When heading out to the slopes to snowboard or ski, it’s nice to know the risks that lie ahead. Both sports carry a high risk of injury. But according to this recent study, snowboarders have four times the risk of having a serious spine injury.
According to the authors, the goal of their study was to pull together information that could improve injury prevention programs for skiers and snowboarders. Specifically, they wanted to find out how often people doing these sports injure their spines, and they wanted to find out which types of spine injuries happen the most.
The authors tallied the number of skiers and snowboarders frequenting two ski areas in Canada between 1994 and 1996. The bar codes on the lift tickets ensured an accurate count of the number and ages of people using the lifts at these two resorts. Snowboarders accounted for 15% of the people on the slopes, indicating that its popularity is on the rise.
A total of 56 people had serious spine injuries during the study period. This included 34 skiers and 22 snowboarders. Ten of the skiers were women. All of the injured snowboarders were men. The average age of the skiers was 34.5 years. Snowboarders were generally younger, averaging 22.4 years old.
Skiers were most commonly injured from a fall. Jumping was the main culprit for snowboarders, accounting for 77% of the injuries in this group. Age and sex did not seem to have affect how people were injured. Whether girl or guy, young or old, skiing and, especially, snowboarding are high-risk sports when it comes to spinal injuries.
The authors realize that jumping is a big part of snowboarding and that telling people to avoid jumps isn’t the solution. They do feel, however, that instruction and training on the risks of jumping could be a step in that direction. “Until research defines effective injury-prevention strategies,” they conclude, “knowledge of the risk of snowboarding should be disseminated and techniques for safe jumping should be taught.”