Ski helmets with long hair, and where the ponytail actually has to go

Hair is volume, and the shell was sized without it

A ski helmet works by holding your head evenly. Anything between the liner and your skull changes that fit, and hair - particularly a lot of it, tied up - is far more volume than people expect.

Two failures follow. If hair is bunched inside the shell at the back, it pushes the rear of the helmet up and away, which rotates the front down over your brow. That is the person you see on the lift constantly pushing their helmet back off their goggles. And if the hair is loose and slippery, the helmet sits on hair rather than on your head, so it slides on impact instead of staying put.

The fix is not a special helmet. It is choosing where the hair goes, and then fitting the helmet that way, every time.

Where the ponytail goes

Some helmets are built with a gap or channel at the rear for exactly this. Where a maker does not publish a ponytail feature, the practical substitute is a dial that sits low, at the base of the skull, so the tail passes beneath it rather than through it.

What to look for, with published examples

• A dial adjuster, positioned low. The Giro Avera Mips publishes an In Form fit dial with vertical tuning and three size bands from 52 to 62.5 cm. Vertical tuning is the useful part: it moves the cradle up or down, which is precisely the adjustment a ponytail needs.
• A wide published size range. The Smith Cache Mips publishes 51 to 67 cm across four sizes, so if your hair puts you between two sizes there is somewhere to go.
• For children, a dial and a size chart. The Giro Crue Mips is the kids equivalent, and children with long hair have the same problem in a smaller shell. The kids size chart has the measuring method.

Measuring with hair on

Measure around your head about a centimeter above the eyebrows and around the widest point at the back, with your hair arranged the way you will wear it skiing. If you normally ski with two braids, measure with two braids in. A measurement taken with hair down and a helmet worn with hair up is a helmet that does not fit on the mountain.

Then check the fit the way the sizing page describes: the helmet should move your scalp when you shake your head, not slide across it, and it should sit level with the front edge about two finger-widths above your eyebrows.

Goggle straps and hair

The goggle strap goes over the helmet, never under it, and that is even more important with long hair: a strap under the shell traps hair against your neck, pulls every time you look up, and lifts the helmet at the back.

Two practical notes. Put the goggles on after the helmet, then run a finger along the top edge to pull hair out from under the frame - trapped hair at the brow breaks the foam seal and fogs the lens. And if your hair is long enough to sit between the strap and the shell, the strap will slide; helmets with a clip or a strip of silicone on the strap hold better. The helmet and goggle fit page covers the forehead gap in detail.

Beanies, liners and the temptation to add volume

The rule this site keeps repeating applies doubly here: if the helmet feels loose with your hair down, do not fill the gap with a beanie. A helmet held in place by a hat is a helmet that is the wrong size, and the hat compresses over a day until it is loose again.

A thin liner for warmth is fine on a cold day, and it must be thin enough not to change the fit. The liners page has what works under a shell, and the balaclava picks are compared on exactly that thinness.

One more thing the strap does

A goggle strap over a helmet holds the goggle against your face, and with long hair it does something else: it traps whatever hair sits between the strap and the shell. That hair slides, which means the goggle slides, which opens the seal at the temples on the exact run where you need it closed.

Tuck stray hair under the helmet before the goggles go on, not after, and check the strap is sitting flat on the shell rather than on a rope of hair.

Helmet hair, static and breakage

Six days under a foam liner does measurable damage to long hair, and it is worth planning for rather than discovering on day four.

• Friction is the problem, not the helmet. Hair dragged across a foam liner every time you turn your head is what causes breakage, especially at the nape. A smooth liner - a thin skull cap, or a satin-lined one - removes most of it.
• Static comes from dry cold air plus synthetic foam. It is worst on the coldest, driest days, and a light leave-in conditioner before the helmet goes on does more than anything you can do afterward.
• Do not put a helmet on wet hair. It freezes at the tips on a cold morning, and damp hair inside a liner is what makes a helmet smell by the third day.
• Air the liner overnight. Same rule as boots: a damp liner in a dark bag is how gear goes bad. The helmet care page covers cleaning removable pads without damaging them.

Buying for a child with long hair

A child’s helmet has less spare room than an adult’s, so hair volume changes the fit proportionally more. Two braids rather than one ponytail is the practical answer: braids sit flatter, they do not bunch into a single lump under the rear of the shell, and they survive a day of falling over.

Measure with the braids in, buy the shell that measurement falls into, and use the dial for the rest - never a size up for hair, and never a beanie to fill the gap. The kids helmet chart has the bands, and the growing room page explains why a helmet is the one item where sizing up is never acceptable.

Small things that make the day better

• Tie it before the helmet, not after. Fixing a ponytail on a chairlift with gloves on is how gloves end up in the trees.
• Use a soft fabric tie, not a hard clip. A metal or plastic clip under a helmet liner is a pressure point on the back of your skull and a genuine hazard in a fall.
• Braids for children. Easier to redo at lunch, and they stop the helmet sliding when a child looks down at their ski tips - which is most of the first day.
• Expect helmet hair. A silk or satin-lined liner reduces the breakage that long hair gets from a foam liner over several days.

The short version

Wear the hair low and outside the shell, measure with it in place, and buy a helmet with a dial that sits low and adjusts vertically. Do not size up to make room for a bun, and do not use a hat to fill a gap. A helmet that fits with your hair the way you actually wear it is the whole answer.