How Can We Make Snow Sports Safer?

THE CHALLENGE

Snow sports like skiing and snowboarding are immensely popular with people of all ages and abilities, making injuries and safety a concern for participants, resort operators, and equipment manufacturers alike. To date, most studies of alpine skiing kinematics that use wearable technology have focused on gathering data to support high-performance athletes — with limited data on recreational users. How can we measure the kinematics and performance of everyday snow sports enthusiasts?

EXPONENT'S MULTIDISCIPLINARY SOLUTION

Exponent's team of biomechanists used state-of-the-art technology to measure skiers in real time on the mountain. They were able to investigate how often skiers turn, the distance between their skis, their speed, and more to create accurate kinetic models. With those models, they were able to create a protocol to determine how average skiers tackle the slopes.

Exponent's Impact

Through our analysis of data evaluated in MATLAB and OpenSim, Exponent was able to use inverse kinematics solutions to quantify the body dynamic metrics of recreational skiers. Three metrics were identified in the pilot study as varying with skill level: turn frequency, run speed, and distance between a skier's feet. Exponent's continued research into how skier behavior varies with ski level may soon help the snow sports industry identify and mitigate risk in entirely new ways, whether through product development for protective equipment, supporting appropriate risk mitigation measures such as barriers and padding for towers and topography-related factors, or facilitating injury investigations.