Football and boxing involve guaranteed sub-concussion head impacts every session and likely full concussions at least a few times a year.
Anecdotally, I have many friends, of both sexes, who like to go skiing, and after many decades none of them has ever been injured. Some falls from time to time are unavoidable, but if the speed is not excessive for the terrain and the fall is managed correctly, most falls will not result in injuries.
the freeride stuff is really popular now. i fortunately never got into it, seems a lot riskier
People who do not like unnecessary risks can go downhill as slow as they choose. Skiing speed is controllable, unless you are an inexperienced beginner, in which case you should not attempt to go downhill where that is too steep.
It’s a sport many people step away from for long periods of time (I.e. the muscles aren’t in shape and they're rusty) and it demands a lot unless you’re sticking to bunny slopes.
But its also a lot of fun. Its crazy how much we crave excitement in life but that excitement often carries enormous risks.
Have you ever seen ice hockey? Okay well imagine that if it was on a field and if you made it into a really fast and violent contact sport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandy#Bandy_and_ice_hockey
Ice hockey is generally used to mean the specific Olympic sport invented in Canada and played professionally in the NHL at the same level as the NFL.
In shinty a perfectly acceptable tackle is to hook someone's legs out from under them and then hit them as they go over to make sure they stay down for a bit.
Uh, what? Do you know what a body check is ?
Ice hockey is a really boring sport.