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Skier/boarder fatalities by gender in the last 3 seasons
90%
Male
Fatalities
10% Female
Fatalities
Source: NSAA
researchers are likely conflating ski patrol incident numbers— U.S. HELMET USE AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH
with about 40 percent of patrol incidents not involving
“injuries”—with the number of actual injuries necessitating
something more than a first-aid type response. In addition,
by looking at other international studies on ski injuries
from France, Norway, Austria, the Czech Republic, and
Japan, Dr. Shealy noted that the U.S. ski injury rates “are
consistent with those reported by other researchers around 85% 99% 95%
the world.” Overall ski Kids 9 and Minors (under 18)
Misinformation aside, there is an existing and reliable helmet use under wearing wearing
pool of data and information available to the industry and ski helmets ski helmets
to the skiing and riding public, through NSAA and outside Source: 2018–19 NSAA National Demographic Study
research. Overall, this research and data tells a positive story
about ski injuries—as well as the significant progress made RELATIVE RISKS OF SKIING
across the industry in advancing safety. The data also high- It is well known that skiing and snowboarding involve risks
lights areas for improvement, and underscores the challenges inherent to the sport. In fact, they enshrined in most ski safety
for developing unique strategies for continued guest educa- statutes informing skiers and riders that they assume certain
tion, awareness, and safety. risks. But while there have been successes in the reduction of
specific ski injury and fatal incidents, there remain a relatively
NSAA’S DATA COLLECTION consistent number of fatalities in the sport.
For decades, NSAA has been compiling and analyzing a variety On average over the last 10 ski seasons, there are have
of guest injury and fatality data at the end of every ski season, been 39 fatalities at U.S. ski areas, with a low of 25 during
and making it easily available to the media, the public, and the 2012–13 season, and a high of 47 in 2010–11. In relative
outside research groups. terms, measuring these fatalities against overall skier visits, the
In the spring, as ski season wraps up, NSAA reaches out rate of fatalities per one million skier visits also holds constant:
to all ski areas across the U.S. to obtain such data—including the risk of a fatality in skiing is well below one fatality for every
non-member ski areas—with explanations on how to report one million skier visits. In the 2018–19 season, the fatality rate
the data and understand various classifications. was 0.72 fatalities per million skier visits—right around the
At the same time, NSAA monitors data over the course 10-year average rate of 0.69.
of the season as it learns of catastrophic and fatal incidents, Over time, in both the U.S. and internationally, fatal-
including from media alerts. NSAA then cross-references this ity numbers are relatively consistent, and may reflect a small
data against media reports, and directly with individual ski (albeit rare) level of universal human error across the sport—
areas, to clarify aspects of the data. All of this is designed to such as loss of control, misjudgments, speed, and collisions.
maintain a comprehensive data set. Indeed, the leading cause of fatalities in skiing and snow-
Even with such rigorous analysis, it may be possible boarding is a collision with a tree or other natural object.
that some incidents may not be reported—but they are few Industry research shows that such fatalities account for 60 to
and far between. There is always a very slim chance that an 70 percent of all U.S. ski fatalities. In just the last three ski
individual succumbs to catastrophic injuries months after seasons, 62 percent of fatalities at U.S. ski areas resulted from
the incident, which may not be reported in the media or collisions with trees.
to a ski area. One challenge, however, is treewells and snow immer-
NSAA is not aware of any other national ski group or sions. In the last 10 ski seasons, these fatalities
international association that compiles similar fatality and account for about 12 percent of all fatalities at U.S. ski areas,
incident ski data on a national scale, and publicly reports nearly all of them in the western U.S. This is one key area
seasonal and historical data. NSAA believes by collecting where expanded guest education can play a role, including
and analyzing such data, it provides the industry important educating skiers to (1) ski within sight of a partner, (2) use
research to refine mountain operations, target and enhance additional caution when skiing in trees or gladed areas
guest education, and use with state and national agencies to (especially after large storms), and (3) better comprehend the
educate regulators. Moreover, NSAA readily makes this data overall risks of treewells and deep snow.
available to the public and media, so that they can better While the fatality rate appears to remain relatively constant
comprehend the inherent risks in the sport. over time, there has been a notable decline in catastrophic

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