405 Terrain park feature compliance with québec ski area safety recommendations

Background Studies conducted in Québec, Canada, demonstrate that the probability of sustaining a severe injury is higher when it occurs in terrain parks (TPs) compared to regular slopes. Based on these findings, a guide providing recommendations on the design, construction, and maintenance of TP features has been implemented in Québec ski areas to prevent skiing and snowboarding injuries. However, there is no evidence supporting their implementation in a real-world setting. Objective To examine TP feature compliance with recommendations from a ski area industry guide in Québec ski areas. Design Policy analysis. Methods: Using a validated evaluation tool, the compliance level of TP features, with recommendations from the guide, was examined in seven ski areas in Québec. The evaluation tool, originally developed to assess the quality of TP features based on the guide, was validated in a previous study. Compliance was assessed using the proportion of compliant measures within a given feature. Results In the seven Québec ski areas visited, 59 TP features (18 jumps, 31 rails, 10 boxes) were evaluated. Compliance with the recommendations from the guide was high (mean: 91%; range: 67–100%). The average TP feature compliance percentages were 93% (95% confidence interval (CI): 88–99%) for boxes, 91% (95% CI: 89–94%) for rails, and 89% (95% CI: 86–92%) for jumps. The assessed recommendations for TP features (n=32) were generally well adopted in Québec ski areas. Nevertheless, six of them were adopted in less than 75% of the observed TP features. Conclusions Our results suggest that TP features are highly compliant with the guide in Québec ski areas. These findings could help other organizations or associations to implement similar injury prevention strategies in sport communities.