Helmets now common on slopes, but could protection be better? 

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — On the afternoon of Jan. 15, 1986, Julie Eckman kissed her daughter goodbye for the last time.

Thirteen-year-old Inger, the youngest of Philip and Julie Eckmans’ three children, the girl with “a goofy, goofy spirit about her that was filled with laughter and generosity and kindness,” in her mother’s words, caught a ride with a friend to Spirit Mountain. A promising alpine skier in a family in which everyone skied, Inger was headed for an evening of downhill slalom training with Team Duluth, the team that’s based at Spirit Mountain.