At present, there are no government-mandated legal standards for snow sport helmets in Canada. Consequently, CSA Z263.1 is a voluntary ski and snowboard helmet standard created by the CSA Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to “safety, social good and sustainability.” CSA first issued the standard in 2008 and updated it in 2014.

Similar to the European standard.
If you were to rank ski and snowboard helmet standards from most rigorous to least, you’d find the Snell RS-98 standard on one end of the spectrum and CSA Z263.1 on the other end—that is, the less demanding end. That is, at least, if you are simply looking at the power with which helmets are slammed onto test anvils.

Both Snell RS-98 and ASTM F2040 require that helmets be struck with greater impact energy on a wider range of test anvils; that makes those two standards more challenging to pass.

When it comes to impact testing, CSA Z263.1 is identical to Europe’s EN-1077 standard. They also share the same 250-G threshold.

This Canadian standard differs from its European counterpart, however, in that it allows for a less punishing shell penetration test. Instead of dropping a weighted striker onto the helmet shell, CSA Z263.1 requires that a dowel measuring 150mmx15mm not be able to touch the head form when inserted into any of the helmet’s vent.

One last thing that also sets this standard apart from many helmet standards is that it mandates third party testing and verification by approved laboratories. Helmet manufacturers and distributors are not allowed to self-certify that they have met CSA Z263.1’s testing standards.

*This chart compares impact energies across standards, per each standard’s required drop heights. For illustration purposes, it assumes a headform weight of 5 kilograms, though some standards actually test a variety of different headform sizes/weights).

Originally created in 1996 as a British snow sport standard, EN-1077 was adopted (in 2007) by the European Committee for Standardization (or “CEN”) for all non-motorized ski and snowboard helmets sold in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey or the United Kingdom.

No surprise, EN-1077 is arguably the most common snow sport helmet standard.

Impact testing.
EN-1077 demands that no more than 250 G’s be transmitted to the head during impact testing. That’s a lower G threshold than required by either the Snell RS-98 or ASTM F2040 helmet standards. All in all, a very good thing.

EN-1077, however, does not subject test helmets to the same range or intensity of impacts as these two aforementioned standards. It’s difficult to make straight-across comparisons about impact energy/severity because some standards (ASTM F2020) use a single 5-Kg headform in their impact testing or demand a specific impact energy (Snell) while other standards (such as EN-1077 and CSA Z263.1) require a range of headform sizes and weights. For illustration’s sake, let’s assume a headform weight of 5 kilograms across all standards.

Given the lower drop height (1.5 meters) required by EN-1077, impact energy is equal to that of the Canadian (CSA) standard, but about three quarters of what a helmet experiences when tested under both the Snell and ASTM standards.

What’s more, EN-1077 only tests on flat anvils, while Snell and ASTM subject helmets to flat, hemi and edge anvils—a more challenging impact schedule. The argument can be made that the this testing represents real life conditions on snow (the majority of impacts in snowsports are against flat or near flat objects, and very unlikely to be against steel hemispheres or steel shapes like the edge anvil).

Two versions of EN-1077—class A is tougher.
There are actually two versions of the EN-1077 standard—Class A and Class B. The Class A standard requires protection over a larger area of the head—top, rear and sides, including the ears. Class B does not require ear coverage, allowing for better hearing and ventilation, but less overall protection in some rare accidents. In addition, the 3-kilogram striker used to test the helmet shell’s penetration resistance is dropped from a greater height during Class A testing (.75 meters versus .375 meters), which ensures greater protection.

This is a self-certifying standard: Helmet brands and distributors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that their helmets have satisfied the requirements of the EN-1077 standard.

*This chart compares impact energies across standards, per each standard’s required drop heights. For illustration purposes, it assumes a headform weight of 5 kilograms, though some standards actually test a variety of different headform sizes/weights).

The Snell Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing helmet safety standards. Snell created the RS-98 ski and snowboard standard in 1998 and it remains the most rigorous of standards. It’s also a voluntary standard—no manufacturer is required to pass RS-98 in order to sell their product, which helps explain why helmets bearing its certification sticker are extremely uncommon. As of August 2017, there are no snow helmets certified to this standard.

Harder Hits, Full Range of Testing
As with most Snell helmet standards, RS-98 places an emphasis on high-energy protection. While it allows for a greater transmission of G’s to the head during an accident than either EN-1077 or CSA Z263.1, is also required that helmets be hit with 100 joules of force during flat anvil testing. By comparison, EN-1077 and CSA Z263.1 would subject helmets (using an identical, 5-kilogram headform) to an impact generating 73.5 joules.

Moreover, Snell’s RS-98 standard requires impact testing on three types of anvil (flat, hemi and edge), whereas EN-1077 and CSA Z263.1 only impact on the flat anvil. While the ASTM F2040 standard includes all three anvils, the impact energy on the hemi and edge anvils is lower than that required by Snell (49 joules on the edge anvil versus Snell’s 80 joules and 58.8 joules on the hemi anvil rather than Snell’s required 80 joules).

Finally, RS-98 demands greater penetration resistance than other standards—dropping a 3-kilogram striker from the greatest height (1 meter). If a helmet possesses a chin bar, RS-98 also requires a deflection test that involves dropping a 5-kilogram weight on the central portion of the chin bar. If the chin bar breaks or deflects more than 60 millimeters, the helmet fails. No other snow sport standard contains a similar provision for testing chin bars.

The Snell Foundation conducts all RS-98 certification and includes ongoing random sample testing of helmet models that have already earned a Snell RS-98 certification—this ensures that helmets truly meet Snell’s standards and continue to do so after gaining that initial stamp of approval. As of August 2017, there are no snow helmets certified to this standard.

*This chart compares impact energies across standards, per each standard’s required drop heights. For illustration purposes, it assumes a headform weight of 5 kilograms, though some standards actually test a variety of different headform sizes/weights).

Though there are no laws in the United States requiring skiers or snowboarders to wear helmets, helmet use has nevertheless become increasingly popular. Many of the helmets that you do see on North American slopes have an ASTM F2040 certification label pasted inside them.

The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), is a not-for-profit organization that helps develop standards. When the organization created this standard in May of 2000, they sought to strike a balance between Snell RS-98’s very rigorous impact requirements and EN-1077’s less demanding impact-testing protocols.

All 3 impact anvils. No penetration or chin bar tests.
ASTM’s snow sport standard subjects test helmets to impact testing on three anvils—flat, hemi and edge. Hemi and edge anvils impart a more concentrated shock on the helmet shell and are, therefore, more challenging to pass. Impact energy on the flat anvil is just shy of what’s required by Snell’s RS-98 (98.1 joules versus 100), but given F2040 mandated drop height, significantly higher (by about 25 joules) than what would be required by both EN-1077 and CSA Z263.1 using 5-kilogram headforms.

When it comes to impact testing on the hemi and edge anvils, ASTM’s impact energy requirements are lower than Snell’s RS-98’s (by 30 and 20 joules, respectively). Neither EN-1077 or CSA Z263.1, however, require hemi or edge anvil impact tests.

ASTM does not require a chin bar test. The only standard that does is Snell RS-98. Another requirement not found in ASTM F2040? A shell penetration test—something that is provided, at one level or another, by all the other standards. The ASTM committee on this snowsports standard specifically considered including a penetration test, but could not find a single incident of brain injury caused by penetration.

ASTM F2040 is a voluntary, self-certifying standard; manufacturers and/or distributors are responsible for guaranteeing that they meet its requirements.

*This chart compares impact energies across standards, per each standard’s required drop heights. For illustration purposes, it assumes a headform weight of 5 kilograms, though some standards actually test a variety of different headform sizes/weights).