Emergency doctor David Lamond has a metal plate and 13 screws in his wrist thanks to a skiing accident.
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He's also a retrieval specialist with the SouthCare helicopter, so he's rescued too many injured skiers and snowboarders to count.
This means that, in the early stages of snow season, Dr Lamond is uniquely qualified to warn of the risks associated with skiing and snowboarding.
Through his SouthCare work, and being a senior emergency specialist and trauma consultant at the Canberra Hospital, Dr Lamond gets to treat patients before hospital, in emergency and as they progress through treatment.
"The most distressing thing about the accidents you go to is that so often it's down to poor decision making," Dr Lamond said.
"That might be about speed or the height of jumps.
"One small decision can wreck the rest of the season, work and family commitments."
Dr Lamond has been just guilty of poor decision-making while at the snow.
His wrist injury was due to racing his friend down an icy black diamond run in the United States.
It resulted in a painful seven kilometre ski back to base and a long flight back to Australia for surgery.
"I couldn't work for two and a half months and my wife wasn't very impressed," he said.
"It was completely avoidable."
Dr Lamond would like not to have to treat people this snow season from injuries due to poor decision-making.
His biggest pieces of advice are to wear a helmet, avoid alcohol and other drugs, ski in control and to the conditions.
"I ski like I'm going to go to work tomorrow," he said. He regularly treated patients "cleaned up" by other people on the snowfields, so it was important to be aware and respectful of others.
About 78 per cent of injuries were due to falls, 18 per cent were from collisions with other people or objects and the rest was a mixture, he said.
Skiers were more likely to injure lower limbs where snowboarders were more likely to injure their wrists and heads.
However, as an avid skier, he reinforced that snowsports were not dangerous and could be highly beneficial.
Dr Lamond said he loved the alpine environment and the escape from the day-to-day stresses skiing afforded him.
It provides great health benefits from exercising and socialising, he said, he just urged people to be safe.
He said taking the weather and snow conditions into account was important, the soft powdery conditions of North America were not replicated in Australia where we have much harder snow.
So perhaps recreating the 20 foot jump from YouTube might not be the smartest decision.
He urged people to be aware of other risks surrounding snowsports, such as driving to and from the ski fields.
Driving early in the morning or late at night after skiing all day on unfamiliar roads could increase the risk of an accident. Be aware of fatigue and other drivers, he said.