In the full throes of winter, the Adirondacks are notorious for their winter sports activities, namely skiing and snowboarding. I know that Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid is one of my favorite places to ski and I have seen firsthand many of the injuries that result from these sports. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, leading causes # 1 and 2 of winter sports-related injuries are from snowboarding and skiing. I found an article from the Adirondack Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy Center on skiing and snowboarding injuries and how to best prevent them. The article mentions that beginners are most likely to get injured. Therefore, they recommend skiing with an instructor and taking lessons your first few times. They also recommend warming your muscles up before you start as cold, unstretched muscles and tendons are much more prone to injury. Other helpful hints include wearing appropriate protective gear such as a helmet. I have skied with a helmet my whole life, and while I would like to think that I am not a complete amateur, you can never be too careful. Even if you are a very good skier or boarder, you cannot control others around you and that is often where the most injuries result. It is also very easy to get dehydrated on the slopes so make sure that you are drinking enough fluids and do not ski or board when you are already tired. You are more prone to make mistakes this way and injure yourself.
Another major source of injury in this cold exposure is frost bite. I have experienced myself how easily this can happen and you need to take great care to not leave much of your body exposed to the cold. Make sure that you are skiing or boarding with someone else and have them take notice of your face (especially your nose!) because sometimes you cannot always feel frostbite coming on.
As a physician living and a practicing in a rural area I would do my best to identify those patients of mine that partake in these outdoor winter activities and make sure that they are doing their very best to prevent injury. Many of these tips are very simple to implement and are just a matter of patient education.
http://www.stemc.org/outpatient-services/adirondack-sports-medicine-and-physical-therapy-center/health-and-fitness-articles/skiing-and-snowboarding-injuries-and-prevention/
