[Accident risk in winter sports].

Ski accidents are quite frequent but not alarming if we consider the benefit of the outdoor sporting. In the countryside around Davos-Klosters more than 5 Mio kilometers of vertical drop are performed in down hill skiing. They result in approximately 1300 accidents per year. Since 1972 more than 20,000 ski accidents were analysed. The injuries of the lower extremity have decreased slightly (44%), on the other hand we observed more injuries of the upper extremity (32%). There are only a few polytrauma patients registered, mainly on the basis of too high speed on the ski slopes. Fractures have become rather uncommon at least in relation to the complex knee injuries which today amount to 50% of all the injuries of the lower extremities. For the prevention of ski accidents a detailed control of the equipment, especially the safety bindings at the beginning of each winter season is of utmost importance.