One in 10 ski while drunk

More than one in 10 skiers admit they have hit the slopes while drunk, a UK survey showed today.

About 11 per cent of people who ski or snowboard said they had hit the slopes after drinking alcohol, while one per cent admitted they had skied or snowboarded while very drunk, according to insurance firm InsureandGo.

One in five people who admitted they had skied under the influence of alcohol said they had had an accident, and one in 25 said they had caused serious injury to either themselves or someone else.

Dr Guy Ratcliffe, medical director of the Medical Council on Alcohol, said: "Alcohol makes people less inhibited, which in turn can make them more prepared to take risks.

"In ski resorts, where people are often drinking at lunchtime and then returning to the slopes, there are obvious dangers that could be caused by over-confident people taking more risks than they usually would.

"Alcohol can also inhibit your reaction times, so the combination of over-confidence and slower reactions is of real concern in an environment which is already dangerous enough if not properly respected."

Younger people were most likely to ski while they were drunk, with 17 per cent admitting they had been skiing after drinking alcohol.

But InsureandGo warned people they could invalidate their travel insurance if they had an accident as a result of being drunk.

Perry Wilson, managing director of InsureandGo, said: "Being drunk on the slopes is dangerous, and if you injure yourself or somebody else as a result of this, you may invalidate your insurance cover.

"This could mean that as well as nursing broken bones, you may also have to pay for a hefty medical bill yourself."

Daily Telegraph, Australia