The main reason for the decline is that far fewer Belgians went skiing during the Flemish spring break. It was mainly the Flemish people who went on a snow holiday. In French-speaking education, the spring break does not start until February 26.
Slightly more medical ski files opened at Europ Assistance led to a hospital admission this year than last year (15 percent compared to 12 percent). The number of technical interventions on the way to the ski areas increased slightly (+ 3 percent compared to 2023). The ski destinations with the largest number of medical ski files are France (40 percent), Austria (33 percent), Italy (15 percent) and Switzerland (12 percent).
Fewer Belgians on the slopes
The decrease in the number of medical files opened by Europ Assistance is striking. That is 122, or 40 percent less than last year. A sharp decline, but completely in line with expectations because many more Belgians went skiing during last year’s spring break. After all, French-speaking Belgium also had holidays at that time. The holiday arrangements in education were already different from the Flemish ones last year, but the spring holidays still partly coincided (unlike the Easter holidays).
At Europ Assistance they think that there may be other reasons for the lower number of skiing accidents now. “In several countries there is an obligation to wear a helmet. This has a positive effect on injuries,” says Anneleen Verhaeghe, quality manager at Europ Assistance. “In addition, the skiing conditions were not ideal. Due to a lack of good snow, slightly fewer ski slopes were open. That makes skiers ski less daring. There is less space, so people are a bit more careful and slow down.” The most common injuries are knee, shoulder and ankle injuries.
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A sharp drop in the figures, but the spring break remains very busy for Europ Assistance. The assistance provider received more than 9,000 telephone calls, with a peak of almost 1,500 on Monday, February 12. Europ Assistance received 1,300 requests via the app.
As in previous years, many children under the age of 10 have a skiing accident. They represent 34 percent of the number of injured this year.
The plaster flight today from Salzburg (Austria) to Brussels repatriated 33 people. There were 8 injured. The rest are relatives.
Long rehabilitation
The man who was in the worst condition on the plaster flight was Louis Meuris, a 27-year-old Brussels resident. He had to lie down during the repatriation flight because he suffered a serious leg injury. “I was coming out of a restaurant and a skier came straight at me,” he says of his skiing accident. “His ski almost broke my leg in two. On Tuesday I had surgery. The accident was bad luck, but actually I think I was lucky too. If I was hit a little lower, I don’t think I would be able to walk anymore. If the impact was a little higher, my organs would have been affected.”
A long rehabilitation now awaits him. After that, he doesn’t think he’ll ever step on skis again. “I do a lot of sports, including extreme sports, kite surfing and the like, but no, I don’t think I will ever ski again. I will definitely return to the mountains. I love it very much. But not for skiing anymore.”
Two broken wrists
The accident happened on his penultimate day of skiing, the day that things also went wrong for Lotta De Meulenaere, a 37-year-old from Schaarbeek: “I fell while snowboarding, a very hard and fast fall. Verdict: two broken wrists. I have been snowboarding for 20 years without an accident, this was just bad luck. I fell on my head, but luckily I was wearing a helmet.”
Next year she wants to go on a snow holiday again, but without any accidents. No one wants to see the captain on the plaster flight either. “We thank you for your trust and hope not to meet you again on board next year’s plaster flight,” he joked.