Friday, April 27, 2012

Joshua Pastore Discusses Snowboarding Safety

In 2007, Joshua Pastore completed an intensive class and became a certified snowboarding instructor. Much of the class revolved around snowboarding safety. This makes perfect sense. Snowboarding may be incredibly fun, and it may be an excellent way to enjoy the slopes on a cold winter day, but the sport is far from benign. Snowboarders who do not follow the rules do so at their peril, and they can face serious injuries as a result.

For example, according to Joshua Pastore, many resorts don't require snowboarders to wear helmets. The resorts might strongly recommend that riders wear helmets, but many people choose to ignore those recommendations and they head down the slopes at break-neck speed with nothing to protect their heads from injury. This can be an incredibly dangerous idea. Snowboarders, properly strapped into their boards, can fall backwards onto the back of their heads, and a fall like this can be deadly. Head injuries can also occur during a turn or when one rider collides with another. It's not a risk worth taking, according to Joshua Pastore, so he always recommends that riders wear helmets.

Wrist injuries are also common in people who are new to snowboarding, as they may attempt to break a fall with their hands held at 90 degree angles from the body. This sort of hand placement during a fall can result in a broken arm or wrist, according to Joshua Pastore, and those injuries can be incredibly painful. To help reduce this risk, many manufacturers include wrist guards in the gloves they sell to snowboarders. These guards can significantly reduce the risk of injury, and Joshua Pastore recommends them for his students.

And finally, snowboards aren't designed to pop off in a fall. Instead, when a person falls, that person's feet stay locked in a stable position while the body continues to move. These falls, if done improperly, can place great strain on the knees and ankles. Some people have even broken bones after falls like this. In order to help his students, Joshua Pastore sometimes asks them to practice falling, over and over, just to ensure that they know the steps to take to protect their knees and ankles.

Snowboarding can be dangerous, but fear of injury shouldn't keep people from trying the sport. Taking a course with a qualified instructor like Joshua Martin Pastore can help aspiring snowboarders to tackle the sport safely.