ACC figures show more than 13,000 people were injured skiing or snowboarding last year - about 106 injuries a day during the three-month season - costing about $17.4 million.
Of those, 7600 claims were for ski-related injuries and about 5600 from snowboarding.
Strains, sprains and bruising were the most common types of injuries, and knees the most common injury area, for skiers, suggesting many wounds were the result of falls.
Snowboarders were more likely to hurt their wrists and have fractures or dislocations.
Otago recorded the most injuries, 6400, because of its high number of skifields, followed by Manawatu-Wanganui (2764) and Canterbury (1738).
ACC injury prevention manager Peter Wood recommended being in "peak condition" before hitting the slopes and learning how to fall safely.
"Hill running, walking and cycling are good general exercises for the muscles you use in skiing or snowboarding.
"We all fall over at some stage, so it's good to know how to fall safely as this can make the difference between a spot of embarrassment and a painful injury that prevents you from enjoying this winter's ski season," he said.
ACC injury prevention sport programme manager Jo Harawira said claims were down on this time last year, probably because of the late arrival of snow.
St John Central Otago operations manager Peter Grayland described injury rates on Queenstown and Wanaka skifields as "steady".
While injuries were often "just the way [a person] falls", he believed the introduction of wrist guards for snowboarders had reduced the number of injuries.
Cardrona Alpine Resort head patroller Geoff Wayatt said the skifield's accident rate to the end of July was 3.9 per thousand visitors, compared with last year's overall figure of 5.1 per thousand.
Of those, 60% were male, 50% were intermediate level and 60% were skiers.
Treble Cone marketing manager Nigel Kerr's advice for anyone going skiing or snowboarding was to "warm up and get fit" as the sports were like any other physical activity.
ACC spent about $10 million on emergency air ambulance trips, and $51 million on emergency road ambulance trips, in New Zealand in the 2010-11 financial year. Figures were not available for specific regions, or the nature of accidents.
Skifield injuries
National / South Island
2009: 5450 / 9150
2010: 13,190 / 8250
How to fall safely
Recognise you are losing your balance so you can be prepared to fall, and do the following:
Relax. The more relaxed you and your muscles are the less likely you are to hurt yourself. Do not lock any of your limbs, especially your arms. Bend your arms to absorb some of the force.
Fall uphill if possible. The snow on the slope above you is closer than that on the downhill side. Falling uphill also means you are less likely to keep sliding.
Fall on your side. Try to curve or roll your body into the snow so that no single part of it takes all the force. Or at least try to fall on your hip and shoulder, rather than your wrists and knees, which are more vulnerable to injury.
Do not try to fight it. If you sense you are going to fall, go with it. Fighting a fall can also lead to injury.
Source: ACC
