Its early December and I'm pleased to report that my local ski area, CairnGorm Mountain, has been operational for almost a week now. Last Friday in particular was a stunning day - you can access some photos (not mine, I hasten to add) here. We held our ski patrol training weekend a few weeks back now, SOPs and practical skills have been updated, injury forms printed and we're ready to go. Its always interesting to mull over what the season ahead might bring. Year on year from 1999 to date we have witnessed a slow but sure reduction in the injury rate amongst skiers and snowboarders in Scotland. Not entirely easy to pinpoint the reasons, but its probably multi-factorial. Better equipment, better ski area management (pisting, signage etc) and perhaps better behaviour on the slopes (less risk taking)? Just a few of my guesses. Whilst I would love it to be the case, I doubt that many skiers/boarders are that aware of the things they can do to reduce their risks of injury. This is, of course, the main purpose of www.ski-injury.com but I know from various sources that the majority of visitors to the site have already sustained their injury and are now looking to reduce the chances of a repeat. No bad thing, but this is secondary prevention and I wish we could get the messages out before the injury occurs. One positive move last year from CairnGorm was the decision to stock Flexmeter wrist guards in our snowboard hire department and hand them out as a matter of course to all snowboarders hiring gear. Its early days and too soon to tell for sure, but we definitely saw far less wrist injuries last season and I hope this trend continues.
Lack of funds for injury prevention remains a bug bear - this season we will once again be distributing our Stay Safe on Snow leaflets supplemented by poster displays and also tapping in to the Association of Scottish Ski Areas information systems (well done ASSA by the way). I also hope to run a couple of snow safety information days at the ski areas as well.
As ever, balancing full time work as a GP, being dad to two young kids and promoting snow sports safety is not easy! But even if we can prevent one injury, then its all been worthwhile. So I'm back from the summer rest, skis are waxed and ready to go and I wish you all a great season. But please take the time to read some of the relevant information on my site and hopefully follow it - maybe perform a self test, buy some recommended wrist guards, wear a helmet?
Don't add to our stats - Stay safe on snow!
Lack of funds for injury prevention remains a bug bear - this season we will once again be distributing our Stay Safe on Snow leaflets supplemented by poster displays and also tapping in to the Association of Scottish Ski Areas information systems (well done ASSA by the way). I also hope to run a couple of snow safety information days at the ski areas as well.
As ever, balancing full time work as a GP, being dad to two young kids and promoting snow sports safety is not easy! But even if we can prevent one injury, then its all been worthwhile. So I'm back from the summer rest, skis are waxed and ready to go and I wish you all a great season. But please take the time to read some of the relevant information on my site and hopefully follow it - maybe perform a self test, buy some recommended wrist guards, wear a helmet?
Don't add to our stats - Stay safe on snow!
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