Testing ski helmets - take 2

With the bomber snowpack we've had in the Wasatch and the jones for skiing untracked powder, a few of us from Backcountry.com headed out into the backcountry behind The Canyons Ski Resort to find some soft north facing slopes. What I didn't realize was that I'd be conducting a follow up test to our recent ski helmet review by personally testing the integrity of my Giro 9 ski helmet , not to mention the strength of my head.

The Test:

I started into a steep line that looked like sweet untracked powder and as I made my first turn I hit a rock which pulled my right ski back, causing me to pitch forward in a super man pose. Unbeknown to me there was a log under the snow directly in my path that I made full contact on with my helmet and face.

The Result:

I was pretty shook up. I bit my tongue, chipped a tooth, had a "stinger" (if you've ever played football you'll know what I'm talking about), and sustained a cut chin. Bottom line is that I was ultra lucky to emerge relatively unscathed when without a helmet I would have undoubtedly been on my way to a hospital ICU unit or to the morgue.

Bottom line:

I'm never forgetting my helmet, not even in the backcountry. Oh yea, and I'm more leery of the thin snowpack - I'll be sticking to grassy slopes until the snowpack gets deeper.

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