Gerhard Ruedl, a sports scientist at the University of Innsbruck, and his colleagues analyzed accidents at two large bike parks located in Tyrolean ski resorts. According to Ruedl, the names of these parks cannot be disclosed. 

In the summers of 2023 and 2024, the emergency medical services at both parks recorded the number of injured people they treated. Lift ticket data was available for visitor numbers at only one of the two parks. There, there was one injury for every 250 visits. According to Ruedl, someone who spends 25 days per season at a bike park is statistically likely to be injured once every ten seasons. Anyone who was injured but did not call emergency services is missing from the statistics. One injury per 250 visits is therefore likely a conservative estimate.

The shoulder and collarbone are most commonly affected

For one-third of those injured, the shoulder or collarbone was affected; for one-quarter, the arm or hand; and for 17 percent, the head or face. One in four injured riders was transported by helicopter. This did not necessarily mean they were seriously injured. According to the study, the helicopter is dispatched even when the terrain does not allow for ground transport. Ruedl attributes his assumption that skilled skiers suffer more serious injuries to their higher speed and riskier skiing style.

According to Ruedl, the injury rate for skiing more than halved between the 2002–03 and 2012–13 seasons. Modern skis and groomed slopes may have contributed to this, at least in part, he wrote in 2014. It is impossible to say whether similar results can be achieved in bike parks with better trail design, more modern mountain bikes, and protective gear. There is no long-term data series spanning several years, as there is for skiing. For Ruedl, recreational mountain biking is not an extreme sport. The risk is “generally low,” and the health benefits of exercise in the mountains outweigh the risks.

Link to the study: https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2026022