One of the gnarliest big mountain riders to ever strap into a snowboard almost died a few years back. Xavier De Le Rue wasn’t shredding one of the no fall zone severe exposure lines that he is famous for, with it being a mellow powder run with few submerged rocks that nearly killed him. If this isn’t proof positive that we all need to be wearing helmets, we sincerely don’t know what is:
“Today I was lucky, riding really mellow powder I hit a rock and then hit more rocks really hard with my head and blacked out for a while. Without a helmet the doctor thinks I could easily have died. In the photo you can see how much the interior absorbed the shock at the back. Thankfully just a concussion with a massive headache and a reminder to always wear a helmet…even on mellow terrain.”

January is National Ski & Snowboard Safety Month and we want to celebrate it by encouraging everyone to wear a helmet. Be safe, be smart, wear a helmet!