First Ski Experience!!!

[skifanatic10]

I just want to start this story by saying that this happened on my FIRST ski trip EVER on January 28, 2006!

My friend had been asking me for a few years to go to their ski house at Okemo, but I start for my premier soccer team, so I was always to busy (Yes, I do play in the winter). Well a few weekends ago I finally got a break in my schedule and told my friend I could go.

It just so happened that my first skiing experience occured on one of the nicest days this winter. I'm new to skiing so my friends parents drove me to a local ski shop to get rentals. The people working there were undecided on wether to give me adult skis or junior skis (Im only 5'4", 115 lbs and I'm 15). They finally decided to give me the junior skis (VERY IMPORTANT TO THE STORY!!!) instead of the adult skis. My two friends who I went up with started me on the magic carpet at about 9:15 A.M. After a few runs it looked and felt like I was getting a hold of things. So they decided to bring me up to Sacheum Trail, a beginner level trail. Al was going fine, I had only fallen a handful of times all day. As time passed we got closer to the bottom of the trail. The, about 75 yards from the end of the trail IT happened! I still don't know what happened to this day. I was skiing along fine, then all of a sudden I was falling face first into the snow. About halfway through my face-plant I heard a loud POP! Well my friends rushed over (Well one did at first, the other was laughing thinking I was joking) to see what happened. Seems my bindings didn't release. So one pullued off my skis and the boot on my injured leg, and the other went to get ski patrol. Well I sit here now typing on my computer, about nine days after the incident, two visits to the orthepedist, an MRI, and three physical therapy lessons later (Yes they already have me doing physical therapy) with slight, but significant enough to keep me from being my normal, hyper self, tears in my ACL, LCL, and MCL. Thats right folks all three ligaments. They say I will miss anywhere from six to eight months of physical activity.

So my soccer season is now over (try explaining this to your coach....Umm I can't play soccer for eight months...WHAT!!!WHY!!!...I tore my ACL, LCL, and MCL...DOING WHAT!!!!...Skiing...)and I can't even indulge in my newfound favorite sport skiing!!!

So basically it all comes back to that @$#%*&! moron at the ski shop. THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN ME THE ADULT SKIS!!! :angry:

 

[ctenidae]

Well, tehy should have set your bindings right, anyway. Nothing to do with the skis.

That sucks, though. Maybe you should talk to the shop- I'm not the litigious type, but if your DINS were set that far wrong, well, that's just wrong.

Hope you heal up quicker than the docs say. Stay on your PT.

 

[skifanatic10]

Thnxs, the adult skis did in fact have differnet bindings than the junior skis. I do't think I'll be out as long as they say I will. The day It happened I couldn't move. Now I'm up and moving. At PT and in gym I've been riding a stationary bike 10 mins a day. I went from not being able to bend amy knee at all to being able to bend it almost 100 degrees in just nine days. But all I can do is hope!

 

[riverc0il]

damn, that stinks! sorry to hear your first ski experience ended with an injury. sounds like you were having fun until the accident though, hopefully you will give it another shot next season.

having broken part of my elbow this season, i can relate to the rapid recovery of functionality through PT. it is amazing how much you loose and how long it takes to get back in comparison. but it is equally amazing when it starts coming back. here's to your speedy recovery.

:beer:

 

[andyzee]

Sux, all the best with your recovery and hope you give it a try next season. It's a blast!

 

[hammer]

Thnxs, the adult skis did in fact have differnet bindings than the junior skis. I do't think I'll be out as long as they say I will. The day It happened I couldn't move. Now I'm up and moving. At PT and in gym I've been riding a stationary bike 10 mins a day. I went from not being able to bend amy knee at all to being able to bend it almost 100 degrees in just nine days. But all I can do is hope!

Maybe this is just a dumb question, but how would "adult" bindings release before "junior" bindings? I'd think that the setting was just wrong...

In any case, sorry to read (hear) of your injury. Hopefully youth will be in your favor and you will heal quickly...

 

[tekweezle]

that's terrible. get well soon. nobody likes to hear that a person gets hurt much less on their first time out.

usuallly short skis are more forgiving. sounds like you had an unlucky break....

 

[BeanoNYC]

wow, judging by your AZ Handle, I thought you were going to tell up you were skiing zipperline down a double black bump trail. Sorry that happened. You have the ski bug now though! You should give it another try when you heal up.

 

[madskier6]

Wow, sorry to hear that. I hope you heal up quick with no long term damage. I also hope you won't give up on skiing as it is the best!!

Next year, you might want to take a lesson to start out. I'm not saying that a lesson would have avoided your injuries but it may have minimized them if you had learned the proper technique at the proper pace. From your post, it appears that your friends showed you the proper technique and then took you down Sachem Trail? They may have showed you everything correctly but I'm a firm believer in taking a lesson from the professionals for your first time out on skis.

Heal up and keep posting here!

 

[RISkier]

Very sorry to hear you were injured on your first day. Can't really speak to the binding issue. There are some falls that bindings just won't release from. Will you need surgery, or will PT and time do it? Get well!

 

[NYDrew]

Im really sorry to hear that you got hurt your first time, but at least you didnt let it ruin your great impression of skiing.

Just out of curiosity...do you remember the DIN settings on your skiis? Thats the numbers in the little windows on the bindings, they are a mesure of the bindings current retention settings.

If not, by procedure ski patrol should have recorded it in the incident report. I bet its set too high.


Get a lawyer...i think that shop might owe you 8 months compensation because I bet that that binding was way too high (heel should have released in the face plant, toe should have released in what ever movement caused your PCL to go)

Dr. Rufeh, orthopedist at LIJ hospital in Queens NY. He is one of, if not the, best knee surgeons in the world. My father was skiing shortly after his ACL surgery, reconstructed his ankle back in the 80s when everyone else thought he would never walk again and he reconstructed my hand when 4 other doctors said I would never be able to hold anything again.

 

[tirolerpeter]

First Time Disaster

There is something fishy here. Junior bindings, senior bindings, it is all irrelevant. Those bindings should have released. If you told the shop that you were a "first time skier" they would have set your bindings for a "Type I" skier. Those skis should have literally fallen off at the slightest provocation! Check with the ski patrol to see if their report lists the din settings. Even then, the bindings could have been defective. Pursue this!

 

[bigbog]

...

Sorry to hear the news sf10,
Well...it's time to get some of life's priorities straightened out dude....!!
Take the rehab in stride and you'll be ready for next Winter's skiing without having to bother with all the other crap...soccer...etc 8)

 

[riverc0il]

not sure if this is standard procedure or not, but when i had my accident, ski patrol took a look at my bindings because i reported the accident due to binding failure which is when the noticed the misadjusted DIN. in that case, it was my own fault and i paid the price (literally, docs bills are damn expensive even with insurance!). but since the skis were rentals and adjusted at the hill, you may want to do as the others have said and pursue this. tirolerpeter is correct that as a first time skier, the bindings should have popped off really easily if correctly adjusted for your specs as a first timer. if you can't remember where they adjusted the DIN, you can probably ask ski patrol about the report they did on your accident or see if the rental shop has records (though if the binding was mis-adjusted, the shop records might not be accurate for what actually happened so i think ski patrol records would be more accurate). even it was a bad adjustment, you definitely have some room to ask for some money. i am normally the LAST person to suggest going after a ski area, but if you busted up your leg because a big ski corporation did not adjust your bindings correctly, you definitely shouldn't be paying a red cent for any of your health and recovery expenses nor any of your other hardships due to the injury.

 

[ctenidae]

Interesting thought on the ski patrol report. You should definitely get a copy of that. If you can get the ski shop's report, too, the comparison might prove interesting.

As for going after teh ski shop, that's a judgement call. If it was SkiMarket or some large chain, the go for it- you don't want to build a relationship with them, anyway. If it was a smaller shop, and one that, aside from this, you were satisfied with (though it doesn't really sound like it), then you have to decide which is more important- the relationship or the money. Although, if you approach them and they try to blow you off or are uncooperative or disingenuous, then you probably don't want to do business with them anymore, anyway. Their shop will have an insurance policy that covers these things, as well.

 

[SkiDork]

sounds to me like there was some bizarre thing going on that caused them not to release. Maybe the bindings were in need of lubrication or something.

Anyway, the shop guy could have tested them on the bench by seeing how much pressure it took for release (something anyone can do).

Very possibly they were adjusted correctly but when they were out on the hill something prevented them from releasing. A UFO or something....

 

[kickstand]

you tore your ACL, LCL and MCL all in one shot? That must have been one interesting fall. Can't ever recall hearing that combination of ligaments torn in one knee in the same accident, especially an LCL and MCL.

The light physical therapy before surgery is normal. I did some before my ACL surgery, although it was unsupervised. My only advice to you is keep up with the therapy. Do everything the docs tell you. Don't be afraid to push yourself a little bit, but be smart about it. Once supervised therapy is over, keep up with it on your own. Put it in your appointment book, do it between homework assignments, whatever. You have to keep up with it. If you do, your new knee will be stronger than the other one.

Best of luck to you, and don't let this discourage you from skiing. Get back out there someday and give it another shot.

 

[Tyrolean_skier]

Sorry to hear you experienced an injury on your first day out on skis. As everyone has already said, if the bindings were set correctly they should have released right away if they were set for a beginner skier. I am sure your soccer coach won't be too happy with the news especially if you were one of his top players. I know that your age will prove to be an asset on the road to recovery. It seems to me that kids heal much faster than adults. Do come back and try it again and next time take a lesson. Maybe you were not ready for the slope that you were on when this happened. Wishing you a short recovery.

 

[skifanatic10]

I got a third opinion on my knee and it turns out I only tore two ligaments in my knee. They were actually the PCL and LCL. I have my surgery on Feb. 10, and my suregeon says in about 2 to 3 weeks after the surgery I will be able to start physical therapy again. The big picture is going to take quite a bit of time. My orthepediast says it will take about 6 months before I am fully healed. O well, some things just dont go the way they were planned.

As for giving skiing another shot, I have already begun to think about next years ski season.

Thanks for all the support.

 

[jps332]

thats a shame man, hope you get a speedy recovery

ya, keep up with your PT, it will deffinetly help you to heal that leg