Exercise and sport activities make an important contribution to health and a healthy lifestyle, as well as to physical, emotional and social well-being. In particular, young people are highly represented in sports and can benefit both in terms of physical and mental health by practising safe sport. However, according to numerous studies a significant proportion of these health gains are lost due to sport injuries.
Indeed, the toll of sport injuries is high, with about 300,000 injuries in snow sport detected each year in the EU (alpine countries). The social impact of injuries is also high in terms of number, severity and consequences such as loss of productive years, disability and human sufferings.
Despite this increasing relevance of the phenomenon of skiing and snowboarding accidents, there is a general lack of coordination regarding prevention measures within and between the European countries.
Moreover, the availability of micro data which allows for a comparison of both injury data and data regarding prevention measures between countries is unsatisfactory. It has therefore been difficult to establish best prevention practices and consequently promote their harmonization across European Countries to date.