-Technology. Instead of having a flat piece of plastic that is wraps around your face, the lens is curved, which gives much great depth perception and a clearer, sharper view.

One thing with lenses you don’t want to get too caught up in is interchangeable lenses. Many people thing they’re a good idea at the time and it also gives good value for money in your purchase, but in reality, you end up breaking either the lens or your fingers trying to swap them over or lose the lenses completely. In my opinion, interchangeable lenses are a waste of time and money, regardless of what the salesman says and until someone comes up with a hassle-free, secure way of swapping lenses*, they will remain a non-viable option.

Finally, make sure you bring your helmet with you when choosing goggles to make sure they’re compatible with each other.

For those of you still skiing in sunglasses, (a) you look like a tool and (b) goggles have progressed so far to be warmer, more comfortable, more protective, more versatile and not much heavier than a pair of sunglasses.

Protecting your head and eyes is a very important part of having a safe and comfortable time on the slopes. Forking out for a decent helmet and pair of goggles is well worth it in the end. Besides, can you put a price on your head and eyes?

*I realise some of you may remind me of the Smith I/O’s which have the outrigger locking system. I had a mate who bought a pair of these, stacked really hard and had the lens pop out and break on him, hence violating the “secure” criterion.