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Brains
You may have noticed a small yellow sticker on Mikaela Shiffrin’s helmet that reads “Mips.” You may have also spotted the same sticker on your own helmet. But what does it actually mean?
SnowBrains spoke with Mips CEO Max Strandwitz to better understand what the technology does and why it has become increasingly common across snow sports and beyond.
Mips was developed in the mid-1990s by Swedish neurosurgeon Dr. Hans von Holst, who became frustrated by the number of traumatic brain injuries he saw in patients who had been wearing helmets. He realized that while helmets were effective at protecting against direct, linear impacts, they did little to address rotational forces—the kind most commonly encountered in real-world accidents.
Traditional helmets are designed to absorb energy from straight-on impacts, reducing the risk of skull fractures by compressing the foam layer inside the helmet. However, most crashes in sports like skiing or cycling involve angled impacts, where the head strikes the ground at roughly 30–45°. These impacts generate rotational forces that cause the brain to move within the skull, potentially leading to shear strain in brain tissue. Research has shown that this type of rotational acceleration is a key contributor to concussions and more severe injuries such as diffuse axonal injury, where nerve fibers are stretched or damaged.
The brain is suspended in cerebrospinal fluid—roughly a cup (150–270 ml)—which provides some natural cushioning. But in high-energy impacts, this protection is not enough to fully prevent the brain from moving and twisting inside the skull. That is where Mips comes in. After an initial strategy to develop helmets failed, new investors decided to pivot the company’s focus onto the brain protection solution inside existing helmets, rather than producing a brand new helmet. Mips now has over 150 helmet partners — from ski to motorbike to equestrian helmets — and focuses instead of making existing helmets better.
Rather than redesigning the entire helmet, Mips now uses a low-friction layer that sits inside the helmet, allowing a small amount of relative movement—typically around 10–15 millimeters—between the head and the helmet during an angled impact. This movement helps redirect rotational energy, reducing the rotational motion transferred to the brain.
While 10–15 millimeters may sound insignificant, these impacts occur extremely quickly—within milliseconds—meaning even small amounts of movement can play a meaningful role in how forces are distributed. Laboratory testing, including oblique impact tests and computer modeling of the brain, has shown that slip-plane systems like Mips can reduce rotational motion compared to standard helmet designs.
Today, Mips technology is widely adopted across the helmet industry. According to Strandwitz, by 2025, it was found in 76% of ski helmets sold in the United States, with over 150 brand partners spanning skiing, cycling, motorcycling, and equestrian sports. Adoption has been slower in Europe, where market share sits closer to 30–40%, though Strandwitz expects that to grow. “The whole concept of TBI is much more developed in the U.S. due to hockey and American football. The U.S. consumer understands the problem in a very different way,” Strandwitz explained.
Awareness of brain injuries in American football has increased dramatically over the past two decades, driven by landmark research and high-profile cases linking repeated head impacts to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. This has led organizations like the National Football League to introduce stricter concussion protocols, rule changes, and increased investment in player safety. As a result, public perception has shifted from viewing concussions as minor injuries to recognizing their potential long-term consequences.
Beyond technology, Strandwitz emphasized that helmet use—and proper replacement—remains critical. Ski helmets can last for years if stored properly and not exposed to frequent wear—unlike bike helmets for example, which need more frequent replacement due to the sun and exposure deteriorating the foam layer. However, ski helmets must be replaced after impact as the protective foam can be permanently compromised after just one crash. “No one will drive around with a car where the hood has been smashed,” he said, pointing out that many people continue to use helmets even after their structural integrity has been reduced.
Testing standards were another topic of discussion. Current certifications, such as ASTM F2040 in the United States and EN1077 in Europe, set minimum performance standards for impact protection using controlled laboratory tests. These typically involve dropping helmets onto a flat anvil at speeds around 5.4–6.2 m/s (20-22.3 km/h or 12.4-14 mph) to ensure helmets absorb force and protect against head injury, with peak G-forces kept under 300 G. A recent Swiss study suggested these tests showed that helmets did not offer sufficient protection as skiers and snowboarders will exceed these speeds on the slopes.
Strandwitz, however, stresses that the force tested is sufficient as it is extremely large as the test is done in a clinical, linear impact setting. Researchers have shown that sporting impacts are often angled and involve sliding or rolling rather than a single linear impact. Strandwitz acknowledged that organizations that Mips works with—including the International Ski and Snowboard Federation—are continuously working to improve safety standards, particularly for elite athletes. For athletes ski accidents can be career ending, so having Shiffrin as an ambassador shows the confidence she has in the system.
“Safety is a non-negotiable part of my performance. To compete at the highest level, I need to trust that every piece of my equipment is doing its job, especially my helmet. What gives me confidence in Mips is how much effort they put into understanding the kinds of impacts we actually experience in our sport. Knowing how rigorous they test their solutions against rotational motion, allows me to focus fully on skiing, and perform at my absolute best.”
— Mikaela Shiffrin, Mips press release, January 2026
Having spent a good deal of time reading through the studies Strandwitz sent me after our call, I know one thing for sure: my next helmet will come with a little yellow sticker that indicates that Mips technology will be inside. If it’s good enough for Shiffrin, it’s good enough for me.
