According to the National Ski Areas Association over 600,000 documented injuries occur at ski resorts in the United States each year. The goal of this study was to analyze how these injuries sort out among age, skiing ability, area of body affected, and injury type when compared to gender. 600 subjects were included in the data. The subjects were all injured and had made contact with the Taos Ski Valley ski patrol during the 2014-15 ski season. A chi-square test was the primary method of statistical analysis. The results showed that men experienced 54% more injuries overall than women, however, women had a higher number of lower extremity injuries than men (X2 (6, N=600) = 11.36, p=0.078. Both men and women in the 31-50 age range suffered more injuries than the other age ranges recorded X2 (5, N=597) = 9.45, p=0.092. The percentage of beginner/intermediate skier injuries was 2.5 times that of advanced skiers, X2 (2, N=595) = 33.61, p=0.000. The results showed that men endured a higher percentage of fractures/dislocations compared to women who had a greater percentage of sprains/strains, X2 (8, N=600) = 24.23, p=0.002. The hypothesis was accepted in regard to men experiencing a greater number of injuries overall and women suffering a higher number of lower extremity injuries. Based on the results of this study, and similar research referenced, skiers of all ages and ability levels could help reduce the number of injuries overall by engaging in more thorough preparation for this demanding sport. For future research, a larger sampling size including more skiing regions and larger resorts would be conducive as well as further investigation into the role of equipment in snow sport injury.
