How Ski Helmets Became Cool

Helmets are the unsung (or, lately, sung) heroes of skiing.

Helmets seem to be more stylish (in the public eye) than ever these days. In the case of Hot Dog Hans (Alex Ferreira masquerading as an old, outdated skier) Alex pretends to be uncool by not wearing a helmet and interacting with all of the "cool" modern park skiers who, of course, have helmets on. Watch below.

Perhaps it is the connotation that helmets give a skier. Those who wear helmets are likely to be skiing in ways where one would need a helmet. This statement is obvious, yes. Think a little deeper about this, though. It is true that sometimes skiers who don't wear helmets still throw down in the park, and I'm no safety officer, but I'd wager the smartest, hardest-charging skiers throw a helmet on.

Then, there is the fact that helmets categorize skiers, much like cars or other aspects of consumerist personal identity. Racers often wear slalom helmets with chin-bars and ear coverings, park skiers often wear skate helmets or ski helmets with the lining taken out and a beanie underneath, freeskiers wear toned-down, minimalistic helmets with soft ear flaps for warmth, and so on.

Then, there are the helmets that mean something directly. Red Bull helmets are worn by skiers who earned it . Besides being a walking endorsement for an energy drink company, they are certifiably experts in their field. Getting one's Red Bull helmet, no matter the sport, is a huge deal and something people often aim for starting in childhood looking forward in their own careers.

Besides this borderline-metaphysical jargon about how helmets function and how they appear to us in the physical world, the last interesting bit about helmets, visually, is how they have changed over time. Firstly, their appearance at all--in ski media and on the hill--has increased exponentially. In the '80s and '90s, ski helmets were nowhere to be found in ski media.

Interestingly, this is not for lack of understanding they are beneficial for safety. Hard shell helmets were required for all downhill skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics. Still, helmets are largely removed from the pages of POWDER for decades.

But by 2000, ski helmets were on virtually every respectable skiers' head: Ski Movie by MSP (released in the year 2000) shows iconic freeskiers and big mountain skiers including Shane McConkey, CR Johnson, Sarah Burke, and JP Auclair all drawing impressive lines with a helmet on.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons helmets became fashionable. When pros do it, and people begin hanging posters of skiers dropping cliffs with helmets on, suddenly it makes the everyday skier aspire to drop cliffs and wear helmets.

The other potential reason is that helmets are an avenue for self-expression, in a unique way. Go to a ski event? Have a pro sign your helmet. Go to a fundraiser? Slap a sticker on your helmet. Work for a ski mag? Slap a sticker on your helmet. You get the picture.

Helmets also offer a creative solution for filming while skiing: gone are the days of strapping a GoPro to one's chest or needing a friend to film your lines. Helmets keep you safe, warm, and let you be your own photographer. What else is there, really, to ask for?

Related: Fashion Mogul #10: Street Skiing as Punk

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