Poley Mountain introducing mandatory helmet law

Poley Mountain is preparing for a lot more helmet rentals this ski season. That's because starting this season, all skiers and snowboarders must wear a helmet. The resort is the first in the province to make helmet usage mandatory.

To prepare for this, the resort purchased an extra 600 helmets for its rental fleet at a cost of about $30,000, bringing the total number of helmets up to 1,000.

"It was a significant investment, but worth it to help protect our guests and to make sure there is an availability of all helmets sizes to fit everybody that comes," said Jamie Hare, the resort's director of skier services.

One of the reasons behind the mandatory helmet rule is that Nova Scotia has made it law for those on the slopes to wear helmets.

Another reason is that one of Poley Mountain's racers crashed into a tree while skiing in Nova Scotia earlier this year.

Olivia McLean had bruising to her brain, was a in a coma for nine days and broke several bones in her legs. Her mother, Dawn, says the new rule will save lives.

"No matter what anybody else says, we're going to make it mandatory here at Poley because we know that it's important," she said.

Poley's staff are preparing for some opposition from skiers and snowboarders opposed to the new rule. People will not be allowed on the lifts without helmets and ski patrol will be monitoring the slopes for people attempting to violate the policy.

Bill Anderson, Poley's general manager, has asked the province to introduce a mandatory helmet policy at all ski and snowboard resorts in New Brunswick.

At Poley Mountain, the new policy goes into effect Dec. 12.