Analysis of skiing and snowboarding injuries - science in the service of injuries prevention

Skiing and snowboarding are high risk activities. As such, a high speed can be achieved in both, which can be very dangerous, and increasing affinities of skiers and boarders to perform acrobatic elements lead to additional increase in risk and a direct impact on the increase in the number of injuries. In spite of the more advanced protective equipment intended for skiers and snowborders, the number of injuries in competitive and recreational skiing remains at a high level. Brain and spinal cord injuries have become more frequent and therefore there is a need for participants, organizations and workers in ski resorts to become more aware of the risks and dangers of this sport. The subject of this research is injuries caused during the skiing and snowboarding in the ski center Kopaonik in the season 2016/2017. The aim of the research was to perform analysis of all injuries which occurred in the 2016/2017 season in the ski center Kopaonik using the data from the "List of injuries". The connection of the type of injury, the location of the injury, the use of protective equipment and meteorological conditions has also been established. The instrument used to collect information about the characteristics of the respondents and the characteristics of the injuries they experienced at the ski center Kopaonik was the official "Rescue Action Report" used by the Mountain Rescue Service at the ski resort of Kopaonik, and filled in every time they went to the scene of the accident. The obtained results were processed in the statistical package IBM SPSS 21. On the basis of the obtained results, it was found that skiers often experience knee injuries, while in the case of snowboarders, the most common are arm and shoulder injuries. When it comes to the place where the injury occurred, most of the injured persons were injured on a well-arranged ski trail. It is also important to state that, at the moment of an accident, a larger number of injured boarders wore a helmet than the number of injured skiers did. When it comes to the meteorological conditions in which the injuries occurred, the greatest number of injuries occurred in sunny conditions. It was found that injuries are most commonly caused in the second half of the skiing day, or after 1PM. On the basis of the obtained data it is possible to give recommendations to skiers and snowboarders in order to prevent and reduce injuries.