Tragedy struck the SUNY Brockport campus this week with the news that Austin White, a 22-year-old senior, died while snowboarding near Lake Placid. The exercise science major was exploring Excelsior Trail at Whiteface Mountain, a ski resort 20 miles northeast of Lake Placid, when he slid off the trail and hit a tree 15 feet away.

White, originally from a hamlet within the town of Livonia in Livingston County, was with with his sister and some friends on the trail when the accident happened. Despite being an experienced snowboarder, White was venturing around the trail without wearing a helmet, Trooper Jennifer Fleishman told the Democrat and Chronicle. He was pronounced dead at Adirondack Medical and Health Center in Saranac Lake.

While White’s death is the most recent winter sporting accident of the season, it’s far from the first.

Last month’s winter Olympic games in Sochi brought with it a whole host of injuries, most notably the back-breaking of Russian skier Maria Komissarova. The 23-year-old Komissarova was going through a training run on the slopes in February when she crashed and fractured a vertebra and dislocated her spine, CNN reported. As a result, Komissarova endured a six-hour spinal surgery procedure to help alleviate her injuries, though the Russian Freestyle Federation has said that she will be left permanently paralyzed.

Studies from previous winter Olympic games in Vancouver confirmed that snowboarders tend to have the highest rate of injury out of all winter Olympic athletes by far. About 35% of all Olympic snowboarders faced injuries in 2010. The rate of skiers’, bobsled team members’, hockey players’ and figure skaters’ injuries hovered around 20%. Perhaps the most startling information was that luge participants had the second-lowest rate of injury at 2%, just behind biathlon competitors. That means even curling, with about 4% rate of injury, could be viewed as a more dangerous sport than luge.

So what can be done to avoid facing a life-threatening (or life-ending) accident out on the slopes or inside the rink? Experts at Spine-Health.com recommend warming up your muscles and getting familiar with your surroundings in order to help keep you safe. If you find yourself in some kind of serious pain, always see a doctor right away. Medical professionals have epidural injections (shots of the anti-inflammatory medication cortisone) on hand which can help soothe unbearable pain immediately.

And always, always, always wear your helmet. There’s a reason all the Olympians — the most highly skilled and professional athletic professionals in the world — do the same.