Quebec coroner encourages skiers to wear helmets

A man who died on a Quebec ski hill may have survived had he been wearing a helmet, said the Quebec coroner's office in a report released Tuesday.

Coroner Dr. Jacques Robinson is recommending ski hills increase outreach efforts to encourage people to wear helmets, in the wake of Pascal Lepitre's death in January 2007.

Lepitre, 41, died after suffering massive skull trauma from a fall at the Bromont Ski Centre.

He was skiing on a section of the Cowansville run that was closed, lost control, and careened off the path into a ditch where he tumbled head first and was slammed against a rock bed, which sent him flying about eight metres away.

He would have had a better chance of surviving had he been wearing a helmet, Robinson said in his report.

But Robinson stopped short of recommending mandatory helmet laws for Quebec ski hills, although he did suggest ski patrols wear protective head gear to lead by example.

The Quebec Association of Ski Hills (l'Association des stations de ski du Québec) welcomed Robinson's recommendation and agrees mandatory helmet laws do not prevent fatal accidents.

"We're active enough with regular security checks in all ski centres, and we encourage people to wear helmets, but obviously helmets have their limits," said association president Brigitte Marchand, in an interview with Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language service. "Helmets can't protect against behaviour. Behaviour has to be equally appropriate if we want helmets to do their job."

Public awareness campaigns are the limit of what ski hill operators can do, said Charles Désourdy, who owns the Bromont Ski Centre. "I think we all have to lead by example, but awareness is important. I always say that wearing a helmet gives a false sense of security. Any faster than 25 km/hour, there is no protection," he told Radio-Canada.

The coroner's report also recommended ski hills use brightly-coloured tape or rope to clearly indicate when runs are partially closed.