Category: Life in General

I sprained my knee in a bad way three days ago on our last ski run of the day.  Over the course of three days, we had been occasionally dropping/jumping off this eight foot or so drop off from the Giant Boulder trail at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in PA.

We have a group trip there every year that is good skiing and great companionship.  Last year we started doing a race that is comprised of the four Black Diamond trails on the north side of the resort.  The race went well this year though we had only four participants.  Two of them took the wrong lift up after the first run and ended up winning the race.  More on that later.

We had figured for a more leisurely run down one of the Blacks to wind up the day when Dan Elbon suggested we hit the drop off one more time.  We were all game for it but both Dan and I ran into problems.  According to friends and family on the lift that had  a great view of the action, Dan didn’t stick well and rolled down the whole drop zone.

I got a good stick but lost it shortly after that.  Dan was okay but with skis and poles akimbo.  I somehow managed to keep everything close.  My downhill (right) ski bindings finally popped, albeit too late for my knee, and one of my poles broke loose.  I got one good roll in that smacked my, thankfully helmeted, head into the ground.    I think perhaps I should have  just taken the fall.  I may have tried too hard to stick to my line which torqued my knee.  What can I say?  Can’t look back, eh?

So why “Getting a Leg Up After Skinny Skiing?”  I am keeping the knee elevated per the doctors orders…I  guess to keep the swelling down.  What to I know?  And I broke my streak of not falling.  Then last night I watched Caddyshack on TV.  Chevy Chase is talking to Judge Smails niece who says she likes “skinny skiing.”

I haven’t fallen in four or five years.  It was my mantra.  Then I kept bringing it up so I had to have jinxed myself…truly.  I skied in Vermont for five days in a row two weeks ago and stayed erect the whole time!

As regards the knee…it did not  feel good on the mountain.  I could not put weight on it in a way that I felt like I could get down the rest of the run.  As I mentioned,  a few people  I know saw me take the spill and there was a ski patrol shift supervisor going up the lift right about the time I realized that I needed help.  We talked, he came right down after he got to the top.  After a quick evaluation, he called for a sled, they splinted my leg, loaded me on a sled, and took me down to the First Aid shack

…that was scarier than getting out of control on a speed run…I was strapped into the sled upside down with my head on the down slope…perhaps the ski patrol dude was pissed off at me…he did not waste anytime getting down the hill…

where they loaded me up in a Suburban to take me to ski patrol central.  There they did another evaluation and someone like “Stuttering John” took my personal and accidental information for the records.  My sister Julie had tracked me down and had her hubby bring my hiking boots down for me so I could get out of my ski boots.

As I reflect back on the questions they asked about the whole incident, I wonder why they didn’t ask what the hell  I though I was doing running off the drop off.  I have only seen a few people do it and they mostly just drop off from a dead stop where as we were keeping up speed going off the thing.  Oddly, the ski patrol guys that I was talking to as they loaded me up in the sled agreed with me that it was a good drop off.  I guess they figured if I had the balls to go off the thing,  I was probably okay.  They said it was awesome earlier in the week when there was some fluff and the snow in the drop zone was softer.

Even considering the spill and risk I took, the ski  patrol did not give me any grief.  I am sure that they had seen  me on mountain.  My Budweiser pants  are hard to miss.  We had actually almost got shut down after the first run of our race.   Could have been anyone of us that got called for it because we came into the lift  area hard but Lee and I passed through to the next, and correct, lift while Matt and Dan stopped.  I think  it was Matt who was chastised for coming into the lift line too fast.

So I am sitting here with a leg, actually both, up the sofa.  It has been three days but I can put weight on the right leg and walk without support, though having my walking stick helps.  I got some crutches when stopped at my doctor’s on the way home  yesterday but they suck.

Many thanks to Julie and Ed…Julie took Ryan back to school at WVU and Ed drove me and my car home.  And thanks to them for taking care of me including moving all my baggage around and such.

I was able to put my socks and shoes on  by myself Monday which was good.  Today my knee feels much better.  I think the swelling is going down.  I am mobile.  I can feel the soreness in my right leg muscles which I gather are compensating for/protecting the ligaments or is  a result of the overall strain on my leg.  Flexibility is increasing and swelling decreasing daily.

Wiping out was a sorry way to wind up the trip but at least there seems to be no permanent damage and it was the last run of the day on what probably would have been the last day I skied on the trip. At least I got three good days in.

I have been on the road since last Friday when I left to head up to Vermont to ski.  En route I stopped to see my old Navy buddy Terry Boone in Avoca, PA.  We did our usual…head out with Terry’s boys and his dad for dinner and then went out for  few drinks.  Terry’s hospitality is endless.  I always enjoying seeing him and his family.

Saturday I drove from Avoca up to West Addison, VT, to visit my friend’s the Devino’s.  There’s another crew with endless hospitality.  They put me up a couple of times a year with hardly a whimper.  That night we got about 8 inches of snow.  I was dying to be on the slopes for the freshies but was committed to making chili.  Once that was  going well and needed only the occasional stir, I headed off to do some snowmobiling with little  Ed and then cross country skied for about two hours.

I had to cook the chili because everyone that tried it the the last time I made it there requested a repeat performance.  Did this one with venison.  I doubt most people would have known the difference but I could taste it in the cubed parts that I added.  It went over quite well again.  Linda made, at my request since it was my birthday, a pineapple upside down cake.  I love that stuff and rarely ever have it.  They all got me a six-pack of TB’s for my birthday…how well they know me.

Monday I had a good 2-3 hours of skiing at Mad River Glen before my legs gave out.  Tuesday I drove down to Killington and tacked a half day onto my 3-day package.  Once again I got in about 2-3 hours on the mountain.  When my legs are in good condition, I can ski about about 5.5 hours a day.  Yesterday I got about four hours in but it was in the single digits.  Today it was -8 at the bottom of the mountain when I got started at 10:30 and -1 at the top when I headed down for my last run at about 3:45.

I managed to stay reasonably comfortable by doing some serious layering, slathering my face and ears with Vaseline, and adding a thin fleece hat on top of the the balaclava I wear under my ski helmet.  Unfortunately, the toes are usually the first to get cold.  Thankfully you don’t really notice that when you are pounding down the mountain.  I did break down and buy some serious mittens at the end of the day today.  My gloves, though quite a nice pair, just weren’t cutting it.

One last note on managing the cold…as in lesson learned.  At one point yesterday I was moseying down a long cruiser trail.  I didn’t have any wind breaking pants on.  Take that as you will…  Also, for some dumb reason I was going camo.  Even though I had three layers of clothing on the lower half of the body, I darn near froze my you know whats off.  It was mighty uncomfortable.  Never again

Tomorrow it is supposed to be a few degrees warmer.  I’ll get out first thing and stay on the sunny side and try to get 4 or 5 hours in before I call it a day and head back up to Linda’s.  I’ll probably head out early Saturday to get back home.  Then we are off next Friday for 7 Springs for three more days of skiing.  Then I really have to start looking for a job.

Here are a few pics from the trip.  There’s nothing special.  Though all but one day on the mountain has been beautiful with views for miles, it has just been too damn cold to take pictures.

Leanto’s in DAR State Park in Addison County, VT.  I was cross-country skiing from my friend’s house.

 View across Lake Champlain to NY from DAR State Park.

 Mad River Glen Ski Area.

 View from near the top of Mt. Killington.