Brookvale Ski Park moves to mandatory helmets

Brookvale Provincial Ski Park will introduce a mandatory helmet policy for all users of the downhill facility for the coming ski season, says Heath MacDonald, the minister responsible for P.E.I.'s provincial parks.

"We want to ensure that all users of Brookvale's downhill facility enjoy their experience and at the same time have some level of protection against head injury," said MacDonald in a news release.

The province has previously balked at making helmet use mandatory, saying there were no models approved for ski use by the Canadian Standards Association.

• Helmets remain optional at Atlantic ski hills

In 2011 it announced it was stepping up education campaigns.

The province noted very few ski areas in North America have mandatory helmet policies, but recent legislation passed in Nova Scotia, and new mandatory policies at another hill in the region helped encourage the province to institute a new policy at Brookvale.

The move comes as welcome news to Ken Murnaghan, president of the Brain Injury Association of P.E.I.

"I think it's great, you know. It's something that we have been fighting for, trying to enforce mandatory helmet use on Brookvale ski hill," said Murnaghan.

"I would have liked to see the government go a little further in making helmets mandatory on all ski hills. It's not just Brookvale that skiers go to to ski, you know, and tobogganing and whatnot."

Still Murnaghan says the mandatory policy at Brookvale is a step in the right direction.

Brookvale will invest in additional rental helmets ahead of the upcoming season.