Your worst crash story

[Johnny V.]

Nastar Nationals Winter Park 2011. I drove out from Rochester to deliver the family piano to my daughter in Denver. Proceeded to Winter Park for the pre race and race events. Stayed with some buddies,raced the first day and was comfortably on top of my age and medal group. We got snow overnight so there was about 6-8" of fresh the next morning. Went out freeskiing as my race wasn't until 12:30. I was cranking down a slope (no idea which one) and I think I got cut off by a snowboarder (not really sure but I'll pass the blame). I probably caught an edge and ended up crashing on my left shoulder. Knocked the wind out of me and when I finally got up I realized something was not quite right. Skied down and wandered around the base area in kind of a daze. Finally said "screw it-I'm here, I'm in first place, I'm going for it" Loaded up on Advil, went back up and did course inspection. Made the first run (no push on the left side out of the gate) and was doing well until I crashed at the end. " Aw crap-gotta do it again!". I went back up and finished the second run. I ended up in 3rd for day 2 and second overall.

After the race, somehow I got my race suit off and the skis and gear back to the truck. Called my wife ( who was staying at Keystone with my daughter and her family) and said "I've got good news and bad news" Stayed for the awards ceremony then left my buddies at WP-I figured my wife could take better care of me than they could.

Went to urgent care in Denver-broken collarbone and two mallet fingers. My chest and arm were purple from bruising. We then had to drive back to NY with my arm in a sling. Pretty mild compared to others injuries (@dougbriggs), but still my worst crash.

 

[Core2]

Interesting stories, thread is not disappointing. My worst crash was a yard sale I did walking through an icy parking lot (in my ski boots) back to my car. All my gear went in all directions and I hit my head on the ice in front of like 10 people. Thankfully, I still had my helmet on but I was still rocked by that fall.

I haven't been in the hospital yet due to skiing but I kind of feel like it is just a matter of time. Does anyone go many years of regular skiing without a hospital visit?

 

[luliski]

I think there's another "crash" thread, but here's a picture from my worst. I fell at the very top of the Wall at Kirkwood. I caught a ski just as I was turning in, so I basically fell head first down the Wall (it's steep) and then proceeded to slide head first until I could get into a position to self-arrest. Only one ski ever came off, and that didn't happen until I twisted around to get my feet going downhill. I was barely moving when I fell over, but picked up a lot of speed sliding. I had severely bruised ribs that affected the rest of my ski season after that. I also had a bruised ego when my father, upon hearing about it, asked me if I should have been on that run. And to be honest, I had worked two twelve hour shifts, and then gotten up at 5:30 a.m. to drive two hours to meet and ski with my brother, so my coordination and reflexes were probably not at their best. Conditions were also firm enough that I couldn't even make a platform to get my ski back on, someone had to hold it for me.

I took this picture when I finally stopped and sat up. It's hard to see the top part where I fell, it's in the shadow at the top of the frame.

 

[Pequenita]

I haven't been in the hospital yet due to skiing but I kind of feel like it is just a matter of time. Does anyone go many years of regular skiing without a hospital visit?

Actually, I've never been in the hospital for my injuries, but maybe I'm parsing words too much. They were all diagnosed, etc. in infirmaries and on the mountain -- Tahoe Truckee Medical Group actually has a practice at the base of Squaw and an x ray machine! -- and not life-threatening (thank the Universe).

 

[pchewn]

I haven't been in the hospital yet due to skiing but I kind of feel like it is just a matter of time. Does anyone go many years of regular skiing without a hospital visit?

50 years of skiing: one hospital visit one set of stitches in the doctor's office.

 

[John Webb]

I fell at the very top of the Wall at Kirkwood. I caught a ski just as I was turning in, so I basically fell head first down the Wall (it's steep) and then proceeded to slide head first until I could get into a position to self-arrest. Only one ski ever came off, and that didn't happen until I twisted around to get my feet going downhill. I was barely moving when I fell over, but picked up a lot of speed sliding. I had severely bruised ribs that affected the rest of my ski season after that. I also had a bruised ego when my father, upon hearing about it, asked me if I should have been on that run. And to be honest, I had worked two twelve hour shifts, and then gotten up at 5:30 a.m. to drive two hours to meet and ski with my brother, so my coordination and reflexes were probably not at their best. Conditions were also firm enough that I couldn't even make a platform to get my ski back on, someone had to hold it for me.

What's uncanny is my only bad injury ever was exactly like yours,@luliski, same place same run at KW 10 years ago. 4th ski day of the year. I was frantically trying to self arrest when sliding quickly toward trees. Stopped eventually before trees and was in pain and found I could not turn one ski. skied to stump on one ski then sat down for 30 minutes. Now on lower easier part of The Wall and skied down on own slowly on one ski. Done for the day, Done for the year with a broken fibula bone -an injury I don't remember happening while sliding. Bad day as on previous run I watched a 30ish racer fly into the woods off the upper HSQ lift.and called the ski patrol. She was not responding and was medivaced out. Then not 15 minutes prior to my accident I warned an Aussie how icy it was. IMHO none of the top runs should have been open due to very hard/icy snow due to no snow in 30 days.

 

[François Pugh]

@Core2 , I skied for about 40 years before I went to a hospital for a skiing injury. I've broken wrists, broken ribs, had concussions, and had a third degree (three torn ligaments, collarbone a inch and a half too low) shoulder separation, but the worst is described below.

I was skiing a tiny no account hill on a very icy day. On my way to the mogul run I pass two skiers who had taken a look at the moguls and decided to climb back up. I tell them, "Don't go back. Let me show you the easy way down!", which I had been lapping for an hour or two. I then proceed to fall on my adz on the second bump/turn. Pride totally busted!
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

 

[Willyum215]

As a teen I got some pretty nasty ice rash on my cheek and forehead while jumping through trees on a pretty mellow switchback trail here at one of the bumps in NE PA. I tried to come down on the transition on my right edges to keep it moving but hit a patch of ice, edges slid out and I came right down on my face. This was in the early 90's so no one wore a helmet. No concussion or anything, just some serious pizza face.
Not so bad... until the scabs started to dry later that day. The cracking when trying to smile/talk sucked...

 

[Tricia]

Worsts crash:
I was at Mammoth for a demo, low snow year. The Blizzard Rep was going go for a run with us so we went up Chair 23 to do Wipe Out Chute.
The entrance was a little sketchy but the rest of the chute had nice chalky wind buff.
I made the first two turns in the entrance, got back on my heels a little and slid the whole chute, past the rep who was standing off to the side about 2/3 down, and stopped near Phil at the bottom of the chute.
I wasn't hurt, but I was freaked out as I was sliding because I knew there were some big consequences if I hit some of the protruding rocks, so I screamed like a 5 year old with a skinned knee, "Oh my gawd, I'm gonna die!!!"
There was absolutely no dignity in how I crashed, slid and screamed.
When I stopped near Phil, his face was white. Clem(Rep friend) skied to me and his face was white.
Both of them were eager to make sure I was okay, which I was, but I was really shook up.
Clem looked at me and said, "Glad you're okay, now you have to go slay the beast."
I wasn't so sure about that, but told him that I'd ride up the chair and consider it. I did, and I skied it very very tentatively, but I did it, and I've been back to ski it a few times since then.

 

[K2 Rat]

1977, Val Gardena

My first training run in the DH went south quickly.

Dr. Duanne Messner is performing his on-site triage while Pat Bauman (of The Peformers I believe @Philpug, @K2 Rat ???) looks on in the US Team outfit.
View attachment 35050
It is hard to see in this photo, but the helmet, a Bell motorcycle helmet, sustained significant damage and was missing fiberglass. There wasn't much snow so the impact was pretty significant.

Another guy had fallen and a helicopter requested for him prior to my incident. He didn't need to be air-lifted out so they called off the helicopter not realizing there were two calls, not one, so I spent a bit of time on the snow waiting to be evacuated. It may have been all for the good as it permitted some significant time for my back to be 'iced' lying on the snow.

(I just noticed for the first time that Duane has Scott boots.)

In the helicopter on my way to the hospital in Merano.
View attachment 35049
The cabin was too small for me; I had to bend my legs to keep from applying pressuring to my spine.

The nurses in the ED didn't want to cut off my DH suit as they recognized its value. The doctor came in and sheared it off without a second thought. I'm not sure what they thought about the bright red union suit I wore under the speed suit. ;-)

View attachment 35048
Traction. I had some oral surgery done either right before or right after this as I'd knocked out my front teeth. The dentist didn't speak much English so it was a bit surreal getting the root canals.

My 'cheat sheet' for communicating with the nursing staff. As the Dolomites are in Italy and close to Austria they speak both Italian and German.
View attachment 35051

The food was very nice and the care I received, if not absolutely the most modern, was excellent. Most notable wash the whenever I would indicate 'schmerzen', I'd get a jab with a needle and presumably some morphine. I did not experience a lot of pain in the hospital. Constipation was not addressed during the first week. They wanted me stablized before they tried all sorts of remedies for that. Cascara did the trick eventually.

I spent Christmas and my 20th birthday in Italy. There were lots of British women married to Italian men so they would come by with encouragement, reading material and a gift or two. Being a ski racer meant that I was a rock star. It was an interesting time to say the least.
View attachment 35053
I still have this candle stick and a few other mementos.

View attachment 35052
The article that appeared in Ski Racing following my wreck.

I compressed vertebrae, T3 to T5ish, knocked out/broke three teeth and suffered a severe concussion. Recovery involved a body cast (3 months), a few months using a back brace and fixing the teeth. Since then I've had (knock on wood) no problems with my back that could be associated with the injury. I've experienced concussions since then and given their severity I'm a bit nervous about my noggin.

I retired from ski racing after this incident and returned to college where I got my BS in Computer Science, then went on to work at Apple for a few years before becoming self-employed.

Wow -- I knew you crashed and retired after that, but did not know the full details. I can't even come close to topping your crash and don't ever plan on it. You get lots of bonus points for the pictures !!

And yes, Pat Bauman was part of the K2 Performers. Interesting that he went on to be a US Ski team coach. Too bad he did not teach you better jumping technique !!

 

[luliski]

I think there's another "crash" thread, but here's a picture from my worst. I fell at the very top of the Wall at Kirkwood. I caught a ski just as I was turning in, so I basically fell head first down the Wall (it's steep) and then proceeded to slide head first until I could get into a position to self-arrest. Only one ski ever came off, and that didn't happen until I twisted around to get my feet going downhill. I was barely moving when I fell over, but picked up a lot of speed sliding. I had severely bruised ribs that affected the rest of my ski season after that. I also had a bruised ego when my father, upon hearing about it, asked me if I should have been on that run. And to be honest, I had worked two twelve hour shifts, and then gotten up at 5:30 a.m. to drive two hours to meet and ski with my brother, so my coordination and reflexes were probably not at their best. Conditions were also firm enough that I couldn't even make a platform to get my ski back on, someone had to hold it for me.
View attachment 35083
I took this picture when I finally stopped and sat up. It's hard to see the top part where I fell, it's in the shadow at the top of the frame.

What's uncanny is my only bad injury ever was exactly like yours,@luliski, same place same run at KW 10 years ago. 4th ski day of the year. I was frantically trying to self arrest when sliding quickly toward trees. Stopped eventually before trees and was in pain and found I could not turn one ski. skied to stump on one ski then sat down for 30 minutes. Now on lower easier part of The Wall and skied down on own slowly on one ski. Done for the day, Done for the year with a broken fibula bone -an injury I don't remember happening while sliding. Bad day as on previous run I watched a 30ish racer fly into the woods off the upper HSQ lift.and called the ski patrol. She was not responding and was medivaced out. Then not 15 minutes prior to my accident I warned an Aussie how icy it was. IMHO none of the top runs should have been open due to very hard/icy snow due to no snow in 30 days.

I didn't know what I was sliding towards, that made it even worse.

 

[Tricia]

proceeded to slide head first until I could get into a position to self-arrest. Only one ski ever came off, and that didn't happen until I twisted around to get my feet going downhill.

On my crash, I attempted to self arrest at first but was not successful, which is when I started panicking. I know panic is not a good method of survival, but...whew!

 

[luliski]

On my crash, I attempted to self arrest at first but was not successful, which is when I started panicking. I know panic is not a good method of survival, but...whew!

I can't believe you went back and skied it! That is brave.
I couldn't self-arrest at first either. I wasn't in a good position. I was wriggling around trying to get into a better position without starting a major tomahawk situation...

 

[Tricia]

I can't believe you went back and skied it! That is brave.
I couldn't self-arrest at first either. I wasn't in a good position. I was wriggling around trying to get into a better position without starting a major tomahawk situation...

To say that I skied it, is generous. Every turn was deliberate and slooooooow.
Clem said, "You can totally ski that, you just got back on your heels. Don't do that and you'll be fine."
I'm pretty sure that I did it immediately after I crashed because I figured that I'd never do it if I didn't do it then.
During the fall, I'm really not sure but I feel like I was spinning as I slid.I do remember bumps, lots and lots of bumps, thankful that I wasn't hitting rocks.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Been to the hospital repeatedly in more than 70 years of skiing: Both Achilles Tendons, a skull fracture, separated sternum, and:

Run down from behind just moments after getting off the Mercury lift at Breck. Tibia plateau was in three pieces.

 

[Bill Miles]

Mine a comparatively pretty tame, but here they are:

My first winter at Sun Valley, one day when the snow conditions weren't very good, I skied off the groom into some frozen rutted snow, tripped up somehow and launched forward and up. I was thinking "this is going to hurt", and it did when I landed on my chest. I managed to ski to the bottom of Warm Springs, rode to the top and skied down to the bottom of River Run where my car was. Went to the doctor the next day he couldn't tell for sure if i had a cracked rib or just bruised. i was off skis for a ,month.

At Aspen Highlands once with about 8" of heavy-ish powder, I was trying to impress a lady with a turn. Instead, I fell and jammed a little finger pretty bad. I guess she wasn't too impressed since she skied away.

Again at Aspen Highlands, I decided to try Deception, a very steep bump run, since I thought the 12" of new snow would cover up the bumps. It was still pretty tough going, I fell about halfway down, both skis came off, and I slid a fair amount despite the new snow and bumps. By the time I climbed back up to retireve my skis, I thought I might have a heart attack. Never tried that run again.

 

[Tricia]

1977, Val Gardena

My first training run in the DH went south quickly.

Dr. Duanne Messner is performing his on-site triage while Pat Bauman (of The Peformers I believe @Philpug, @K2 Rat ???) looks on in the US Team outfit.
View attachment 35050
It is hard to see in this photo, but the helmet, a Bell motorcycle helmet, sustained significant damage and was missing fiberglass. There wasn't much snow so the impact was pretty significant.

Another guy had fallen and a helicopter requested for him prior to my incident. He didn't need to be air-lifted out so they called off the helicopter not realizing there were two calls, not one, so I spent a bit of time on the snow waiting to be evacuated. It may have been all for the good as it permitted some significant time for my back to be 'iced' lying on the snow.

(I just noticed for the first time that Duane has Scott boots.)

In the helicopter on my way to the hospital in Merano.
View attachment 35049
The cabin was too small for me; I had to bend my legs to keep from applying pressuring to my spine.

The nurses in the ED didn't want to cut off my DH suit as they recognized its value. The doctor came in and sheared it off without a second thought. I'm not sure what they thought about the bright red union suit I wore under the speed suit. ;-)

View attachment 35048
Traction. I had some oral surgery done either right before or right after this as I'd knocked out my front teeth. The dentist didn't speak much English so it was a bit surreal getting the root canals.

My 'cheat sheet' for communicating with the nursing staff. As the Dolomites are in Italy and close to Austria they speak both Italian and German.
View attachment 35051

The food was very nice and the care I received, if not absolutely the most modern, was excellent. Most notable wash the whenever I would indicate 'schmerzen', I'd get a jab with a needle and presumably some morphine. I did not experience a lot of pain in the hospital. Constipation was not addressed during the first week. They wanted me stablized before they tried all sorts of remedies for that. Cascara did the trick eventually.

I spent Christmas and my 20th birthday in Italy. There were lots of British women married to Italian men so they would come by with encouragement, reading material and a gift or two. Being a ski racer meant that I was a rock star. It was an interesting time to say the least.
View attachment 35053
I still have this candle stick and a few other mementos.

View attachment 35052
The article that appeared in Ski Racing following my wreck.

I compressed vertebrae, T3 to T5ish, knocked out/broke three teeth and suffered a severe concussion. Recovery involved a body cast (3 months), a few months using a back brace and fixing the teeth. Since then I've had (knock on wood) no problems with my back that could be associated with the injury. I've experienced concussions since then and given their severity I'm a bit nervous about my noggin.

I retired from ski racing after this incident and returned to college where I got my BS in Computer Science, then went on to work at Apple for a few years before becoming self-employed.

I've heard this story a couple times and I'm always wow'd.
Let me say, I'm glad you're here to ski another day.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

My biggest one was earlier this month at Killington when the snowboarder took me out. It was what I considered a steep black and I was making my way down this trail minding my own business when I hear "watch out" and before I even had a chance to look, let alone scream I was on my a$$ sliding down this steep pitch to the unknown. It seemed like the boarder was going fast when he hit me due to how fast I seemed to be sliding. What freaked me out was it was a good pitch so he sent me flying and I had no idea where my head/feet were and what I was going to hit when I stopped sliding. Grateful I didn't hit my head, fell on my left arm, and my skis eventually stopped me as they were apparently what was facing down hill. It was the most terrifying take out/crash I've ever experienced and I was shattered to the core. He took off after he mowed me down and it happened so fast I didn't even have the chance to curse some obscenities at him, let alone see who did it. One guy brought me my poles and countless people asked me if I was ok as I was sitting there sobbing with my head in my hands. Another kind soul came over to me, helped me untangle my legs as one ski was underneath the other, helped me pop off my ski and then held it for me so I could click in. I skied down the remainder of the trail, we skied down the other black trails that lead to the base. I grabbed a beer and tried to shake myself out of it. I tried to ski the next day but was still so spooked that one scrape from a boarder behind me and I was sent into a crying panic. I've since had 2 successful ski days. I'm grateful I wasn't hurt and I'm very angry about the skiers code and how the guy who hit me was such a violator of it.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Wow -- I knew you crashed and retired after that, but did not know the full details. I can't even come close to topping your crash and don't ever plan on it. You get lots of bonus points for the pictures !!

And yes, Pat Bauman was part of the K2 Performers. Interesting that he went on to be a US Ski team coach. Too bad he did not teach you better jumping technique !!

I wasn't absolutely certain it was the same Bauman and wish I'd known at the time what his history was. BTW, I throughly enjoyed the 50 Years of Serious Fun. Thanks.

Edit: BTW, it wasn't a jump that got me, it was not keeping my head up. I found out 25 year later, almost to the day, that I put my head down and did a split.

I've heard this story a couple times and I'm always wow'd.
Let me say, I'm glad you're here to ski another day.

Me too. Imagine all the great people I would never have met if I had quit skiing altogether. I love my skiing family.

 

[Doug Briggs]

My biggest one was earlier this month at Killington when the snowboarder took me out. It was what I considered a steep black and I was making my way down this trail minding my own business when I hear "watch out" and before I even had a chance to look, let alone scream I was on my a$$ sliding down this steep pitch to the unknown. It seemed like the boarder was going fast when he hit me due to how fast I seemed to be sliding. What freaked me out was it was a good pitch so he sent me flying and I had no idea where my head/feet were and what I was going to hit when I stopped sliding. Grateful I didn't hit my head, fell on my left arm, and my skis eventually stopped me as they were apparently what was facing down hill. It was the most terrifying take out/crash I've ever experienced and I was shattered to the core. He took off after he mowed me down and it happened so fast I didn't even have the chance to curse some obscenities at him, let alone see who did it. One guy brought me my poles and countless people asked me if I was ok as I was sitting there sobbing with my head in my hands. Another kind soul came over to me, helped me untangle my legs as one ski was underneath the other, helped me pop off my ski and then held it for me so I could click in. I skied down the remainder of the trail, we skied down the other black trails that lead to the base. I grabbed a beer and tried to shake myself out of it. I tried to ski the next day but was still so spooked that one scrape from a boarder behind me and I was sent into a crying panic. I've since had 2 successful ski days. I'm grateful I wasn't hurt and I'm very angry about the skiers code and how the guy who hit me was such a violator of it.

Hit and runs are absolute asses. My roommate reminds me that if he is ever hit to chase down the offender if he (roommate) isn't in need of life-saving assistance.

I'm glad you weren't physically hurt and hope you can recover your confidence and return to the slopes soon.