Your worst crash story

[OldJeep]

Worst one was when i was a ski instructor at the local bump in college. I was teaching a private lesson, following this lady down the hill. I heard the unmistakable sound of a skidding snowboard, got hit and woke up at the bottom of the hill with a minor gash in my leg. Thankfully the lady didn't get caught up in the crash. The idiot who hit me was one of the snowboard instructors.

 

[Bad Bob]

Nothing hurt but pride and probably somebody's job prospects in this one. Probably one of this guys worst days on the mountain though. Oh to have a video of this one.
Lake Elnora circa 1967 +/-, a Rocky MT. PSIA Fall clinic lots of Directors and Supervisors in attendance. 10 or 12 high powered ski school guys , the rock star group, including Roger Staub (ya that Roger Staub Vail SS director and Olympic Gold Medalist) all lined up like good little instructors being cool and listening to the clinic instructor. The last guy in the group skied down and made the ultimate rookie bloopers; went to stop above the group and biffed it.
Took them ALL out. The only one not snarled in the pileup was the clinic instructor.
It was so perversely heart warming for a high school kid to see so many of his heroes all tangled up and rolling in the snow like a litter of puppies.

 

[skibum4ever]

I've had some ski injuries but my worst crash resulted in only minor bruises.

Circa 1995 or '96 at Mammoth. I had demoed Volant Chubbs in mid-December and purchased them the next day. Suddenly I could ski powder! I was having all sorts of fun and was actually outskiing my far more athletic and skillful husband.

I had never skied Chair 9 from the top. On this day I suddenly wanted to try it. I'm glad DH was not around to see my fall.

It had rained and then snowed. I took off into the powder then hit an icy patch and started to cartwheel....and cartwheel...and cartwheel. I remember thinking that this would be a really stupid way to die. The Chair 9 area was a little more rugged than most parts of Mammoth and I kept wondering if I would fall off a cliff or hit a large rock or a tree. Since I had only observed the area from the chair, and honestly had paid little attention, I was terrified.

I finally stopped doing somersaults and was able to get my feet below me and self arrest. Of course I had lost my skis, poles, goggles, etc. I don't think I even owned a helmet at the time. When I was finally not sliding I kept my eyes closed for a minute and took an inventory of my body parts. Nothing felt broken.

I opened my eyes to find two teenage snowboarders staring at me. One of them asked "Hey lady are you OK?" I told them I was and they stayed with me while others, mainly boarders, retrieved all my possessions.

I was shakily getting back into my skis when two Ski Patrollers arrived. Someone had called them from the lift. They asked me the usual questions about what happened and whether I knew my name, the date, the president. I told them that I was fine to ski but requested that they stay with me for a few turns just in case. They skied me down to Chair 9 where I was reunited with DH. I didn't want to ski but had to get back on that horse so I took several more runs

I awoke the next morning somewhat bruised but fully functional and skied the entire day. But I did realize how much worse it could have been. What scared me the most was the fact that the Patrollers had brought not only a sled but also a backboard. So my fall had looked as bad as it felt.

I didn't ski that area of Chair 9 again for about 10 years.

 

[Andy Mink]

started to cartwheel....and cartwheel...and cartwheel.

Rag dolling down a mountain, especially amongst rocks and trees, is one of the more terrifying things you can do in life. I've never felt so out of control and helpless when I did mine a few seasons ago.

 

[Gary Stolt]

I've had a few falls and minor injuries like pulled muscles and broken ankle that prevented skiing for a while but the most dramatic fall came at Jackson Hole - the Alta One Chute. Some of you know this story or even witnessed it. I was not skiing well that day and should have bypassed this run but I'll not claim to be smart. I fell on the first or possible the second turn, and skis flew off right away. No problem, I thought, just dig my heels in, except the pitch is such that my center of gravity just caused me to dive forward into the air and then face first into the snow. Not good - heading down face first into possible obstacles that might inhibit my momentum. I righted myself and saw Scott standing sideways in the very narrow part of the run about 25 yds ahead and I am heading straight for his knees - and just know that the impact will break both of them. So I yelled that I was coming - Scott moved as far right as he could, I made myself as small as I could and rolled over the back of his skis without touching him. After several more attempts at digging my heels in, lunging forward and acting ragdollish, I came to a stop at the bottom. Amazingly, nothing hurt, other than my pride. Now I'm sitting beside rendezvous bowl, skis are somewhere at the top of Alta One and I don't have a real good idea of how to get to the base area. John and Greg went back up to look for the skis without an idea of how to carry them and ski Alta One at the same time. Fortunately an Angel eventually came down with the skis, banded together, using them as a pole. After profusely thanking him and offering a refused payment, we journeyed on. The fall was an educational experience as I have actually gotten smart enough not to get back on that horse - at least not yet!

 

[tch]

Rag dolling down a mountain, especially amongst rocks and trees, is one of the more terrifying things you can do in life. I've never felt so out of control and helpless when I did mine a few seasons ago.

I have never done this skiing...but on a mountaineering expedition in the Bugaboos about 40 years ago, I was glissading off a summit and lost it. I probably rag-dolled 400-500 vertical -- long enough to see the rock walls coming up and for me to decide I was going to die. Luckily, I hit a big patch of sun-softened snow and managed to self-arrest just shy of disaster.
I'd like to say I thought about that a lot... but I was 22 and oblivious.

 

[François Pugh]

Interesting. I've never been scared in a crash, and I've had my share of high-speed crashes (including concussions, broken shoulder, broken arm, broken wrists (never both at once though), broken ribs and roadrash). I guess I was always too busy (or knocked out) to be scared while crashing. Near-crashes have been extremely scary, some even cause my heart rate to increase just remembering them decades later.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I think that in the heat of the moment, our survival instinct takes over and obscures any fears we may think would naturally surface. Probably because things are happening so fast we only have time to respond by attempting to recover or reacting to reduce injury. I don't remember my wreck while it was actually happening. That was due to concussion. Later, in traction, I realized I didn't need to put myself so close to the edge and retired from racing.

 

[SpikeDog]

Not sure how I missed this thread the first time around.

Hard to pick the worst, but here's my bloodiest. At Kelly Canyon near Idaho Falls, winter of 78-79, doing short swings under the chairlift. I had K2 Comp 610's, Solly SX70 boots, and Tyrolia Clix Diagonals with straps. Somehow I got into the one-legged ski pose normally reserved for ballet, and lost one ski. It whipped into my forehead, cutting through my new goggles, new glasses, and 19 year old face. Really nailed me good. I skied down to the Patrol Shack (my one and only visit so far), got a bandaid, and then went back to skiing. Without glasses or goggles, while it was snowing, for several more hours. Before Lasik, I was 20/400. Hard core, man.

 

[John Webb]

My friend age 82 who had basically quit skiing came to the last Pug gathering at Aspen for the week.
He did one run the entire week but was skiing so erratically that a 40 something woman snowboarder crashed into him at Snowmass. . Don't know why the put him in a sled as this happened 100 ft from the clinic. Clinic X-rays showed broken shoulder clavicle bone. Last day of gathering but I took him to airport earlier than planned.

 

[Ogg]

The worst I recall wasn’t nearly as bad as the vast majority of incidents posted. It was at Killington at the bottom of skylark on a bulletproof day. I had skied most of the run at a good speed and caught an outside edge at the bottom where it flattens out. I slammed the ground so hard my entire body hurt and I really couldn’t tell for a few seconds if I was seriously injured. My helmet hit the ground hard enough that I probably should have tossed it afterwards. Someone skied up to me and asked if I was OK. Being in my 20s at the time I got up, brushed myself off and said I was fine. The truth is I was hurting for a few days but just sucked it up and kept skiing.

 

[Jim Kenney]

In recent years my worst beat down at a ski area came when I got off the summit platter at Lake Louise, March 2018. I didn't clear the exit area real well while I was gawking at the great scenery. Nobody else was around. The empty platter did not fully retract and swung around the bullwheel smacking me upside the head on its return trip back down the hill. It stunned me a bit and dented my helmet, but no lasting harm. It was probably the most important "save" since I started wearing a helmet in 2007. Scene of the crime:

 

[Brad J]

Wolf creek 1994, A Rock Pigmy grabbed my ski and went down hard, I had no clue what happened, but it was a total yard sale, plus lots of pain, nothing broken but my pride.

 

[nhskier69]

Broken Leg, but good story
About 35 years ago, my parents use to give my brother and I a few bucks for food during night skiing. Anyway my brother went thru his money and kept on asking me for money. I used the rest of my money to buy a pack of Rolos. My brother and I were fighting on the t-bar going up the hill about the Rolo's Coming down, I was going over a jump, but my brother cut me off laughing at me going down the hill. When I fell my binding didn't release and I broke my leg. So basically my brother broke my leg over a pack of Rolos

 

[AlpedHuez]

So, it wasn't exactly a crash, but more like a slip and fall, on steep grade. Scott Chute, at Alpine, probably late 90s. I started down the Chute, with less than ideal conditions, low snow coverage. I came to a controlled stop about 1/3 of the way down. And then completely lost my balance, and then a ski, and started tumbling in somersaults, including sliding over some of the lips and ledges. I came to a stop near the bottom, and was rattled, but uninjured. I got up and I swear there was some applause from the chair lift skiers.

 

[skibob]

So, it wasn't exactly a crash, but more like a slip and fall, on steep grade. Scott Chute, at Alpine, probably late 90s. I started down the Chute, with less than ideal conditions, low snow coverage. I came to a controlled stop about 1/3 of the way down. And then completely lost my balance, and then a ski, and started tumbling in somersaults, including sliding over some of the lips and ledges. I came to a stop near the bottom, and was rattled, but uninjured. I got up and I swear there was some applause from the chair lift skiers. View attachment 112336

I always applaud after somebody gets up from a potentially nasty fall. Both to say "glad you are alright" and "thanks for the show." Turnabout is fair play and I've been "applauded" myself.

 

[cantunamunch]

I always applaud after somebody gets up from a potentially nasty fall. Both to say "glad you are alright" and "thanks for the show." Turnabout is fair play and I've been "applauded" myself.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and to laugh at them in our turn?"

 

[doc]

Jane Austen!
Not someone oft-quoted on a ski site.

 

[RobSN]

Jane Austen!
Not someone oft-quoted on a ski site.

That's because rumor has it that she was a snowboarder.

 

[mdf]

Last year at Taos I hit a tree, basically from indecision.
I was planning to go between two closely-spaced tree trunks, but then thought I might not fit, and started to go the other side. No, I'll fit. No, I won't.
So I went on neither side.
My skis made it past the tree, but my head didn't.

I almost made it. A glancing blow dented the side of my helmet but didn't do anything to me, except cause extreme embarrassment. At lunch, I threw away my helmet and bought a replacement.
(It turned out not to fit as well as I thought, so I bought another helmet 2 days later.)