Ski Helmet Buying Guide
This is Skiing Unlocked's guide to getting the right features for your ski helmet, and our recommendations.
It is important to get the right ski helmet for you, both for your wallet and your own safety. You can spend more money for a helmet with all the bells and whistles, but what extra safety does it offer?
Furthermore, the size of the helmet you need is vital. Getting the wrong shape or size of helmet can limit your ability to get the right helmet for everything you need.
This is Skiing Unlocked’s buying guide to getting the right helmet for your needs.
Sizing a Helmet
It is really important to get helmet sizing right, as a poorly fitted helmet may not work appropriately.
To measure for a ski helmet, run a soft tape measure around your head, about a centimetre above your eyebrows. This will then give you a circumference at the widest point of your head.
It is also a good idea to understand your head shape, although this may come later when trying on helmets. Different brands manufacture helmets in different shapes - circular or ovular, and this can be the difference between a helmet fitting or not, especially for those of us with larger heads than others.
I am a great example of this. I have a big, ovular head, and as a result I really only fit one brand: Giro. Even the biggest available sizes of something like Sweet Protection - easily my favourite helmet brand - won’t work on my head.
When trying on helmets, they should fit comfortably once the size adjustment has been tightened up. A little bit of forward and backward movement is acceptable, but the helmet should not be able to twist side to side. Check as well that you find the ear pads comfortable, and the chin strap fits well under the chin.
One thing to consider is the overall size of the helmet when on your head - does it make you look like a mushroom or something out of a Mario cartoon? There are some models that have a lower profile than others that will help reduce the profile of the helmet and your head. It is for this reason that I ski in the Giro Jackson helmet over others in the Giro range - for my fat head, it offers the lowest possible, least mushroom-y profile possible. Unfortunately, this can only be found out by trying them on.
Choosing a Model
Each brand will produce three versions of the same model of helmet at three different price points - each step up will off more features, bells and whistles as you go.
Importantly, every single modern helmet is built to the same basic safety standards, and there is no difference in the basic safety between these three versions of the same model - regardless of what you pay, every helmet will fundamentally offer the same basic, industry-standard level of protection (before things like MIPS are added). The basic design of expanded polystyrene and a hard plastic shell have been the bedrock of helmet safety for a long time.
Salomon’s Pioneer range perfectly demonstrates this three-level principle. There are three models of Pioneer available: the entry-level Pioneer Access at £75, the mid-range Pioneer LT at £95, and the top of the range Pioneer LT Pro at £130.
The Pioneer Access features everything you’d expect from a ski helmet: a comfortable chin strap, liner and ear pads, vents on the top to allow air in, and a dial to adjust and fine-tune the fit.
Adding to this, the Pioneer LT adds in the ability to open and close the vents, and Salomon will kick in a helmet carry bag, too. Good for them. Adjustable vents is almost always the biggest step up between basic and middle-of-the-road helmets, and you will see this trick copied across the industry. You can also regularly find a step-up in the quality and comfort of the liner, too.
Finally, the Pioneer Pro features the adjustable vents and carry bag, as well as a different, more ergonomic tightening mechanism, making helmet adjustment easier compared to the other two models.
To get the right helmet for you, simply decide which features are important or what your price point is, and pick the helmet.
Mobile: Top down view, top-to-bottom: Salomon Pioneer LT Access, Pioneer LT; side view, top-to-bottom: Pioneer LT Access side view, Pioneer LT
Desktop: Top row (top view) L-to-R: Salomon Pioneer LT Access, Pioneer LT; Bottom row (side view) L-to-R: Pioneer LT Access side view, Pioneer LT
There isn't a massive difference in shape or size between the two models, but notice the adjustable vent on the Pioneer LT, as well as the extra trimming.
All pictures © Salomon
Extra Technology
The biggest thing to consider when buying a helmet is whether to include MIPS or not. Standing for “Multi-Direction Impact Protection System”, MIPS has been in ski helmets for around a decade now, originating in the cycling world before coming across to the skiing and canoeing worlds.
The concept behind it is really simple. A layer of slick plastic sits between the polystyrene and liner, and allows the helmet to move around the head in the case of serious impact especially from indirect angles. By acting like a suspension system and allowing the helmet to move, MIPS can drastically reduce the force of these impacts, reducing the effects on you and your brain.
Buying a helmet with MIPS isn’t necessarily a no-brainer, if you’ll pardon the pun. Remember, every helmet is manufactured to the same basic - and good - industry standard without MIPS, and MIPS does have an impact on cost, too. If you are just pottering around the mountain with family or you are keeping an eye on your budget, MIPS is unnecessary. However, in my opinion, MIPS becomes essential as soon as you start skiing fast and hard, venture into bigger more consequential terrain, and definitely definitely if you are in the park hitting jumps and rails.
The classic race visor look from the 1980s has not gone away, and it is still possible to get helmets with a jet fighter pilot inspired visor integrated in. These are great especially if you need to ski wearing glasses, as they accommodate glasses often better than OTG goggles. However, they limit your ability to adjust lenses for different light conditions, so you will often see users of these with a pair of goggles and shades in their bag for when they need to change.
A growing number of brands are now producing helmets with integrated goggles, helping to ease this hurdle. They tend to work quite well and are worth considering, but are limited at the minute to Salomon and Atomic brands.
Multi-norm helmets are becoming more common, too. These are helmets that have been certified as complying with industry safety standards for both skiing and climbing, and even cycling and canoeing, too, to allow you to safely get into ski mountaineering, or cycle to your trailhead in the spring.
Skiing Unlocked’s Recommendations
So what do I recommend? I have used Giro helmets for the past decade or so, and am currently skiing in the Jackson MIPS. It is perfect for my big head, as it matches me shapewise and is also surprisingly low profile, meaning I look far less like a mushroom when wearing it than I otherwise would.
Sweet Protection have long been highly regarded both for their safety and their looks over the previous years. Their Trooper MIPS has been around for a long, long time and, whilst it is expensive, it is probably the best helmet on the market for its safety record.
POC have an iconic look, and you will see them worn by park rats everywhere. Incredibly basic in their design principle, they have traditionally been perfect for those keeping an eye on their budget but this is less the case these days as they have improved their liner comfort across the board. Check your fit carefully with both Sweet Protection and POC, as they are incredibly circular based brands, so may not be suitable for everyone.
Oakley are another brand that have led with looks, their Iron Man-inspired design long being the envy of many (well, mostly me). Their headline MOD5 has now been joined by a budget-friendly MOD1, offering the same designed principles in cleaner, more basic design.
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