Use Your Head
The High Fives Foundation's five-part video series lands just in time to remind you not to forget your most important piece of equipment this season: Your helmet.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
There’s nothing fancy or complicated about the High Five Foundation’s message in its new five-part series, “Helmets are Cool.” It’s pretty simple: Wearing a helmet could save your life. That’s exactly what it did for Sally Francklyn, the subject of the series’ first installment. Francklyn, a former ski patroller at Colorado’s Copper Mountain and promising young editor at Skiing magazine, SKI’s now-shuttered sister publication, was skiing just outside the ski area boundary at Jackson Hole, Wyo., when she faltered in a steep chute and slid nearly 900 feet, ping-ponging against rocky outcroppings on the way down. Her helmet took the brunt of the beating before it cracked and came off her head entirely. She suffered multiple broken bones, but her lasting deficits are due to a traumatic brain injury. “We were totally convinced that without that helmet, she wouldn’t have survived,” says Reg Francklyn, Sally’s father.
Read more: A Night to Remember
We like to think that helmets are as vital a part of our kit as our boots—or our skis themselves. If that sentiment doesn’t resonate with you, do yourself and your loved ones a favor: spend less than 10 minutes to watch this video. It might be the most important decision you make all season.
