Your worst crash story

[dbostedo]

...there were a lot of papparzzi taking photos...

Eh... they were all just trying to get pictures of those boots!

 

[luliski]

Also had my only bad injury skiing ever on The Wall.

as usual a number of things went wrong:
run was extremely icy (should have been closed- no snow for a month)
on previous run previously I called ski patrol for a racer who slid off icy Climax run into woods
Wrong skis - Volkl powder skis
dull edges on skis
Boots were not tightened (broke Fibula 3 inches above ankle)
caught an edge and had extreme trouble self arresting while sliding fast on 'near ice' toward woods.
Do not even remember breaking leg as I was in extreme concentration on self-arresting.
Quit by skiing down on one ski (should have called ski patrol)
Thought it was a very bad sprain (quit skiing) - not diagnosed till I flew home.
Burned the injury area a bit in hot water at a hot spring in Nevada desert (delayed the hard cast for a month-soft brace initially !)

First week of season- only skied 4 days that year.

Photo of sign at top & bottom View attachment 57180 of The Wall attached.

similar BLM skull & crossbones sign at the hot spring in desert.

That sounds terrible. I didn't even know what I was sliding towards, having never been on the Wall before. I saw the sign, and I don't consider myself an expert. But I was with my brother, who had been up there before. I consider myself a technically better skier than my brother, so I thought I'd be fine if he was comfortable.

 

[KingGrump]

so I thought I'd be fine if he was comfortable.

You really don't have a clue about us guys. Do you?

We are a lot dumber than we look. Most of the time we have no clue what we are doing, but we are really good at faking it.

 

[luliski]

Yeah, I know that about my brother. But I didn't think I would fall. I don't usually fall if I'm being careful.

 

[KingGrump]

I don't usually fall if I'm being careful.

I know that one all too well.

Another good one for me is "I've skied this a zillion time." Guarantee total pandemonium.

 

[Jrino]

Far from the worst and not good quality, but entertaining none the less.

 

[François Pugh]

I know that one all too well.

Another good one for me is "I've skied this a zillion time." Guarantee total pandemonium.

One day after some inclement weather that left things rather icy, I came across two skiers climbing up the trail back from the steepest mogul run on a small Ontario ski hill. I had been lapping that run all morning, with no issues. I told them, "Don't bother hiking back; let me show you the easy way down." .....and proceededed to whipe out on the second mogul/turn. They decided not to ski the run. I suffered a severe injury to my pride.

 

[Mendieta]

... but we are really good at faking it.

Mmm ... Don't know how to say this, but how much do you think ladies don't know about faking it?

Jokes apart, the trend is clear. You either crash on a cat-track or on Kirkwood's Wall.

My worst 3 were on cat-tracks btw. Been much better lately, and hope to stay so ...

 

[Bill Miles]

My worst in 58 years skiing was sort of tame.

First year living at Sun Valley 15 years ago, lower Warm Springs (steepish green), conditions were rough and firm.

Went to pass somebody, still going pretty slow, and got off the groom.

Don't really know how I fell but ended up going up and forward and up as if going off a diving board. I thought in the air "This is going to hurt", and it did when I landed on my chest.

Managed to ski to the bottom, ride to the top and ski down to River Run base where my car was. I was still sort of numb.

The next day, I was still hurting, went to the doctor (thinking of a college roommate who might have died from a ruptured spleen if he hadn't gone). Doctor said either bruised or cracked rib. Was off skis for a month.

Recently had a CT scan for a different reason and they detected healed broken ribs.

 

[Lady_Salina]

Well my worst fall didn't hurt me but it sums me up. I was at Mont Tremblant with my brother and husband, maybe his brother too, can't remember, anyhow we head up the brand new high speed chair lift with the bubble (1988 ish) and I had never ridden a high speed chair, it was cool. WE were taking the ski week lesson, 5 hours a day and i was an instructor, getting a week of early skiing in before the season with a Level 4 examiner, just the 4 of us in our ski group. Got to the top, the bubble raised, I see the off load fast approaching, I'm talking to my brother and I stand up right where I would have stood up, if the chair didn't suddenly slow as it approached the dock. Fortunately my husband expects me to do these sort of things and pushed my head down under the chair, told me to stay down, I dropped about 4 feet to the ground, ducked and got out of there when the chair past. Had a hard time living down the fact I could ski but needed to learn to use the chair lifts. Nothing's changed in 30 years, I still tend to have my falls and mishaps when I'm standing still, in a chair or at the bottom of a run. I've had many falls over the years but that one is, fortunately, my most memorable.

 

[noncrazycanuck]

I don't remember my worst fall, have been told it was unforgettable.

 

[HDSkiing]

I feel like such an amateur compared to some of the stories here, but in this case that might be a good thing

When I was 14 and treating trees like slalom gates I broke my right hand, funny thing was I didn’t even know it was broken for a couple days...

But the worst injury where it wasn’t a crash but I was technically “skiing” was getting off a T-Bar in Northern Michigan in 1979. I’m told (as I have no real memory of it) was that the person I rode up with held on to the bar a little too long and when he let go it whiplashed back right into my face. It was like being hit with a baseball bat, splitting open my upper cheek and nearly taking out my right eye.

I woke up with a patrolmen standing over me, immediately jumped to my feet and then fell over. Next memory was in the patrol shack. Doctors did a great job sewing me up but I still have a fine line of a scar to remind me.

Haven’t ridden a T-Bar since...

 

[Doug Briggs]

I feel like such an amateur compared to some of the stories here, but in this case that might be a good thing

When I was 14 and treating trees like slalom gates I broke my right hand, funny thing was I didn’t even know it was broken for a couple days...

But the worst injury where it wasn’t a crash but I was technically “skiing” was getting off a T-Bar in Northern Michigan in 1979. I’m told (as I have no real memory of it) was that the person I rode up with held on to the bar a little too long and when he let go it whiplashed back right into my face. It was like being hit with a baseball bat, splitting open my upper cheek and nearly taking out my right eye.

I woke up with a patrolmen standing over me, immediately jumped to my feet and then fell over. Next memory was in the patrol shack. Doctors did a great job sewing me up but I still have a fine line of a scar to remind me.

Haven’t ridden a T-Bar since...

Yikes. Those bars can do a lot of damage.

There was an accident at Breck where a couple was riding the t-bar and playing around or not able to control it. Either way they ended up with the t-bar 'T' on the wrong side of the pole and the pull of the t-bar managed to crush the poor guy's face either into the pole or with the 'T' itself. He had a fractured orbital socket and there was a lot of blood. It took a while for patrol to remove him from the scene.

They call the action of taking the 'T' to the wrong side of the pole 'flossing' for sort of apparent reasons. Flossing can break the 'T', injure the rider and derail the cable.

So when they say, stay in the track, there is a really good reason.

@HDSkiing , you may be missing a lot of good terrain, though, by not riding a t-bar where they are available.

 

[HDSkiing]

@HDSkiing , you may be missing a lot of good terrain, though, by not riding a t-bar where they are available.

Well TBH its doubtful a T-Bar would keep me from it on a powder day

I have ridden Poma lifts and the one-sided T-bars (J-Bars?) since, I imagine the T-Bars are safer now than they were almost 40 years ago, but then maybe not lol. Most places where I ski in NM and Co. you don't see them, at least I haven't noticed. I know there is one at Breck, but normally I'm up there early season and it's not usually open yet, if it is when I'm up there in a couple weeks maybe I'll give it a whirl, for old times sake...

 

[Wolfski]

Does a badly executed big air 720 ending in a face-plant during the Midwest National Freestyle Contest at Indianhead Mt. Winter 74 or 75 count?

 

[dbostedo]

...if it is when I'm up there in a couple weeks maybe I'll give it a whirl, for old times sake...

If you take it once, I bet you'll want to take it again...

 

[Snuckerpooks]

Most embarrassing:
Falling off a lift after winning a regional race in Japan. Nothing like faceplanting off a lift in front of a crowd.

Most painful:
Getting my bearings lost on a course, take a jump wrong, try to recover to no avail, find my torso caught in a B-Net, flip over the net and spike my feet on a rock. Shattered ankle. Thankfully just one.

 

[SkiMore]

We were at Northstar and my parents let me ski alone for the first time. I know I was in elementary school (mid 1970s) but don’t remember how old. I went off a jump, crashed and somehow the ski pole cut my eyelid, like really close to my eye. We ended up at Trukee hospital for a couple of stitches.

 

[GinBuck]

Was skiing at Lake Louise minding my own business. Don't recall the run. Came down this narrow chute and into this lovely saddle valley. Was going up one side and down the other signing a happy tune when for some reason had a double eject over the handlebars.

I remember just sliding wondering if being covered in Nylon was a good idea. I must have eventually packed enough snow up my coat down my neck, under my base layer, under my ski pants and into my boot cuff to get enough surface area to come to a spinning halt.

An old lady (probably my age now) came up and asked if I was OK. She had my hat, gloves, poles, skis and pocket contents. After she flew off to heaven and I shook out several pounds of wet snow, I continued on my wet ass way.

 

[Pete in Idaho]

Far from the worst and not good quality, but entertaining none the less. View attachment 57514 View attachment 57515

Now that race crash reminds me of the time........................ racing at ..................back in ...............

Well my worst fall didn't hurt me but it sums me up. I was at Mont Tremblant with my brother and husband, maybe his brother too, can't remember, anyhow we head up the brand new high speed chair lift with the bubble (1988 ish) and I had never ridden a high speed chair, it was cool. WE were taking the ski week lesson, 5 hours a day and i was an instructor, getting a week of early skiing in before the season with a Level 4 examiner, just the 4 of us in our ski group. Got to the top, the bubble raised, I see the off load fast approaching, I'm talking to my brother and I stand up right where I would have stood up, if the chair didn't suddenly slow as it approached the dock. Fortunately my husband expects me to do these sort of things and pushed my head down under the chair, told me to stay down, I dropped about 4 feet to the ground, ducked and got out of there when the chair past. Had a hard time living down the fact I could ski but needed to learn to use the chair lifts. Nothing's changed in 30 years, I still tend to have my falls and mishaps when I'm standing still, in a chair or at the bottom of a run. I've had many falls over the years but that one is, fortunately, my most memorable.

Yes sometimes we get embarassed. My worst, waiting for the chair to come around the bullwheel (chair 2 Silver Mt. Idaho) my friend and fellow instructor (yes we had our coats on) another instructor saw us and skied in fast to join us (triple chair) and took all 3 of us out. So here is 3 instructors laying on the snow under the chair. Real cool Ernie.



Read all 6 pages and some real bad injuries. My worst fall. Offered to treach to ladies I met on the mountain how to ski powder. Everything went well the lst year
as there was only a month left. The next year both skied well and progressing nicely. One morning with about 6 in of fresh they asked me to take the to South of the Border, here



I was a little leary of them skiing this terrain and told them to follow me and basically ski the same line. This is where I made a really stupid mistake. I kept looking back to check if they were ok. About half was down I hit an old dead tree. After I woke up Roberta was beside me (RN), all I could see was blood and feeling a lot of head, chest and left arm pain. The other skier Robin went for the patrol, after I told he how to get off this section. Roberta the RN stayed with me and shortly after my ski partner John showed up and checked me out (orthopedic surgeon). John told me probably broke my L wrist and was worried about chest and head, told me he'd meet me at hospital.

Ski patrol arrived and put me in sled and got me down to a run and then snowmobile took me up to lodge and ski patrol office. Went to hospital and they removed the remnants of the limb that went through my right cheek, splint on wrist, CT for head and Xray for chest, no broken ribs, major concussion and head trauma. Went from Shoshone hospital to hospital in Couer d Alene for head checks.

3 days later woke up with Bells Palsy, entire right side of face paralyzed. Palsy from trauna. Yes I was wearing a helmet and goggles.
Took 2 yrs for palsy to subside but still have problems with right eye and right corner of mouth.

Needless to say, when I ski now - anywhere- I NEVER look behind me.