Don’t drink and ski

Press, 5 July 1977, Page 5

Don’t drink and ski

The number of ski-ing injuries in New Zealand could be dramatically reduced if skiers devoted more attention to fitness, gear and diet and less to alcohol, a prominent Auckland physiotherapist has said. Mr Michael Lamont, vice-president of the New Zealand Federation of Sports Medicine and a director of the International Society for Skiing Safety, recently attended the second international conference on ski injuries and ski-ing safety at Granada in Spain. He said the conference recognised that ski-ing was a dangerous and demanding sport and that many ventured on the ski fields unfit, unskilled, illprepared and with the wrong dietary and drinking habits. Studies had shown, however, that if skiers followed basic fitness and other guidelines, the risk of injury was considerably reduced. “At Ruapehu we know that one in 440 who go ski-ing each winter will receive a reported injury such as a fracture or torn ligament, and many more will suffer minor injuries or misery,” said Mr Lamont.

“The pattern is the same at every ski resort in New Zealand and with thousands now indulging in the sport the injury rate is soaring.” Himself a ski-patrol leader at Ruapehu, Mr Lamont urged all skiers, beginners or proficient, to follow a programme of basic exercises; pay more attention to ski-boot bindings; wear warm and waterproof clothing; eat high energy content food and to refrain from alco-

hoi while at the mountain. “Ski-ing is demanding both in terms of energy use and strength,” he said. "Energy is spent at alarming rates not only through the exercise involved but because there is less pressure of oxygen at such high altitudes.” For pre-ski-ing training he suggested leg and trunk exercises and jogging for both respiratory fitness and leg strength. Anything less than a mile a day was not worth doing. Of ski-boot bindings, he said that only those that released in all directions of foot movement should be used and that skiers check them each day for correct release adjustment. “Remember that the system you are buying or hiring could well be an instrument to break your leg.” Mr Lamont recommended skiers against liquor consumption at the mountain because it inhibited absorption of carbohydrates and thereby reduced body energy. As well as slowing reflexes, it caused the skin arteries to expand and allow premature loss of heat from the body In adverse conditions, this could lead to hypothermia which if not controlled, could rapidly lead to death. Mr Lamont is also the founder and secretary of the New Zealand Private Physiotherapists’ Association and an instructor for the New Zealand Manipulative Therapists’ Association. He said that the next international conference on ski injuries and ski-ing safety would be held at Queenstown, in August, 1979.