Skiing and snowboarding spills and crashes accounted for the highest number of winter activity-related hospital visits last year, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In 2010-2011, there were 2,329 hospitalizations for skiing or snowboarding injuries, compared with 1,114 hockey related hospital visits.

Snowmobiling injuries accounted for 1,126 of winter activity related hospital visits, 889 for ice skating, and 171 for tobogganing.

In total, there were 5,629 hospitalizations related to winter activities, a number that health experts say hasn’t changed much over the last five years.

But these numbers are likely a lot higher as they do not include visits that involve only the emergency department or a doctor’s office, or deaths at the scene.

Boys age 10 to 19 accounted for 81 per cent of those hurt while skiing, snowboarding or playing hockey (689 out of 2,329 skiing and snowboarding-related hospital visits and 542 out of 1,114 hockey-related hospital visits).

Skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing were the most common winter activity hospitalizations for children under the age of 10.

Older Canadians were most often hurt by falls on ice, with people age 70 and older accounting for 2,200 out of the 7,138 hospitalizations. More than half of these cases were women.

cho@calgaryherald.com