Helmets again - can't live without them...

Having just completed an exilarating deep-powder run Saturday, 3-10,
down Stowe's Goat-Dive woods, we were surprised to see pal Adrienne
approaching the gondi line at the same time as us. She had opted out of
the woods for a cruiser and should have gotten down ahead of us. What
happened? She and friend Marco had ventured into the Nosedive glades
where Adrienne skied into a barked monster. Luckily she was wearing a
helmet.

Her injuries included the left knee, left elbow and left temple. We
brought Adrienne on the gondola to leave her at ski patrol for advice,
and we viewed for the first time the one inch, rapidly-swelling bruise
on her temple. Queasy stomach that I have, I could only look briefly at
the ugly contusion and the blood on her goggles. She was too groggy to
explain what happened. 3 ice bags, 3 glasses of wine (bad move I agree-
concussion not ruled out), a run down Gondolier and a good night's rest
and Adrienne was back on the mountain the next day.

The $64k question: how did she injure the temple?
The impact on the helmet was on the left side above and behind the ear.
We can only surmise that the impact forced a grommet or fastener-thingy
into her temple. The ugly bruise matched up with a grommet on the helmet
exterior which holds the chin strap or ear piece. Next move is to send
the helmet to Boeri for inspection of the impact area and to notify them
of the temple impact injury.

This is the first time I have heard of a helmet piece causing injury.
The helmet almost certainly protected Adrienne from a much more serious
injury, but the design puts the temple at risk, IMHO.

Hope everyone had a woodsy, powdery weekend (with helmet on)

-Bruno

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont.

To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html