A Relative Analysis of Downhill and Cross-Country Ski Injuries

Abstract

This retrospective analysis of cross-country (XC) and downhill (DH) injuries is based on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data files and a survey of XC and DH skiing population demographics conducted by the National Ski Retailers Association (NSRA). The study finds that within each sport, the injury population and population at risk demographics are quite similar, but there are significant differences between the two sports in terms of the injury patterns and between the two populations at risk. There are significant interactions between the two sports with respect to gender. The mean levels of severity of injury are not significantly different. There are implications with regard to injury mechanisms as well as hardware factors.

Mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in skiing

“…The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is frequently ruptured during both downhill and cross-country skiing [8,11,12,[14][15][16]19]. Johnson and colleagues [12,14] found that for skiing the type and severity of knee sprains have drastically changed over the last two decades.…”