When I was in high school, tuques were essentially the very antithesis of “cool.”
Many students would brave below freezing temperatures to avoid messing up their carefully crafted coif. What's a little frostbite on the ear so long as the hair remains immaculate, right?
But things have changed over the nearly 20 years since I graduated from high school.
Tuques have forayed into the realm of “cool” from the realm of “lame.”
They've actually become so mainstream that some people apparently find it “cool” to wear them during the summer in the middle of a sweltering heat wave.
While the latter might seem rather strange to the average person who's trying to beat the heat during the summer, it's nevertheless great that tuques have become more fashionable and popular during the winter.
Whereas I once was among the students who worried about my “do,” somewhere along the way, I stopped caring so much about my hair and decided keeping my noggin from freezing was more important.
There's nothing “cool” about getting frostbite.
There's been a similar evolution on helmets at ski resorts.
I was introduced to skiing at a young age and transitioned to a snowboard during my high school years.
Back then, seeing skiers and snowboarders wearing a helmet was the exception.
These days, the situation has completely turned around — the exception is to see a skier or snowboarder without a helmet.
There is certainly an additional cost for a helmet, but it's relatively modest compared to the cost of the rest of the equipment, fuel and lift pass.
Besides, the cost of a helmet is like an insurance policy — better to have it and not need it than to need it but not have it.
I only started to wear a helmet a few years ago myself, and can't fathom why I hadn't been wearing one all along, especially when I reminisce of the odd times when I managed to catch an edge and head-plant myself into the ground.
Regardless of the skill level, whether a person is just barely learning how to turn and carve or working on getting bigger air off of jumps, a helmet should be considered crucial.
So it's good to see that most people at ski resorts have caught on.
But wearing a helmet isn't limited to skiing or snowboarding. Any activity that has the potential to crack a skull open should be properly prepared for. This includes but isn't limited to ice-skating, skateboarding, biking, snowmobiling, and riding all-terrain vehicles like quads.
After all, ending up with brain damage that could have been prevented isn't very cool.
Simon Ducatel is the editor of the Sundre Round Up.
