Category: Features

Posted on

Skiing Injury Insurance Payouts

#Verbier

The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) has recently provided an analysis of the extent and costs of winter sports accidents from an insurers perspective.

Typically around 90,000 winter sports accidents are reported every year in Switzerland. For the last full year for which there is data, unsurprisingly downhill skiing comes top of the list of incidents with a total of 52,320. For other winter sports the figures are: snowboarding: 11,060, tobogganing: 6460, cross-country skiing : 5440, ice hockey: 5010, skating and figure skating: 3780, and ski touring: 970.

The cost of these accidents in terms of insurance payments for skiing alone comes out at 610 million Swiss francs (snowboarding: SFr 74 million). The breakdown for skiers by seriousness of injury is: light injuries: SFr 100 million, moderately serious injuries: SFr 182 million, serious injuries: SFr 235 million, disability: SFr 49 million and death: SFr 44 million.

The sums are some 70% higher than they were fifteen years. The increase is reckoned by Suva to be caused by higher performance equipment, the advent of ski carving, the preparation of slopes, artificial snow, and the increasing average age of skiers – with the most affected category being that of 40-59 years old.

For alpine skiing, the most commonly affected body parts are the knee: 30.9% (snowboarding: 15.2%), shoulder and upper arm: 24.1% (snowboarding: 23.4%), lower legs and ankles: 13.8% (snowboarding: 13.1%), trunk: 13.7% (snowboarding: 19%), wrist, hand, fingers: 11.8 % (snowboarding: 13, 1%).
Suva estimates the average cost of a broken leg at SFr 22,500 in total.

Posted on

Ski and Snowboard – Vaping

E-cigarettes, otherwise known as vapes, have become increasingly popular. Many people believe that e-cigarettes are ‘less damaging’ for you than traditional cigarette smoking. With a rise in vaping by Australians, particularly among young people, it’s important to understand the long-term health risks. Visit vaprzon.

What is vaping?

Vaping is the act of using an e-cigarette, or ‘vape,’ which are lithium battery-powered devices that use cartridges filled with liquids, or ‘juice.’ The liquids typically contain nicotine, artificial flavourings, and various chemicals, some of which have been shown to be toxic. The liquid is heated into an aerosol, or vapour, and inhaled into the user’s lungs.

Some vapes are designed to look similar to tobacco cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, while others resemble everyday items, such as pens and USBs. Even though e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco many liquids still contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, as well as other chemicals. These chemicals can be toxic when they are inhaled. Some are included to add a fruit, alcohol, or confectionary flavour to the product. In a pioneering study, funded by Lung Foundation Australia, Minderoo Foundation and the Scottish Masonic Charitable Foundation WA, researchers at Curtin University tested the chemicals and toxicity of 52 flavoured e-liquids available for sale over the counter in Australia1. The research unveiled a cocktail of chemicals which raise serious concerns about the safety of these products and their risks to the respiratory health of young people.Download the free pack

100%

of the e-liquids were inaccurately labelled.

100%

contained chemicals with unknown effects on respiratory health.

21%

contained nicotine despite this being illegal in Australia.

62%

contained chemicals likely to be toxic if vaped repeatedly.

Vaping in Australia

It is illegal to use, sell or buy nicotine for use in e-cigarettes to anyone in Australia without a prescription. With the exception of Western Australia, each state and territory permit the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes, but not the sale or purchase of liquid cartridges that contain nicotine. For this reason, many users purchase their products and liquid cartridges online. These products are often imported from overseas, meaning there is little control over how they are manufactured and what they contain.

Smoking cessation

In some cases, doctors can prescribe nicotine e-cigarettes as a means of weaning off tobacco use. There is little evidence that using this method is successful in achieving this outcome. From 1 October 2021, the Australian government introduced further restrictions to limit access to the use of nicotine e-cigarettes among adolescents and young adults. This included requiring a valid prescription to import nicotine e-cigarettes and liquids containing nicotine.

Vaping and young people

E-cigarettes can serve as a “gateway” to nicotine addiction and tobacco cigarette smoking. There have been many studies which found experimentation with e-cigarettes encouraged the use of tobacco cigarettes, particularly among young people. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 1 in 5 (21.7%) young Australians aged 18-24 and 7.6% of 15-17 year olds have used an e-cigarette or vaping device at least. It’s likely that these figures are under-reported because responses were provided by an adult living in the same household.

Research of e-liquids available to purchase over the counter in Australia found 1 in 5 contain nicotine, among a concoction of other toxic chemicals – all had inaccurate labelling. With the inclusion of fruit, alcohol and confectionary flavours, e-cigarettes are designed to appeal to young people. Experts are concerned these products will create another generation of nicotine addiction and a rise in serious health issues including lung disease and cancer.

Lung Foundation Australia has developed a suite of resources to fill the knowledge gap around vaping and e-cigarettes. These resources are designed by and for young Australians, educators and parents and carers, to arm you with accurate and evidenced-based information.

Posted on

Avalanche Prediction Engine

Skitourenguru .ch is a fabulous resource that provides avalanche information based on a machine language model. Is is not perfect, but avalanche prediction will probably never be an exact science. In the meantime it provides ski touring enthusiasts in the Alps and Jura a huge amount of useful information.

The main focus is Switzerland, but the web site has become a go-to resource, with tens of thousands of active users and over 1000 ski tours covered from Switzerland alone.

Twice a day the site is updated with data from the authoritative SLF and uses daily avalanche forecasts from the past 19 years, covering over 5000 avalanche forecasts augmented with data on 1,800 severe avalanche accidents and 50,000km of GPS tracks from actual backcountry ski tours.

Posted on

Health Benefits of Winter Sports

Skiing and snowboarding help to develop valuable life skills and carry plenty of physical and mental health benefits, experts in the field have revealed, and that’s why sports are important, and this health and fitness directory could be really helpful to get good health professionals this. Take a look to the latest visishield review.

Check out testoprime articles about how to increase testosterone.

A brand new guide shows that the benefits of skiing extend far beyond spending a bit of time with family and friends, and can actually help shape you as a person as well as improving your physical shape.

The Health Benefits of Skiing, produced by ski agents Ski Line, breaks down all the key benefits of a ski holiday and offers hints and tips from top instructors and fitness gurus on preparing for a ski holiday, as well as advice on how to have a good diet including the use of supplements as testosterone pills which help a lot with this. Try out javaburn.

 

If you are struggling with weight loss, then it’s natural to look for a reliable weight loss supplement like one and done workout. I also recommend trying Fresh Bros Grape Runtz Strain if you need a quick stress relief.