Snowboarding has come out top on a study of the most hazardous activities in the US, with 26% of all injuries recorded in a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in to emergency room admissions at more than 60 hospitals across the country in 2004-5.

Skiing was second with 22% (an estimate based on including a proportion of injuries listed as ‘other’), sledging third with 11%, surfing fourth with eight percent, hiking fifth with six percent and mountain biking, personal watercraft, water skiing and tubing joint runners-up on four percent.

The figures did not take in to account the frequency of activities. The researchers calculated that about 213,000 outdoor sports related injuries occurred across the US during the study period.

Previous research has suggested from 2001-3 snowboarders are more than four times likely to need hospital treatment for injuries than skiers.

The difference is believed to be leveling off as more skiers take to the terrain parks. At the same time serious injuries are reported to be declining because of increased safety measures and public education.