Nicola, Author at WhoSki.com

Supporting teen mental health

Fresh air, nature, the great outdoors: all are proven to have a positive effect on mental health and all are among the reasons we love skiing.

So when we were looking for a charity to support with funds raised via the WhoSki.com website, stem4 seemed the perfect choice.

It’s a fairly young (like us) charity, based in Wimbledon (like us), with ambitions to do good (like us!), making it the perfect match. We were delighted when they agreed to team up with us, becoming our official charity partner to enable youngsters to benefit from our – and your – ski habit.

So we will be donating 10% of the commission we charge on every sale to stem4. That means EVERY TIME you sell an item in WhoSki.com, we donate money to the stem4 teenage mental health charity: even during special offer periods when we waive our own commission on sales.

What do stem4 do?

As a teen mental health charity, stem4 has the aim of improving the lives of young people by detecting and stemming common mental health problems at an early stage. They provide information on identification, intervention and effective management of commonly occurring teenage mental health issues. This information is shared through videos, a number of apps, conferences for schools, students, parents and health professionals, as well as their own website.

Should we all be wearing a ski helmet?

I swapped my cosy ski cap (with fold down earflaps) for a ski helmet about four years ago for fear of being hit by another skier or boarder on the piste. These days, it’s unusual to see skiers or boarders not wearing a helmet.

That’s a huge change in slope safety mindset from just a few years ago: studies show that in some US and European resorts, 70% of us now habitually wear a ski helmet. They are not compulsory, although some resorts and ski schools do insist that infants and children wear a helmet on the piste.

In Canada, helmets are mandatory for those learning to snowboard, as well as for those teaching boarders and skiers.

Head injuries

Few parents would disagree that helmets for child skiers are essential, but should you wear one yourself?

Accidents involving high-profile skiers like Michael Schumacher and Natasha Richardson have helped convince many to swap beanies for helmets, although Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he sustained his injuries. Actress Natasha Richardson died from bleeding on the brain after she fell and hit her head while skiing (no helmet).

Benefits of wearing a helmet

As a chilly skier, I was pleased to find that a helmet is much cosier than a hat, it’s less likely to fall off (obviously), doesn’t itch and means you can keep your goggles on your helmet rather than have them taking up valuable pocket space. And as for those helmets that incorporate visors? Swoon!

Vents mean your head doesn’t overheat when you’re tackling a gnarly slope or the sun comes out, so for me my helmet is definitely a keeper.

The only question is how long can I go before buying a new one? There are some seriously desirable styles out there.

Ski helmets and injury

From the point of view of protection from injury, does wearing a helmet make a difference?

The NHS advises that the chances of sustaining serious injury when skiing are low. But if you are unlucky enough to have an accident, research published in June 2018 concludes (unsurprisingly) that wearing a helmet does help protect from head injuries. (btw, the publication Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Journal, where this research is published, has a fascinating contents page namechecking everything from wild boar to venomous snake bites via fire ants and ultraendurance nutrition.)

Scientists who have studied the effects of helmet use by skiers and snowboarders advise wearing a helmet in order to reduce the risk of a potentially serious head injury.

However, many ski helmets are not made of materials that will prevent brain injury if a so-called rotational injury occurs whereby (as explained in a very informative article in the Telegraph here), the brain rotates inside the skull following a collision.

Keep a look out for changes in helmet design and technology that offer increased protection from this kind of injury. (Good excuse for a headwear refresh!)

Find out more:

Ski Club GB advice about wearing a helmet

A factsheet from the charity Headway lists the symptoms of concussion and what to do if you suffer a blow to the head

We love skiing in… Les Menuires

Yes. Les Menuires. That little place you kind of have to ski towards then bypass in order to make it from Courchevel or Meribel up to Val Thorens. It’s easy to overlook, but if you’re looking for a fair priced, low-key ski resort in the Three Valleys, Les Menuires ticks a lot of boxes.

Savvy skiers know, however, that little Les Menuires is higher than Meribel (1850 vs 1750), has more pistes, more lifts and is just one chairlift away from Val Thorens. Even better, you can ski all the way back to the bottom of the Les Menuires valley from a day out in Val without having to take a single lift, except for a hop back up to resort at the very end.

Shopping:

Supermarket and specialist shops in the town centre and more in the hamlet of Reberty.

Accommodation:

Largely self-catering apartments. Try the Hameau de la Sapiniere (Erna Low), which is just above the main centre so ski in, ski out, but just a short walk from supermarkets. Bus up from resort centre stops right outside, there’s covered and underground car parking that can be pre-booked, and a ski hire shop literally on the doorstop. Fresh bread can be ordered and collected from reception daily. Hameau self-catered apartments each have their own private ski locker right by the front door.

Nightlife:

Les Menuires is a small, low-key resort, not over-endowed with eating spots or après-ski, so best-suited for chalet bunnies and families rather than disco kids. Lunchtime eating and coffee shops mean you’ve got midday options, however.

We say:

If you want to ski across all 3 Valleys, Les Menuires is a brilliant location to stay. The only area not so quick to get to is the far side of Courchevel. But for skiing Val Thorens, Les Men is a brilliant lower-cost resort to base yourself in. It’s unpretentious and super well-connected. Good too for walkers with plenty of trails if you want to Nordic ski or just take a stroll.

Because it’s largely self-catering, busiest night for eating out is Friday as many skiers head home first thing Sat and don’t want to cook, so make sure you book your restaurant early in the week to guarantee a table.

More info:

Check out the official Les Menuires resort website: Friendly Menuires

Could our kids be next gen ski champs?

Some 1.5 million Brits take a ski holiday every year and, if you’ve been to an Alpine resort in the school holidays, you will know that includes a helluva lot of children. So are we getting to the point where our ski kids will be good enough to compete with the snowy nations like Canada, France, Switzerland and Norway?

Recent generations have seen increasing numbers of British children learning to ski from an early age, and it is that early exposure to the enjoyment and challenge of winter sports, combined with Team GB backing, that is starting to manifest itself in professional success on the piste.

Traditionally, we have done badly in the Winter Olympics: not surprising given our lack of infrastructure as well as a deficiency of accessible, reliably snowy mountains.

2014 Olympics: UK wins first medal on snow

Things started changing in the last couple of Winter Olympics, however, with the UK’s first medal on snow won by boarder Jenny Jones in 2014, followed by two more snowboarding medals at Sochi last year.

Meanwhile, alpine racer Dave Ryding finished second in the parallel slalom at the World Cup in Oslo on New Year’s Day, fourth overall at the World Cup in Italy on 23 December, and came ninth at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Ryding is our most successful World Cup alpine skier EVER.

British Nordic skiers making tracks

We’ve also got a number of Nordic skiers who are making progress in World Cup events: Andrew Musgrave took a podium place in the 15km World Cup race at Toblach in December 2018 and finished 7th in the skiathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He recently scored a top 10 place in the gruelling Tour de Ski 15km classic.

These successes are now the focus of a vision from Performance Director for GB Snowsport Dan Hunt – the Dave Brailsford of winter sports. He is ambitious, aiming for the UK to be a top-five nation in ski and snowboarding by 2030. He was quoted in an article in The Times this week. “It feels like British cycling in 2006,” Hunt explained. “We may not have mountains but we have sporting intelligence.

“This is where I get excited. What we are really good at, better than anyone else in the world, is shutting a gap of about 0.3 seconds.”

British downhill No 1 Dave Ryding agrees, telling The Times: “To be a top-five nation you only need one person to do well in each discipline. I won’t be around in 2030… but the younger generation is stronger than I’ve ever seen it.”

Get your ski kids involved

So if your child wants to take their skiing that bit further, how to support them? These links should help:

British Nordic (cross country) skiing: https://www.britishnordic.org/

Snowsport England: https://snowsportengland.org.uk/get_competitive

GB Snowsport: https://www.gbsnowsport.com/

And if you need to kit them out, or pass on their no longer needed ski, remember that buying and selling via WhoSki.com is the eco way to keep down costs and keep ski clothing out of landfill.