INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR SKIING SAFETY
Introduction
"The purpose of the ISSS is to stimulate interest at the international level in the prevention of skiing injuries. This is accomplished through the individual efforts of the members and the collective efforts of the Society. Scientific exchange is provided through the international conferences and regional meetings sponsored by the Society. It is anticipated that the ISSS will become an influential body in all areas of skiing safety and trauma prevention."
(Taken from the Introduction to the Proceedings of the 2nd ISSS Conference held in Grenada, Spain i
n 1977)
You will see the International Society for Skiing Safety (ISSS) mentioned frequently throughout this website. It is an international society of doctors, physios engineers (and other scientists), manufacturers, patrollers and ski area staff (amongst many others) all of whom share a common interest - to reduce the number of injuries from snow sports and improve the enjoyment of those taking part. The Society was founded in 1974 under the leadership of Ejnar Eriksson, and the first conference was held in Sweden that year. Since then, the society has gone from strength to strength and continues to hold a biannual international conference, attracting expert speakers and high quality research from around the world. The proceedings of each Congress have, until 2003, been published by the ASTM in America, and the resulting book provides a vast amount of research material specific to the domains of epidemiology, biomechanics, injury prevention, equipment design and more.
You can now order proceedings from the 5th to the 17th congresses online from ASTM - click here for the link.
From 2003, the research proceedings of the ISSS have also been published in the Journal of ASTM International. Following the 2005 ISSS meeting in Japan, the ISSS has redeveloped its website, and will soon be offering interactive features for members including access to pdf document copies of powerpoint presentations from previous symposia. Specific work groups are also being established to increase cooperation in pushing forward knowledge and research in key areas including ski binding settings, protective equipment and performance factors on snow. The new ISSS website can be found at www.isssweb.com
If you would like any more information on the ISSS or just want to ask an informal question, please feel free to send me an email.
Membership
Membership of the ISSS involves only a modest sum - currently $125 (US) for a two year personal membership - a reduced rate applies to students at University or College (a letter of support from your department head is required for proof). All members receive a copy of the latest aforementioned Congress proceedings as well as a discount on ISSS conference registration - a combination that usually repays your entire subscription fee! The ISSS is a very friendly organisation and one of the many benefits of membership is the network of contacts available in the various fields allied to snow sports injury prevention. On a very personal level, it was not until my initial contact with the ISSS that my own research really began to reach the required level and every meeting sees new presenters from different countries joining in the fun of the ISSS.
You can download an ISSS membership form as a pdf file by clicking here.
For more details on the ISSS feel free to send me an email - hope to see some of you at the next meeting in America in 2011 - details will follow in due course.
Previous meetings
The last ISSS meeting was held in Garmisch-Partenkirschen, Germany in April/May 2009. I have already begun to put together a summary of the research presented at this meeting here.
As always, we remain keen to welcome new members - our meetings and forums are totally informal and there are plenty of organised activities during the course of the conference, separate schedules for those accompanying delegates and, of course, a good bit of skiing and boarding to be had. The social side of things is well catered for too with lots of evening meetings and friendly discussions in the bar!
Details of future meetings
The next ISSS meeting is scheduled to be held in America in Spring 2011. More details will follow as and when I receive them. This meeting is sure to continue the unique ISSS combination of cutting edge science and excellent informal socialising!
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