Three serious injuries in Chamonix parks in one day

Snowparks are becoming increasingly important in ski resorts. Magazines, movies and computer games based on snow sports are nearly all centred around images of skiers and snowboarders floating off kickers and sliding gracefully down rails. In reality anyone who has learnt to do these things will have spent a lot of time falling over, crashing hard and badly bruised. It's simply the nature of the beast.

This was highlighted last week when three serious injuries were attended to by paramedics in Chamonix alone. All in one day!!

Valentine's Day in Chamonix ended abruptly for three youngsters when the fickle mistress that is the snowpark asked for more than just roses and a box of chocolates. An open fracture of the tibia, a damaged kidney and a head injury were the results of three bad crashes in the Grand Montets park and the new DC park in Les Houches.

These injuries can occur when the riders do not judge their speed correctly on the modules in the park. Coming up too short or over shooting a landing can make for a very abrupt stop and often an injury.
Each year parks in Europe become bigger and bigger as skiers and snowboarders push the limits of what is possible in freestyle. These parks are designed with freestyle skiers and snowboarders in mind but are open to everyone and in very few instances is the wearing of protective clothing mandatory.

In the Intrawest resorts in North America the wearing of helmets is keenly promoted amongst its staff. All instructors and employees are required to wear helmets. Dave Brownlie, the Whistler-Blackomb president, said: “The move to require instructors to wear the helmets is about setting an example”. He added: “There are way more people out there wearing helmets than there were 10 or even five years ago, understanding the benefits of wearing helmets and wearing them. So this is a natural next step.”

The severe tightening of the rules follows the high profile death of actress Natasha Richardson after she fell over while not wearing a helmet at Mont Tremblant – an Intrawest resort – last year.

But should the resorts enforce tighter regulations about who can use the snow parks?

As the holiday season brings large numbers of people to the slope more and more people will be in the parks. Some of these people will be seasoned freestylers but many will be first timers with little or no idea about park etiquette or what the different modules require in terms of skill or technique.

If you have a lift ticket for the area then you have as much right to ride the park as anyone else and if you are new to freestyle then follow these simple rules to help keep yourself safe:

• Warm up. Have a few runs on the piste before you venture into the park.

• Look. All the modules in the park will be graded for difficulty. Like pistes they are Black, Red, Blue and Green. Make sure you are hitting modules that you are comfortable with.

• Watch. Watching others before you set off is a great way to judge the speed for your run. Coming up too short or too long can result in injury so take a few minutes to assess the kickers and rails and their run-ins and landings.

• Dropping in. Once you are comfortable with what you are going to do, make sure that the run in and landing are clear. Take a look around and make sure that no one else is going to set off at the same time as you. If there are a number of people waiting in a queue for the same module then wait your turn and indicate that you want to go next by raising your hand.

• Moving away. If you fall make sure that you clear the area as quickly as possible. If you land keep going and stop for a celebration somewhere clear of other people.

We will have a video on Park Etiquette and safety out later this week with tips and pointers from UK Slopestyle Champion James Webb.

Check back later for that and stay safe.