For American ski racing fans, the biggest story going into this winter's聽 in Kitzb眉hel, Austria was whether , the top speed skier on the U.S. Ski Team, could become only the third American to win the on the famous track. The new helmet Nyman wore as he negotiated the icy piste went pretty much unnoticed. But the story of the technology inside that helmet, made by Swedish manufacturer POC Sports, might have the most significant impact on skiers in coming years.
When launched in 2005, they were the first ski helmet company to address rotational forces鈥攖he twisting blows that cause the brain to slosh around inside the skull. Scientists agree that it鈥檚 those forces that cause a large percentage of brain injuries during crashes. To mitigate rotational forces, POC called upon another Swedish company named , which stands for multidirectional impact protection system. MIPS is a plastic frame that鈥檚 inserted between the padding and the shell of the helmet that shifts by 10 to 15 millimeters during falls, reducing the severity of the impact by as much as 50 percent better than a traditional helmet, according to the company.聽
Since 2005, POC has used MIPS in most or all of their helmets鈥攗ntil now. Nyman鈥檚 helmet, as well as聽five consumer helmets (, , , POCito Auric Cut, Artic SL; raging from $180 to $400), will now use a technology created by POC called , which stands for 鈥渟hearing pad inside.鈥 SPIN is a series of thin, jelly-like pads made of silicon, strategically placed inside the helmet (the location of the pads is different in each helmet). During impact, the pads have the ability to move in every direction possible. The obvious difference between MIPS and SPIN is that the latter has聽pads that adhere directly to inner shell of the helmet, eliminating the extra piece of plastic and improving fit. But there might be more to it.
In laboratory testing the helmets with SPIN performed well, according to POC. Better than MIPS? 鈥淲e鈥檙e more than happy with the results,鈥 says Mikael Oden, POC鈥檚 product manager, refusing to offer much more. That鈥檚 likely because POC will continue to work with MIPS, still offering the company鈥檚 technology in some of their helmets. 聽
It鈥檚 important to note that it鈥檚 not entirely known how well MIPS or SPIN works in the real world. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no evidence from an accident setting that either solution works,鈥 says Dr. Par Hamid Gathan of the聽 and one of the developers of SPIN. 鈥淲e need to continue to study how these solutions work in a real-life setting.鈥澛
In theory, however, SPIN should help lessen the effects of a bad crash. That鈥檚 good enough for Steven Nyman, who trusted the technology to protect his most vital asset as he flew down the Hahnenkamm at 80 miles per hour and into tenth place on Saturday. And, POC hopes, it鈥檒l be good enough for consumers, too.