While all skiers, be they recreational or racing, should be wearing a helmet, alpine ski racers typically need additional protective equipment. For example most racers use goggles, many wear back protectors, and some wisely use tooth guards. Recently I have become increasingly interested in cut-proof under-layers, particularly for the legs.
In addition, each alpine ski race event requires additional unique safety equipment:
--Slalom racing typically involves single break away gates; racers can benefit from a face bar on their helmet, hand guards on their poles, as well as lower leg shin & knee protectors to cushion the impact with the gates.
--For GS and SG, panel gates are used; racers often wear gloves with dorsal knuckle padding, forearm guards, as well as garments with padding along the upper arm, shoulder, thigh, and knee, as those areas are susceptible to impact with the gates.
--For DH, many racers do not wear as much padding, mainly just gloves with dorsal knuckle padding, as there is not as much contact with the gates.
Now the key thing is to ensure the racer has the right protection for the type of event they are skiing.
Woe betide the poor individual who has the wrong protective gear, as it can lead to untoward results.
For example, I recently showed up for a race billed as a parallel slalom (single pole) wearing SL protective gear and on SL skis, but the event actually turned out to be a PGS style using panel gates and I was clearly not prepared, creating some excitement in the following days due to the repeated impact of my unprotected upper arms with the panel gate poles…..
In addition, each alpine ski race event requires additional unique safety equipment:
--Slalom racing typically involves single break away gates; racers can benefit from a face bar on their helmet, hand guards on their poles, as well as lower leg shin & knee protectors to cushion the impact with the gates.
--For GS and SG, panel gates are used; racers often wear gloves with dorsal knuckle padding, forearm guards, as well as garments with padding along the upper arm, shoulder, thigh, and knee, as those areas are susceptible to impact with the gates.
--For DH, many racers do not wear as much padding, mainly just gloves with dorsal knuckle padding, as there is not as much contact with the gates.
Now the key thing is to ensure the racer has the right protection for the type of event they are skiing.
Woe betide the poor individual who has the wrong protective gear, as it can lead to untoward results.
For example, I recently showed up for a race billed as a parallel slalom (single pole) wearing SL protective gear and on SL skis, but the event actually turned out to be a PGS style using panel gates and I was clearly not prepared, creating some excitement in the following days due to the repeated impact of my unprotected upper arms with the panel gate poles…..
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