SKI AND SNOWBOARD ACCIDENTS ON YOUTUBE

I am not trying to glorify accidents on this page, but the web does have an amazing collection of accident videos, some of which can be used educationally to illustrate common mechanisms of injury. In addition, some of these videos highlight what not to do on the slopes!

Please note that the sound tracks to some of these videos do include swearing.

If you have any suggestions for additional clips for inclusion on this page, please use the contact page to let me know.

A snowboarder hits a skier and breaks the skier's leg

The snowboarder attempts a minor trick and doesn't look up to see what's ahead. Mind you, the skier in question probably could have made an effort to get out of the way too.

Skier breaks their own leg

This time a fairly benign looking slow speed crash on skis results in a broken leg.....

And another one....

On the second jump on this video, the skier sustains a nasty spinal injury.....

Collision on the slopes

A fairly typical scenario where two skiers collide on the slope. Note how the skier at fault is snowploughing way too fast and is unable to stop.

Lucky......

This snowboarder gets his jump completely wrong but only breaks his collar bone. Very lucky not to have sustained a spinal injury with this mechanism of injury.

This boarder wasn't so lucky.....

Ski races are a health hazard....

This ski racer crashes and slides into two people on a T-bar, seriously injuring a young snowboarder who is knocked unconscious.

And here's a classic clip that always makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Turn the volume up for the hilarious commentary.

Follow my leader...

Not from YouTube this one, but a classic example of what can happen if you ski too quickly behind another skier and don't watch out for hazards.... New pair of skis needed.

Why snowboarders should wear wrist guards....

Another fairly benign fall - this time on a snowboard - leads to a wrist fracture

Never forget the risk of an avalanche....

Forward this (non YouTube) video to about 2.30 to see one of the luckiest avalanche escapes that I have seen for a while. As you can see, it happens just by a set of ski lifts at a ski area in Cathedral, Argentina. How he gets out alive from such a huge slide is beyond me. For more information on avalanches and how to avoid them, have a look at some of the sites listed in my links page.

Randall Stacy 2 from Randall Stacy on Vimeo.

It can happen to the best of us.....

Finally, just so you don't feel too bad, here's a short video montage of the professionals getting it wrong. There is also another contender for luckiest bugger alive - this time a skier caught up in another avalanche who manages to ski out of it (to the tune of "Miracle")

Another one!

Here is another extremely lucky escape from an avalanche. This video comes from a helmet cam and this time the skier is buried in the avalanche for four and a half minutes until he is dug out. Sobering stuff. To quote from the hosting page.....

"This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 - 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier's right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn't break any bones and obviously didn't hit anything on the run out.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. In that time, though, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air. Still sends chills up the back of my neck. Oh and they located him so fast because his right glove came off just before he came completley to rest and there was an excellent visual of course."

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.