Risk is out
Jens Richter is editor-in-chief at Since July 2020, the doctor and journalist has also been responsible as COO for business operations and the strategic development of
More posts by Jens Richter All content is checked by medical journalists.
Incorrect equipment, a lack of ability, risky behavior - these are the most common causes of serious falls by piste athletes. Doctors have now put together the most important tips for a safe departure.
Around 39,000 injuries had to be treated medically in the skiing winter of 2014/2015, reports the Evaluation Center for Skiing Accidents (ASU). Most of these were knee injuries, but the shoulder, hip, thigh or head were also often affected.
10 tips for your safety
Many of these injuries could be avoided, say surgeons. The German Society for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU) has put together ten tips for ski and snowboard fans that can significantly reduce the risk of injury on the slopes. Even weeks before the start of the ski season, winter sports enthusiasts can do something for their own safety, the doctors advise:
1. Make your muscles and joints fit with ski gymnastics. Special exercises for strengthening and stretching the hip and leg muscles can be learned particularly well under supervision in the gym.
2. Have your boards, and especially the automatic binding mechanism, tidied up by professionals. Safety bindings that release poorly or not at all are one of the most common causes of severe knee injuries.
3. Do an eye test - and if necessary, get prescribed glasses or contact lenses suitable for sports in good time. Make sure that the glasses offer sufficient UV protection! Distances and speeds are particularly difficult to estimate in the glaring light.
4. If you are a beginner in skiing or snowboarding, it is best to have an experienced ski instructor show you the basic techniques and tricks. He also has tips for emergencies and can show you how to keep control of the fast boards on unexpected steep sections.
5. Choose the slopes according to your ability and improve bit by bit. Do not let friends or acquaintances persuade you to undertake ventures that you technically do not yet feel up to. Your equipment and clothing should also match the requirements.
6. Take care of yourself: Only those who provide their body with sufficient and regular energy and fluids can demand top performance from it and concentrate fully at all times. The loss of fluid through the breath is often underestimated, especially at high altitudes. Speaking of fluids: abstaining from alcohol should be a matter of course before and on the slopes.
7. Protect your head with a helmet. Even if head protection cannot always prevent injury, in the event of an unfortunate fall it is still the best insurance against severe bruises to the skull or brain. Cushions or splints, so-called protectors in the area of the elbows, knees and shins, can reduce the risk of bone fractures or severe sprains.
8. Take regular breaks - not just when you notice that you can barely keep yourself on the boards. Incidentally, this also increases the training effect and makes faster progress on the slopes, because exhausted muscles can hardly be trained.
9. Warm up thoroughly before the first departure of the day or after long breaks. Warm muscles are better protected from injuries and can develop more strength in extreme situations. The nervous system also wakes up during the so-called warm-up and can transmit its commands to the muscles more quickly and more precisely.
10. Avoid icy or sodden slopes. It is much more difficult to keep the boards under control on them than on a well-groomed slope. Especially in the afternoons, the quality of many routes suffers due to the sun and the heavy traffic.
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