New Mexico ski areas offer ski helmet rentals

All of New Mexico's ski areas will now offer helmet rentals for skiers or snowboarders under the age of 18. State Sen. Eric Griego had been planning to introduce legislation to require slopes around the state to offer the rentals but the ski industry beat him to it.The issue became moot after Griego approached ski industry officials. He learned that only three of New Mexico's eight downhill ski areas—Santa Fe, Sandia Peak and Pajarito Mountain—didn't already offer such rentals. The three ski areas have since agreed to begin renting youth helmets, said George Brooks, executive director of Ski New Mexico.

"The senator and the ski areas in New Mexico have the same interests," Brooks said. "We all want the consumers, our guests, to be safe and enjoy the sport."

Geraldine Link, director of public policy for the National Ski Areas Association, said no states mandate youth helmets on the slopes but most ski areas nationwide offer rental helmets and many parents choose to purchase helmets for their children. "Through voluntary measures, we have achieved high usage rates," she said. Griego became concerned about the availability of children's rental helmets after taking his godson skiing at Santa Fe Ski Basin on Dec. 30. He had promised the boy's parents he would put the kid in a helmet.

"I got up there and found out they didn't rent helmets," Griego recalled.

So he purchased a $70 helmet, the On the same day at the ski area, a 10-year-old girl from Bushland, Texas, died after crashing and sliding into a tree. She wasn't wearing a helmet; investigators said she sustained head trauma. "My feeling was that if they're going to rent skis and snowboards, they ought to rent helmets, too," Griego said. cheapest model offered. Griego said some were selling for as much as $300.

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