The American Association of Neurological Surgeons draws to our attention that, according to figures from American experts, snowboarding, an extreme sport par excellence, is responsible for 25% of trips to A&E, half of which involve wrist and elbow fractures caused by breaking a fall with one’s hands.

Another sport at the top of the injury list is sledding which accounts for 700,000 injuries per year in the States, of which 30% involve blows to the head. These are shocking figures, especially when you remember that it’s mainly children using a sled. Then, in third place, ice-hockey and ice-skating, which mainly cause neck, head and shoulder injuries, and lastly, traditional skiing, which is responsible above all for sprained knees.

Something that has recently roused concern is the spread amongst young people of an activity that is actually not really a sport but is rapidly gaining popularity, i.e. skitching, which consists of hitching a ride by holding on to a motor vehicle while just wearing boots, or riding on a sled. This is a very dangerous habit, which causes serious injuries, especially to the head and often fatal.