Gloves w/ Wrist Guards?

I tried XC skiing for the first time this past Saturday. I enjoyed it a lot, and learned a little from an experienced friend, but I did fall quite a few times. No big deal on the falling, since it was just a short distance and into snow. However, I fell on my hands a few times and I do have some wrist problems, and I'd rather not exacerbate them.

Since I plan to try skiing again, and it's likely that I may continue to fall until I get better (not to mention the falls I occasionally take just hiking or snowshoeing), I thought maybe some protection might make sense.

I think snowboarders and downhill skiers sometimes use wrist guards and other safety gear? Anyone have any experience w/ this? Are wrist guards worth it? Any recommendations?

Matt

Wrist Guards

I've used roller blade wrist guards while snowboarding. They can go inside larger gloves or outside smaller ones.

I wear snowboard specific ones while boarding, they're about $20. Wrist guards are definitely worth it for snowboarding since the majority of injuries are when people try to break their fall with their hands.

Googling "snowboard wrist guard" should find some good options.

Like DCLynch, I have used rollerblade wrist guards; I put them over my gloves-a bit tight, but it worked. With mitts, I think they'd fit inside them. Mine are old Rollerblade brand and have a big plastic piece on the palm.

They may interfere...

In my work we encourage the use of wrist guards for snowboarding and skating but find that they interfere with pole use for skiing (especially x-country skiing). Learning to fall correctly, ie. use as much of the body to spread out and absorb the shock as possible, can be a more productive technique.

X-skiing is fun though, huh?

jime said:

In my work we encourage the use of wrist guards for snowboarding and skating but find that they interfere with pole use for skiing (especially x-country skiing). Learning to fall correctly, ie. use as much of the body to spread out and absorb the shock as possible, can be a more productive technique.

X-skiing is fun though, huh?

Click to expand...

It is indeed fun, and thanks for that tip. My friend did give me the basics on pole technique, but he did not talk about falling properly, which is too bad, because I could have gotten in a lot of practice!

I'll continue to consider my options as to whether or not to use guards. Using guards while also using poles could potentially cause me as much wrist pain as falling I suppose, particularly if the guards are tight. Thanks for all the replies.

Matt