Man, that was some
really good skiing and the whole city, it seemed, wanted some of it.Inside of the lodge, there was hardly an untracked spot and of course, some of the best food in town was being served. It's always cool when you see a client doing well, especially at a place that you patron. So, I'm skiing, patrolling, instructing, hanging out with some really great people and eating some of our client's best stuff.
Is it much better than that?
So, on Sunday, I decided it would be a good idea to do some extra patrolling since it was so darned busy and because of the improving weather, it looked to be even more so.
Met up with one of the newbie's, Randy and we ski'd a bunch of runs together - helping out along the way and checking out his new Nordica Speedmachine 8's. Those things are so sweet and he ski's them particularly well. He's a great guy and I'm going to enjoy patrolling with him for many years to come.
After a few hours of patrolling, a guest came up to us wondering if he had the wrong ski's on. He said that he'd been skiing a few times before and wanted to know if the ski's he had on were somehow different from the one's he had previously rented because the others were "so much easier to turn". We talked about ski length, edge cut and all that but he really wasn't getting it. I told him that there were other ski's to try and that if he wanted to, to just go back to the ski rental shop and ask for a new pair. I recommended a shorter mid-fat and off he went.
Well, as soon as he started to ski away, it became pretty obvious what the problem was. His turning came from
the shoulders and it was almost as if he was trying to steer a truck or roll a barrel of beer from side to side. I looked at Randy, he looked at me and then I decided that it would be better to catch up to the guest and ask if I could make a few suggestions on his skiing technique. Which I did and ski'd with him for a bit and gave him some pointers about the "ready" position, balance, quieting his shoulders and turning from the hips, knees and ankles in an effort to make him more comfortable.Seemed to do the immediate trick and he was thankful for the input. A little later I saw him ski by and he was doing much better. Then, somehow we got in line together and I offered to ski a run with him to give him a more extended "lesson" on some more appropriate technique. It was fun to ski with him, he was a very willing student and it made me feel good to help out someone that wanted to enjoy skiing but was struggling with his technique. Later in the day,
he ski'd by again...yelled out my name and said "I GET IT!". Made me feel good.OK, so, after finishing up patrolling, at about 330p, I took a bit of a break to have lunch out on the veranda (fancy name for cement deck). Absolutely perfect day...sunny, but with enough chill in the air to make the hot sandwich and cool soda go down so well. Met up with Paul (OEC bud) and his very attractive girlfriend and chatted a bit. Paul's a first class guy...I hope we get to ski together more in the future. About 3 weeks ago, he and I handled one of my first actual "backboarding" incidents together. Anyway, after chatting with Paul, I changed coats and became an instructor and headed out for my first class of the day. All adults, 11 in total and it was going to be a blast!
On the way out the door, Tigger and Pooh were hanging out...had to get a shot of them. One really cool thing about HV is the way people really get into having fun. It's not all serious and 'life and death'...it's really enjoyable to be around and the atmosphere is typically pretty light hearted. If you remember from an original post, my entire goal and motivation this year was to really enjoy a season of skiing. So far, that's been happening, even with the patroller struggles earlier it's been well worth the commitment and time and effort.
So, up the hill we go to the Learner's Area and we get organized and we begin the lesson. As we start, things are going great. Everyone's getting the "arc the turn" concept...they're feeling the balance, they can all walk and slide and stop on one ski and then two and now it's time for the star-turn, which everyone gets pretty well. And, that's when it happened.
Every time I teach a class, one of the biggest things I discuss first is traffic awareness, safety when entering an active trail, making sure the path is clear, etc... And, my last word to them, on that subject is, "And, eventhough it's the up-hill skier's responsibilty to avoid you, if they run into you, you're still the one that gets hurt". And DAMN, if that's not exactly what happened. Literally, as I complete that sentence I start looking up the hill and pointing for any traffic and making sure that the area is clear because the class is about to ski onto the open trail behind me. As I do that, I stop about 25 feet from the edge of the Magic Carpet, look uphill one more time, don't see anybody and then turn my attention back to the class. I guess I must have been looking slightly downhill and talking with one of the students because as soon as I said "ok, ski back to the carpet now"...a snowboarder hit me from behind, on my right, and took both of my legs out from underneath me.
I was planted, just standing there with my poles up and I could feel him rolling into my right knee and then my weight folding over the top of the boarder to the right. I immediately felt my left ski release but for some reason, the right ski hung on to my boot and the boarder rolled over my knee and that's when I felt the burning sensation. I didn't feel or hear a pop, but it sure as heck started to hurt and hurt bad.
Likely, I slid about 10 feet or so from the point of impact and when I tried to put some weight on my right foot to leverage myself up, my knee wasn't going to have any of that. I won't tell you the words I started saying to myself . . . but most of them started with FUCK.
Within seconds, one of my patroller buds Rob was there and he could tell I was in pain. Not recognizing him at first, when he said "can I help you, can I take off your ski's?" I very rudely said, "stay away and get the patrol". To which he responded, "Brian, it's me...I am with the patrol". I was so pissed at being hurt that I didn't even look to see who it was. He asked me what happened and I looked over at the boarder and said "that little shithead just rolled me over". Now, in retrospect, I can't really blame the boarder because he was a student, learning how to board and no doubt being out of control is just part of the deal. I do wish he would have at least said "LOOOOOOK OUT!" before he plowed into me, but that didn't happen and I found myself laying on the snow wondering what the hell just happened to my knee.
Within about 2 minutes, there were many voices around me, instructors, other patrollers, people I didn't recognize. It wasn't fun.
The long and short of it is that one of the other instructors picked up for my class and I got to experience the best care that HV's Patrol can provide. I never thought I'd get to experience that but after having done so, it's likely the best possible scenario for any patroller in training; to have the experience of being 'taken care of' with an injury. In my case, a real one, but for training, it could be 'faked' to experience everything from on-scene arrival through loading into the ambulance to get the full scope of the experience.
So, I get sledded to the Patrol Room and who is there to meet me but Dick, the OEC instructor and all around good dude...really good dude! As he always does, he's kind and careful and examined me and took the notes and did all the things you're supposed to do. Eventually, he along with several others, got my leg splinted and had me ready to be shipped off for the exam at the hospital.
Probably the
dummest thing I did was insist that my wife drive me to the ER, rather than take the ambulance ride. I won't repeat that mistake. She was all worked up anyway, after hearing that I was hurt; to make her come out to the hill and get me into the car and then drive me to the ER was not smart, on my part. It added to her fear and anger and just got me all riled up because she wouldn't calm down. Next time, 
I'll take the bus...or, as one of my clients calls it, the Whaaaaambulance.The ER wasn't particularly eventful . . . standard exam and Xray stuff, wrist tag, crutches and then meds to reduce the pain.
Here's what I wrote to the ski school director, when I got home:
I’ve been to the ER this evening and have some good news and some unknown news to report:
- Good News: There’s nothing broken. I went to the ER at Barnes West and had a series of X-Ray’s taken and I’m told that they show no bone breaks or anything significant in the ‘structural’ arena. Additionally, the orthopedic (Dr. Bassman) indicated that there’s no significant instability and upon palpation he didn’t feel anything ‘detached’.
UPDATE: I went to the MRI yesterday afternoon and have an appointment setup for this afternoon with the orthopedic to see what’s going on. The knee is still very stiff, still swollen and painful when I either rotate or angulate but I can put weight on it as long as I’m in the splint and on crutches.
- I’m out of business until at least Wednesday (no instructing Monday or clinic on Tuesday), and likely after that until the pain subsides and I successfully complete some level of rehab, even if there’s no surgery.
- If there is surgery, I’m done for the season and rehab will begin immediately after eithercartilage debreeding (scope) or ligament repair. I’m crossing my fingers for none ofthat.
More news...later!
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