urungus
Well-known member
Went to Whistler on Friday December 27. Was cloudy on the way up from Vancouver so most of the spectacular scenery on the Sea-to-Sky highway was obscured. Took first run down a Upper Dave Murray which was used for the Men’s downhill in the 2010 Olympics. Was mostly ungroomed with big bumps which was a pleasant surprise and kept the crowds away. Next tried another black, Raven, which was groomed and not too challenging, something like Quantum Leap at Okemo. Then decided to check out the Harmony area. To get there from the Roundhouse, I had wanted to try blue square G.S. which is supposed to get relatively steep and bumpy at the bottom, but made the mistake of following the enormous ‘To Harmony’ signs which funneled you into crowded green cat track Marmot.
Big lineup at the Harmony Chair but it moved pretty quickly. The lame Vail trail report listed only two runs open, both blue, Harmony Ridge along the ridgeline and Harmony Piste in the valley below. But on the way up, I was surprised and excited to see swarms of people heading down the numerous black diamond chutes between the two trails. Started down Harmony Ridge trail, and in the flat light I didn’t see a rut in the trail caused by numerous beginners cutting left to take green circle Pika’s Traverse back to the Roundhouse.
Came to an immediate dead stop, ejected out of my skis, went flying through the air, and took the full force of the landing on my right shoulder. When I sat up my shoulder was killing me and I couldn’t raise my right arm. Uh-oh. Some kindly skiers stayed with me as we waited for the ski patrol. Medic eventually arrived and was convinced I had dislocated my shoulder. (I had not - turns out I broke off a chunk of the bulb on the top of my upper arm bone a.k.a. the humerus). So the medic spent several painful minutes trying to yank my “dislocated” shoulder back into place while I sucked down laughing gas from his large tank. Eventually he gave up and they strapped me into a sled for the “ride of shame” — had hoped to be able to ski down on my own, nobody wants to get carted off the field! It was a weird experience getting pulled behind a snowmobile that was going pretty fast and not being able to see where we were going, I could only look straight up at the sky. Was a pretty bumpy ride too. Eventually made it back to the Roundhouse, where they took me to the front of the line to download back down to the village. As I staggered into the gondola car, I managed to slam my broken arm into the door as it was closing - ouch.
Once back in the village, the ski patrol put me in a shuttle van to the local clinic. They took some xrays and confirmed the fracture, and the doctor shook his head when I told him how the on-hill medic had tried to force the arm back into place. They also charged me 1500 bucks, I thought health care in Canada was free? Only for Canucks I guess. Doc also gave me a note asking the airline to upgrade my seats on my flights back East the next day. But being the holiday season, both flights were sold out, no upgrades available, so I was wedged in an economy seat all the way home with much bumping and jostling of the broken arm.
Back in the states, they did a CT scan of the arm and the broken chunk is displaced to the point where they want to surgically repair it. So I am undergoing the knife tomorrow, wish me luck. My arm is feeling very slightly better and I adked the Doc on Friday if the surgery would send me back to square 1 and he said “more like square negative three”
He also said recovery will take 4-6 months, so I am hoping to make my triumphant return at Killington on Memorial Day. At the very least, it’ll give me something to work towards during the physical therapy. But realistically my season is shot
In conclusion,
1) Have some fun on my behalf.
2) Be careful out there, I usually have my worst wipe outs on easier runs where I am not respecting the mountain as I should.
3) Any recommendations for goggles / lenses that are good in flat light ?
4) Any advice on recovering from broken arm ? Everyone says to keep up with the physical therapy, but I don’t want to overdo it and set myself back.
Big lineup at the Harmony Chair but it moved pretty quickly. The lame Vail trail report listed only two runs open, both blue, Harmony Ridge along the ridgeline and Harmony Piste in the valley below. But on the way up, I was surprised and excited to see swarms of people heading down the numerous black diamond chutes between the two trails. Started down Harmony Ridge trail, and in the flat light I didn’t see a rut in the trail caused by numerous beginners cutting left to take green circle Pika’s Traverse back to the Roundhouse.
Came to an immediate dead stop, ejected out of my skis, went flying through the air, and took the full force of the landing on my right shoulder. When I sat up my shoulder was killing me and I couldn’t raise my right arm. Uh-oh. Some kindly skiers stayed with me as we waited for the ski patrol. Medic eventually arrived and was convinced I had dislocated my shoulder. (I had not - turns out I broke off a chunk of the bulb on the top of my upper arm bone a.k.a. the humerus). So the medic spent several painful minutes trying to yank my “dislocated” shoulder back into place while I sucked down laughing gas from his large tank. Eventually he gave up and they strapped me into a sled for the “ride of shame” — had hoped to be able to ski down on my own, nobody wants to get carted off the field! It was a weird experience getting pulled behind a snowmobile that was going pretty fast and not being able to see where we were going, I could only look straight up at the sky. Was a pretty bumpy ride too. Eventually made it back to the Roundhouse, where they took me to the front of the line to download back down to the village. As I staggered into the gondola car, I managed to slam my broken arm into the door as it was closing - ouch.
Once back in the village, the ski patrol put me in a shuttle van to the local clinic. They took some xrays and confirmed the fracture, and the doctor shook his head when I told him how the on-hill medic had tried to force the arm back into place. They also charged me 1500 bucks, I thought health care in Canada was free? Only for Canucks I guess. Doc also gave me a note asking the airline to upgrade my seats on my flights back East the next day. But being the holiday season, both flights were sold out, no upgrades available, so I was wedged in an economy seat all the way home with much bumping and jostling of the broken arm.
Back in the states, they did a CT scan of the arm and the broken chunk is displaced to the point where they want to surgically repair it. So I am undergoing the knife tomorrow, wish me luck. My arm is feeling very slightly better and I adked the Doc on Friday if the surgery would send me back to square 1 and he said “more like square negative three”
He also said recovery will take 4-6 months, so I am hoping to make my triumphant return at Killington on Memorial Day. At the very least, it’ll give me something to work towards during the physical therapy. But realistically my season is shot In conclusion,
1) Have some fun on my behalf.
2) Be careful out there, I usually have my worst wipe outs on easier runs where I am not respecting the mountain as I should.
3) Any recommendations for goggles / lenses that are good in flat light ?
4) Any advice on recovering from broken arm ? Everyone says to keep up with the physical therapy, but I don’t want to overdo it and set myself back.
Last edited:
