What this document settles
It fixes what a helmet for alpine skiing and snowboarding must survive and how that is tested: shock absorption, the strength and release behaviour of the retention system, the field of vision the shell must leave, and the marking the helmet has to carry.
Its most visible output is the class. Class A helmets cover more of the head, including the ears, and are tested for penetration as well as impact. Class B helmets may leave the ear area soft or open, give up the penetration test, and are lighter, cooler and easier to hear in. The great majority of recreational ski helmets on this shelf are class B, and that is a choice rather than a shortfall.
The marking also has to carry the size range in centimetres of head circumference, which is the only sizing figure on this shelf that means anything. Letters differ between makers by three centimetres or more.
What it does not promise
It does not promise that a head will be uninjured. It describes energy absorbed in a laboratory drop, against an anvil, at a defined speed.
It does not cover rotational protection. Liners that let the shell move a few millimetres against the head address twisting forces the class test does not apply, and they are declared by the maker under a trade name rather than by this standard.
It does not cover the fit of your goggles. The gap between a helmet brow and a goggle frame is the most common complaint on this shelf and is outside every document.
It does not cover ventilation, weight, or how a helmet behaves in a second impact. The last is the one makers address themselves, in replacement advice this site reports rather than paraphrases.
What it is read alongside
The goggle standard covers the eyes and the filter standard covers what the lens lets through — three separate documents for one head. On other markets a different helmet standard applies, and a helmet sold across markets may carry more than one mark.
Where it turns up on this site
Helmets, and the goggle shelf beside them because the two are bought as a pair whether or not they are sold as one.
This site handles it in one way, consistently. A helmet page prints the class where the maker declares it, the head circumference range in centimetres as published, and any rotational-protection system by the name its maker gives it. It reports the maker’s own replacement advice as the maker’s. And it does not describe any helmet as making anything safe.
The questions asked most often
Is class A better than class B?
Class A covers more of the head, including the ears, and is tested for penetration; class B leaves the ears soft or open and is what most recreational helmets are. Which is better depends on whether you want to hear and be comfortable or be covered, and the standard treats them as two answers rather than two grades.
Does the standard cover MIPS?
No. Rotational-protection liners are an addition each maker declares for itself, and they are not part of what the class letter means.
How long does a helmet last?
The standard does not set a life. Makers publish their own replacement advice, usually after an impact and after a number of seasons, and those statements are the maker’s rather than ours.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026