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TEXTILES

Cut & Slash Resistant Athletic Apparel

Self-Report Ski Slash Survey

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Are calf cuts becoming more common? Image of Okemo Athlete who fell during a training run.

Recently during ski racing competitions, a few high-profile ski accidents have resulted in severe life-threatening laceration injuries.  Ski-laceration injuries can range from fatal leg gashes to a few stitches. Lacerations are caused by ski edges cutting through skin, muscles, and arteries during falls of varying severity. Most alarming, these laceration injuries are occurring during adolescent and young adult ski races. 

 

These high-profile laceration injuries have raised awareness about the risks during skiing, and there is a desire by the skiing community to better protect skiers during recreation, practice, and competition. Identifying and describing injury rates and severity for a specific group of athletes is the foundation of injury prevention research. Unfortunately, ski injury research is conducted for top-level athletes or recreational skiers to observe general injury trends and does not typically focus on laceration injuries of US adolescents and young adults.

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The Self-Report Slash Injury Survey (Slash Survey) was conducted to (a) measure the frequency, severity, and body location of laceration injuries during skiing and (b) identify the skiing environment and ski maintenance level during laceration injuries. The Slash Survey will be conducted annually to establish detailed information about ski laceration injuries among adolescent and young adult US ski racers for the development of mitigation strategies. 

 

The 2018-2019 Slash Survey was an online survey that asked participants ages 10-24, who are enrolled in US ski race programs, to report whether they experienced a laceration injury and what ski maintenance was used during the 2018-2019 ski season. The Slash Survey results suggest that the laceration injury rate during the 2018-2019 ski season was 6.8% and almost half were slight (i.e. less than 1 day of absence from the sport). For respondents of the survey, no correlation was found between laceration injuries and (a) slope surface conditions, (b) outside temperature, (c) weather, (d) skiing activity, and (e) ski maintenance (tuning). For all respondents, the most common ski tuning method was using a file guide by hand (29%), automated ski tune at a ski shop (20%), stone grind (17%), and cup wheel grinder (17%). Furthermore, open-ended responses suggest that a ski community narrative may be amplifying the awareness of laceration injuries. Full paper published here: https://ouci.dntb.gov.ua/en/works/7qvx3VK4/

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Ski Shop Solutions, LLC

 

Bielmeier Consulting is partnering with Totem Pole Ski Shop Ludlow, VT to create innovative cost-effective solutions to protect our athletes. We are uniquely qualified to build, test, manufacture and sell cut-resistant apparel for alpine racers. The partnership combines Bielmeier's doctoral research into puncture and slash resistant textiles with Totem Pole's decades of experience outfitting elite racers.

 

Currently, we are retro-fitting speed suits to figure out what designs and fabrics work best. We are working with Okemo Mountain School racers to test prototype designs and study material that offer enhanced cut protection.

 

Racers we want to hear from you!

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Please contact us if you are interested in finding out more about our solutions or want to keep up to date on our testing progress. Also, if you are seeking cut-resistance apparel, please drop us a line. We hope to offer apparel this summer. Tell us what size you are.

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Removable padding in speed suit may offer some cut resistance, but only if pads are properly positioned & cared for.

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Torin Tofferi of Totem Pole Ski Shop

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Torin Tofferi is an accomplished ski racer, who has won metals throughout the East for the last three decades. Also, he is a boot fitting wizard. Tofferi supports race programs throughout Vermont on and off the snow. As a coach, he is concern about protecting the next generation of Vermont ski racers. 

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The Totem Pole Ski Shop is Vermont’s oldest family run ski shop. Totem in Ludlow, VT specializes in outfitting ski racers for all levels.

Christie Bielmeier, PhD

Dr. Christie Bielmeier has coached U12 alpine racers at Okemo for the last decade. She raced in college and continues to compete in fun runs to keep her skills sharp. In August 2017, Dr. Bielmeier completed a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from University of Massachusetts Lowell with a dissertation that focused on finite element analysis and puncture testing of textiles and composites for the development of next-generation personal protection equipment. She is thrilled to be able to use her doctoral expertise to protect the athletes she trains. 

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We Support Stop the Bleed

 

Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and call-to-action. Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed

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Ski Racer Leg Laceration Injuries in the News

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