Winter Sports Travel Insurance for Skiers and Snowboarders

What better way to take a break from the winter blues than enjoy blasting down the snowy slopes on skis or a snowboard?

However, although winter sports are much safer than they used to be, participants still face a risk of accident or injury, far greater than lying on a sunny beach.

Since the 1970s, safety on the slopes has greatly improved and in many ways, the risk of getting seriously hurt has fallen. But despite this, other types of injury, such as cruciate problems in the knee have increased amongst skiers, tripling in the last 30 years.

Studies show that skiing usually results in less injuries than snowboarding, with the former leading to around 3 reported accidents per 1000 skiers. Snowboarding on the other hand led to 13 accidents per 1000 riders and other studies have suggested that it could be as many as five times the rate of skiers.

In any given year, a skier has a risk of having some kind of accident of around 14% (based on some-one who skis 14 days a year). Obviously this risk increases for snowboarders and for anyone who skis more often. And experts think the risk could be even higher as many accidents go unreported, with skiers and snowboarders opting to treat themselves. Some estimates believe the incidence could be as much as 40% higher than that reported.

Therefore whether you are going snowboarding or skiing, travel insurance should be one of the first things you sort out before you go.

Whilst you might think that your skills will make having an accident very unlikely, some of the most serious injuries have occurred when some-one on the piste has been hit by a less experienced person. And if the worst happens you don't want to be worrying whether you can afford to obtain medical treatment; getting help should be your sole concern.

insurefor.com offer a very comprehensive winter sports travel insurance package which includes free cover for kids and starts from just £9.46. And with both skiing and snowboarding included as standard, you can forget about the statistics and just enjoy whizzing down the slopes and enjoying the fresh mountain air.