After a decade plus of Ski Helmets being on the slopes Vail Resorts will make them mandatory for employee's. Vail will need to buy over 6400 Ski Helmets to provide with uniforms during the 2009-2010 ski season. Vail Resorts will be the first resort in the USA to require helmets in any way.

As part of the resort saftey awareness program mandatory helmets for employee's will set a example for guests. If a ski instructor is wearing a Ski Helmet then the guest will likely want to wear one aswell. In theory. Insurance could have a lot to due with this decision too.

Along with employee's ski school kids will be required the wear a Ski Helmet if they are under age 12. Ski Helmets will be part of children's ski rental packages in 09-2010.

Vail owns or operates  6 resorts. All will have the same requirement of mandatory helmet. The resorts Vail runs are Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, A-Basin and Heavenly Valley in Lake Tahoe CA.

A ski Helmet won't save your life if you hit a tree at 40MPH, but they will keep you from having a bad day if you fall and bump your head. The recent death of Natasha Richardson is a great example. Not just skiing, but any sport head injuries are a concern. All it takes is a little bump on the head and anyone can have a bad day or worse.

When I was young ski areas would pull your pass for jumping or building ski jumps. Today the Ski Resorts themselves are building huge jumps and half pipes. Whats changed? Who knows. Maybe the disclaimer skiers and snowboarders agree to when purchasing a ticket. Along with the growing popularity of tree skiing a Ski Helmet is highly recommended. A Ski Helmet is one of the first pieces of Ski Equipment to be purchased.

Look for other Ski Resorts to follow suit promoting the use of ski snowboard helmet.