Winter sports articles on Wikivoyage:
- Ski areas - Worldwide list of ski areas described on Wikivoyage.
- Winter sports in Germany - Overview list of winter sports regions in Germany.
- Ski resorts in Italy - Overview of the ski areas in the Italy.
- Ski areas in Austria - Overview of the ski areas in Austria.
- Ski areas in Switzerland - Overview of the ski areas in the Switzerland.
- Winter sports in Poland - Overview list of winter sports regions in Poland.
health
Skiing sickness
Like winter sports itself, skiing is still a very young disease and was first discovered in 1995 by the Swiss physician Rudolf Häusler, the former head physician of the University Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases (ENT) in Bern, from personal experience in a fall described on the slope.
Symptoms are dizziness and nausea with vomiting when skiing, especially on days with poor visibility and fog, whereby these symptoms have nothing to do with excessive alcohol consumption (e.g. Jagatee) or bad food. In extreme cases, those affected lose their orientation completely, feel panic and even see non-existent avalanches, or believe they are moving in an avalanche.
As root cause there is a disruption of the organ of equilibrium in the inner ear due to strong accelerations and hallucinations from unfamiliar visual impressions such as blurring contours in fog. The ski sickness is one of the travel sicknesses (motion sickness / kinetoses) such as seasickness and can also affect experienced mountain guides; the occurrence of the disease is independent of the altitude of the ski area.
To Risk group especially include people with visual abnormalities such as nearsightedness or astigmatism (astigmatism). The rate of those affected is high; according to surveys among students, between ten and twenty percent of those questioned could describe experiences with the symptoms, whereby the risk for the risk group with visual anomalies is up to four times as high.
As prevention The rule is that people who are susceptible to skiing disease should not go on the slopes when visibility is poor. Those who still do not want to do without can help themselves against motion sickness with the usual means, such as special chewing gum or medication. However, it is true of medication that these agents have a negative impact on the equilibrium system and also the ability to react.
Anyone on the slopes attack If you suffer from skiing disease, you should stop your journey in a safe place and keep your eyes firmly fixed on an immovable and high-contrast object such as a tree or a rock. If the dizziness persists, you should take off your skis.