Skeleton: You've probably never heard of it. And, after next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, you probably won't again for another four years.
But the obscure, luge-like sport will be worth tuning into for at least four reasons this winter--the helmets worn by the members of Canada's skeleton team.
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If you aren't familiar with skeleton, it's a sport in which individual competitors lay face down on a smell sled then try to navigate an icy track as fast as possible. Head-first. Needless to say, helmets are rather important here.
So how did Team Canada skeletoners settle on such cool designs? The Canadian Olympic Team's official site has a full rundown. But we think Eric Neilsen -- who wears that spooky, fiery-eyed number -- gives the best background.
"The story behind mine was pretty much that I wanted a very 'bad ass' helmet," he says. "I know you can’t put that in a write up, but that’s what I wanted. It’s pretty much a 'Demon Head' helmet that is on fire and is breathing fire out of the mouth that are skulls."
Word, Eric. Word.
Here's a full look at Team Canada's trippy helmets:
1. Sarah Reid's helmet features a Day of the Dead-inspired design.
IMAGE: GENE SWEENEY JR/GETTY IMAGES
2. Eric Neilson's is a little spookier.
IMAGE: TODD KOROL/GETTY IMAGES
3. John Fairbairn's helmet provides a pseudo-window into his brain.
IMAGE: TODD KOROL/GETTY IMAGES
4. A horse skeleton rides high on Mellisa Hollingsworth's helmet.
IMAGE: RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES
5. Neilson says he wanted a "bad-ass" helmet.
IMAGE: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
6. Reid went for something "feminine, but still kind of scary and deadly looking."
IMAGE: TODD KOROL/GETTY IMAGES
7. Hollingsworth's helmet was painted by Voodoo Airbrushing in Ontario.
IMAGE: RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES
8. You must watch Olympic skeleton now, or Sarah Reid's helmet will haunt your dreams forever.
IMAGE: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES