I hit a tree while skiing a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a moment every skier dreads. You lose an edge, get thrown off balance or misjudge a slope. All of a sudden, you’re no longer skiing — you’re falling. Time slows down. Is this going to be one you can shake off? A season ender? A career ender?

We all know that skiing and snowboarding are inherently dangerous sports. Last season, two people in my regular group of ski buddies lost months of on-hill time in the spring, one with a hand injury and one with a nearly torn hamstring.

My college and high school years are littered with sprains, casts, broken bones, snapped equipment and lots of Advil.

There’s a reason the skier’s responsibility code is on the back of every lift ticket, and there’s a reason it’s so long. When you go snowboarding or skiing, you’re taking a risk. Some of us, depending on where we ride, are taking bigger risks than others.

But if you’re a typical skier or snowboarder, are you putting yourself in a ridiculous amount of danger?

Not really.

The rate of injury these days is much lower than it was in the past. Just a few decades ago, quick-release bindings, hard plastic boots and brakes on skis were the exception, rather than the rule. Helmets weren’t as common as they are in 2011.

Though a lot of the evidence is anecdotal, the ease of using shorter, shaped skis compared to older equipment has meant fewer falls and less injury.

These may seem like small technological advances taken one at a time, but put them all together and you’ll find that ski injuries have fallen by about 50 percent since they started being tracked in the 70s.

According to recent studies from the NSAA and other industry groups, the risk of being hurt badly enough to require medical attention clocks in at 0.2 to 0.4 percent — two to four skiers and snowboarders per every 1,000 on the hill.

Compared with the injury rates for other winter sports, like hockey, basketball and even cheerleading, skiing and snowboarding have the lowest injury rates by a decent margin.

Still, accidents happen.

Depending on your sport of choice, there’s a split on what kind of injuries are most common. This split, in fact, lines right up with your waist.

If you’re a skier, you’re more likely to sprain or break something in your lower body — break a leg, twist an ankle or pop an ACL.

If you’re a snowboarder, with your feet both attached to the board, you’re more likely to suffer some trauma to your upper body. If you’ve ever been riding and pitched forward onto your hands or elbows, you know what I’m talking about.

So skiing and riding are dangerous, but not as much as pop culture makes it seem. There are a few precautions to take that can make injury even less likely, and they fall into two camps: the equipment and the athlete.

Perhaps most importantly, keep your equipment in decent shape. All those improvements to ski and snowboard tech since the ’70s are great, but they aren’t worth a thing if they aren’t being used correctly.

Check the DIN on your bindings, and make sure it’s set correctly. Having a ski pop off when you don’t want it to — or not release when it should — are recipes for disaster.

Poorly fit boots can wreak havoc on your feet and ankles, and surrender some control when you’re skiing. Similarly, dull edges can turn what would typically be a nice slope into a slip-and-slide.

It seems like a no-brainer these days, but wear a helmet. In the last 10 years, head injuries among skiers and snowboarders have been cut in half, thanks to helmet use.

Aesthetics have improved as well, with Giro, Carrera and other companies making sleek helmets. A helmet looking dorky was never a good excuse for not wearing one, and now it’s no excuse at all.

As for the athlete, make sure you’re riding within your ability level. Keep your technique in check, even if it means a refresher lesson.

Fundamentals like keeping your weight forward, moving your body correctly through turns, and proper motion through bumps and crud can reduce the chances of falling. More importantly, they can help you fall “correctly” and minimize the chance of getting hurt.

If you’re exhausted, call it a day or stop to take a breather. I know that ski tickets are expensive and it’s tempting to ski from first to last chair, but research shows that most injuries occur in the afternoon when people are tired.

Finally, to echo the end of my last column, take the advice I should have followed from a snowboarder in Brackett Basin — “go around the trees.”

Josh Christie is a freelance writer and lifetime ski enthusiast. He writes this column every other week, sharing the space with his father, John Christie. Josh can be reached at:

joshua.j.christie@gmail.com