Despite Michael Schumacher’s life-threatening injuries and a spate of a dozen avalanche deaths in the Alps and the Pyrenees so far over the holiday period, skiing statistically is no more dangerous than it ever was.

But for anyone going on a winter sports holiday over the New Year you should take extra precautions. Especially if you are planning to venture off-piste. According to mountain guides and avalanche experts such as Henry Schniewind based in Val d’Isere, the Alpine snowpack is currently at its most dangerous in 10 years, with an avalanche warning of 4/5 (out of a maximum of five).

Normally, after major snowfalls – and some resorts in southern Switzerland and Italy have recorded up to 90cm of fresh snow in recent days with more to come – the avalanche danger reduces after a few days as the new snow settles.

But this winter – especially on north-facing slopes – unstable and sugary lower layers are producing a dangerous ball-bearing effect. Tons of new snow can slide naturally without warning. Such an avalanche doesn’t even require the pressure of a passing skier to trigger it. On some slopes experts fear that this danger may last until the spring.

Skiing off-piste well away from prepared runs (and the crowds upon them) is the essence of the sport. No feeling on earth can match the enjoyment of a descent in deep powder with friends on a perfect blue-sky morning. But it is essential to remember that – like the sea – conditions in the mountains can occasionally be both unpredictable and dangerous in the extreme. Avalanches, hidden crevices and rocks – as we have seen with Michael Schumacher’s accident – all come in to play.

Michael is a highly competent and experienced skier who spends a considerable amount of time in Ferrari’s ‘home’ resort of Madonna di Campiglio in the Italian Dolomites and at his chalet home in Meribel where the accident occurred. In Madonna he even has a remarkably steep black run named after him.

His accident occurred when he ventured just off-piste between two marked runs close to the summit of La Saulire which separates Meribel from neighbouring Courchevel. Despite the 4/5 avalanche warning I believe his decision to ski here was acceptable. Ironically it wasn’t a slide that caused his injuries. At the start of the season, while skiing off-piste, there is always the danger of hitting a rock just beneath the surface of the snow. It appears that he fell on such an obstacle and banged his head. As a doctor has said at the hospital in Grenoble where he is being treated, if he hadn’t been wearing a helmet he wouldn’t have even made it as far as the hospital.

Officially, there is no reliable evidence that safety helmets reduce the risk of injury, although for the past 15 years I’ve been a firm believer in wearing one. Frankly, It just doesn’t make sense not to wear one. Around 80% of skiers in North America now do so. The figure in Europe is harder to quantify and varies by resort and country, but I put it at no higher than 50%.

GPS technology shows that even an intermediate reaches speeds of 30mph and I’ve clocked 75mph or more myself on an open, empty piste without realising at the time how fast I was travelling. The risk of hitting rocks off-piste is not the only danger – prepared slopes can be as hard as concrete and I can think of no other high-speed sport where you wouldn’t use such basic protection.

Some ski insurance companies will now only provide cover to skiers who wear a helmet. Other companies are likely to follow.

Like most sports, skiing carries an element of risk. By skiing with a local qualified guide you reduce that factor to an acceptable level. But the risk remains. Earlier in December In Lech in Austria, a 16-year-old British teenager was killed and his father seriously injured in a freak unexpected avalanche while accompanied by an experienced guide. The party was equipped with airbags and other state-of-the-art survival equipment and the avalanche risk was put at a nominal 1/5.

My own experience of a serious accident off-piste in France came 18 years ago while accompanied by a guide. A friend was killed and I was seriously injured in a fall in a steep couloir.

It taught me a serious lesson. In the final analysis when you venture off-piste you must be aware that, even though you have a guide, it’s entirely your call. To hand over all responsibility for your safety to someone else can have fatal consequences.

But most skiing holidaymakers don’t leave the prepared pistes and the chance of being injured remains extremely small.

The risk overall of injury has remained unchanged in recent years at around 2.5 per thousand skiers. In simple terms this means that for every 1,000 skiers on the mountain two or three of them will require some form of medical treatment.

The chance of dying in a ski accident remains very low – for every 1.4 million people who buy a lift ticket and spend part or all of the day on the mountains, one death can be expected. For snowboarders the risk of death is significantly less than skiers.

However, snow conditions play a hugely important part in determining both the risk and type of injury.

For example, in the 2010-11 season, there was less snow than normal and in Austria only three people were killed in avalanches compared to 39 the previous year. France and Switzerland reported similar statistics.

Alcohol is regularly blamed as a cause of accidents on piste. Austria has the rowdiest après-ski in the Alps, with the party getting under way in mountain restaurants long before the lifts close for the day. But according to the Innsbruck-based Austrian Committee for Alpine Safety there is no evidence whatsoever to support the alcohol theory.

In terms of avalanches, the biggest risks are faced by those who venture off piste. You should only do so when carrying a transceiver, probe, and shovel – and most importantly, know how to carry out a grid search to locate someone buried before outside help arrives.

After 15-minutes under the snow, the chances of survival drop dramatically. The best way to survive an avalanche is not to get caught in it. Always check the avalanche risk (on a scale of 1 to 5) and ideally ski with a qualified local guide.

Resorts complain that inexperienced skiers often ignore warning signs and ski in deep snow close to a prepared piste because it’s inviting and easy for them to do so. Most avalanches triggered by skiers happen within sight of a piste.

If you plan to ski this winter, educate yourself on the existing conditions on your mountains, have loads of fun – and stay safe.