The Schumacher effect: ski helmets and the grim power of celebrity

For a melancholy example of the power of celebrity, head to the Alps. Since Michael Schumacher’s accident last December in Méribel, the use of ski helmets has soared in the mountains. My skiing instructor in Verbier, in the Swiss Alps, said the Schumacher effect was particularly acute among the young and the old — it’s seasoned skiers in their forties and fifties, battling the neurotic caution of middle age, who still keep their heads bare. Even half of the devil-may-care, schussing ski instructors now wear helmets.

A philosopher would have a field day with the illogical aspects of the Schumacher effect. Schumacher was wearing a helmet and yet still suffered catastrophic head injuries. You could argue that the helmet saved his life; you could also say it wasn’t much good at protecting his brain. My instructor said the problem wasn’t really to do with helmets. It was to do with safe skiing: Schumacher should never have skied near ‘sharkies’ — rocks that look like shark fins.