UKC

I've done all my skiing in recent years with a helmet - off piste, on piste and (mostly day) tours.
Having binned my helmet at the end of last winter, with a multi day tour approaching, I'm wondering what others do.
The one multi day tour I've been on, I carried my ski helmet with me. It was a bit of a pain to carry but nice to put on for the descents. I noticed that not many people were carrying helmets with them.

This year, I'm not sure whether to save a bit of weight, or take my climbing helmet along, or to invest in a new ski helmet (anyone seen any lighter models out there).

What do you take?

In reply to Gustav:

Hey Gustav,

Personally, I wear my climbing helmet when ski touring - BD jobby, and having spent most of January out in Chamonix I saw a lot of people doing the same - BD, Petzl Meteor and Sirocco, Grivel, all being popular.

Whilst it doesn't offer the same level of protection as a ski helmet, it's a reasonable comprimise to not wearing one.

If you're looking at something skimo specific, Dynafit do two versions - Daymaker and Radical - very similar in design to most lightweight climbing helmets.

In reply to Gustav:

Have a look at the K2 Route, looks awesome, if it fits that's the way i will be going, Camp also do a climbing/ski helmet

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I got the K2 Route at Christmas and it is awesome. Extremely lightweight, but rated for skiing and cycling, unlike climbing helmets. Also very well ventilated, but not a good option for cold and windy days, as I found out a couple of weeks ago on a tour in the Monadhliath!

In reply to Gustav:

If im going mulit-day touring and the weather isnt that cold then i wear my climbing helmet. Im going off-piste skiing down steep stuff and there is a bit of walking or its cold then i wear a snowboarding helmet. I wear mine of the ascent and descent. save having it in my rucksac, keeps my head warm and helps if your skins slip on a patch of ice/come off.

In reply to craigloon:

I thought it had a cover you could pop on for that sort of conditions ?

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

The cover is a faff. I wore a power stretch balaclava under, but still got brain freeze!

In reply to Gustav:
Hmm...interesting topic....

I see ski mountaineering as mountaineering that I happen to do on skis, as opposed to skiing that I happen to do in mountains. I always wear a helmet on piste skiing but don't wear one while ski mountaineering, unless in a climbing corrie for skiing a gully etc. Why? On piste, the biggest threat to my skull and its contents is other people! Sure, I could fall and whack my head, but I don't ski hard these days and have been poleaxed by enough snowboarders to know that the most prevalent treat is other people.

On a ski tour up a largely rolling munro, for example, I don't see a helmet giving any advantage - there aren't enough other people to pile into me. If there is a risk of falling debris or avalanches, I choose a route to avoid falling debris zones and shouldn't be there in the first place if there is risk of avalanche.

Besides, if I'm in an avalanche on skis....it's stumps anyway isn't it? I don't see how a helmet helps.

Just my perspective...but it's coming from mountaineering experience and seeing ski touring as an extension thereof rather than from transitioning from skiing to ski mountaineering.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

I'm partly in line with Nick... I mainly trust my head protection to "Swedish helmet", ie. beanie for normal kind of touring in Scandiland, Alps, Japan or US/Can.

Sure, I might lug the big real helmet with me, if it is just a short hike from the resort (so 50/50 day). Or if I foresee myself doing something stupid, by trying to jump off stuff and so on.

Or if it is really ski mountaineering instead of ski touring, well then I'll prolly wear my climbing helmet. But mainly because I already used it on the way up.

In reply to HeMa:
Agreed. If for accessing climbs (I sense that is what you mean by the phrase "really ski mountaineering", apologies if not), then the lid goes on at the point where falling shit becomes a risk.

So many definitions here...for me....

Ski touring - generally rolling non-crevassed terrain e.g. what most people consider "Scottish ski mountaineering"

Ski touring - cutting around forest and valleys on skis with skins some or most of the time

[True] ski mountaineering - Haute Route etc, crevassed terrain, up to stuff like Oberland tour with climbing ridges in ski mountaineering boots for 4000ers, abseil descents etc

[Access] ski mountaineering - something like approaching Chamonix ice climbs via crevassed terrain on skis

Gully skiing - e.g. grade I/II gullies, I don't call this ski mountaineering, for me this is hard/nails skiing in mountains as opposed to on piste

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:


Yup.


Yup.


Some would be touring some mountaineering.

For me, ski mountaineering requires more than just skinning to get up (and for that, generally a brainlid is adviced).

Ski touring means that you reach the top by simply skinning and perhaps a short bootback or someting.


Yah.


That's what I called being stupid .

In reply to HeMa:


Agreed....I have cojones in other areas of my life but I will never do that sort of crazy shit!

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

It depends on what you are doing. I am in a large ski club which does a lot in the Highlands. In fact I think it it probably the most active by some way in these areas.

People ski fairly fast these days and falling is a normal part of that. Given the rocky terrain I think a helmet is a sound idea. I didn't used to but skiing with others has made me come round to the idea. I don't do it all the time though.

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:


Shallow snow depth and the presence of rock just below the surface is a good enough reason for me.


I would imagine that wearing a helmet would reduce the likelihood of a head injury in such a situation, particularly when it's getting bounced off the ground.

As for gully skiing, a helmet just makes good sense to prevent injuries from debris above, and to give you a little bit of an extra chance should you fall. One time after skiing black spout on Lochnagar, we were heading into the "Southern Sector" of the corrie when I must have clipped a rock just under the snow on easy angled ground. The result was that I was catapulted at a strange angle headfirst into some scree. Whereas the gully was fine, the outcome of skiing that 15 degree slope would have been a lot worse without a helmet.

In reply to all

Thanks all, lots of interesting ideas to think about. Will take a look at some of the lighter ski helmets out there I think.

For me a lot of it is probably mental- I ski down with a helmet on because I started off piste skiing (and still do). Now it helps me adjust a bit to going down after a long skin.

Funily enough it's the same for climbing, I need a helmet on for anything apart from indoor and bouldering. Otherwise, I suddenly think "where's my helmet" and loose focus for a second!

In reply to Gustav:

A bike helmet works well, as it is vented enough not to get too hot [major issue when touring for me]. And light.

Can't see much of a diffrence in impact terms between the two sports, expect that sking is likely to be less.

In reply to Scomuir:

I would wear a helmet for gully skiing obviously. For me gully skiing is not ski touring, it is...err.....gully skiing...a different question for which for me the theoretical answer is yes I would!!

In reply to Cuthbert:

Is that IBSC? I wondered about this - I recently joined and look forward to meeting you and the rest of the club, so far the dates haven't worked out. All the photos have everyone in helmets on descent, so I assumed it is some sort of club policy but the website doesn't mention helmets at all....

In reply to nickinscottishmountains:

Nothing wrong with including a gully or 3 in a tour. All it is is a slightly steeper descent