Props to: Squaw Patrol, TTMG Folks, and TFH Folks

**LightRanger** · 03-01-2009, 09:20 PM

I just wanted to give some thanks to all of the folks that've helped me out in the last 24+ hours. Yesterday while skiing KT in flat late-afternoon light, I cartwheeled (caused by a cat track I couldn't see after exiting a chute) at high speed and my Hammerheads didn't release. At one point in the midst of it I could see that my knee was pointed in the right direction and my left ski was out at a 90 degree angle. Lots of pain. I'm probably going to be selling my tele gear after this (overreaction? maybe, but that's the way I feel). Shralph, I'm probably still down to give you a lesson at some point though.

Patrol (Erik?) was there almost immediately and had me quickly boxed up and tobogganed down. At the clinic, Jan and Reini(sp?) amongst others took excellent care of me. X-rays on the spot.

Patrick the paramedic took great care of me on the way to Tahoe Forest Hospital.

At TFH, Bonnie Zellers, Lauren, Trish, and Diane were all great RNs. Annie the PT was great too. Dr. Silver did a great job with my anesthesia. Dr. Dodd the orthopedist was very confidence-inspiring and right now everything seems to be going well. Very straightforward and down-to-earth. Highly recommended. My overall health care experience really could not have been better.

Boot-top tib-fib fractures in my left leg, and my left ankle. Ti rod through much of the length of my left tib, with screws at either end. Two screws in my left ankle. Ligaments are sore in both knees, but they seem like they're just strained, thank God.

Another ortho appointment in 10-14 to pull the staples out. Eight weeks on crutches, 3-5 months with no "impact" activities (running, skiing, etc.).

UCL came by to see me before surgery. That was super sweet. Hope the class went well today man.

I hope you Tahoe guys enjoy all this snow (that was forecasted before I went down, but whatever). I'm sure we'll have a repeat of Spring '06 now that I can't enjoy it. I'm out for next weekend's Deso trip with UCL, BC on the Eastside the following week, and the weeklong trip I had planned for mid-May.

Update on 3/6/09: Leg is feeling a bit better, but I'm still taking some percocet. Chatted with my buddy Dave last night who was skiing Squaw yesterday. He said that there were at least twice as many bamboo stakes marking that cat track as before. Good on Squaw patrol for trying to prevent this from recurring, although I still think that track shouldn't be there at all. Edit: Further update on 3/6--Riding KT today, Dave was pointing out where I crashed to one of his friends from the chair, and a random guy on the chair said, "Was that the dude who broke his leg on Saturday? What happened? How is he doing?" I'm (in)famous!!!

See below for post-op x-rays. Photos are looking over my toes.

**Big Blue** · 03-01-2009, 09:26 PM

Damn, sorry to hear about your injury. Glad you were well taken care of though. Here's to a quick recovery.

**RootSkier** · 03-01-2009, 09:32 PM

Bummer dude. That sucks. On the bright side, tib-fib fracture is no problem recovery. Hopefully the ankle is OK.

Also, not to rub salt in the wound or anything, but they do make releasable tele bindings. I have rocked them for 11 years.

**thefrush** · 03-01-2009, 09:38 PM

Shit Colin, terrible news, hate to read this. I hope the recovery is quick and strong, and I look forward to hopefully getting some alpine turns with you next season.

+++VIBES+++

**LightRanger** · 03-01-2009, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by RootSkier

Bummer dude. That sucks. On the bright side, tib-fib fracture is no problem recovery. Hopefully the ankle is OK.

Also, not to rub salt in the wound or anything, but they do make releasable tele bindings. I have rocked them for 11 years.

Thanks for the kind words. The ortho said the same thing, so I'm hopeful.

I rocked 7TMs (Tours, and then converted to P-Ts) for a couple of seasons too, but I'm not that much of a fan of the way they ski. We'll see. It's still early in my recovery/thought process.

**JrockSF** · 03-01-2009, 09:40 PM

+++++VIBES+++++ Heal up man!

BSS · 03-01-2009, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

I hope you Tahoe guys enjoy all this snow

Man, talk about taking one for the team.

I'm glad they all those folks were able to make your otherwise miserable experience as pleasant as they could. That's cool of you to give them those kind words when you just as easily could be (understandably) angry and cussing. Heal up soon man.

**AKbruin** · 03-01-2009, 10:00 PM

Damn man, heal up quick.

**Jim S** · 03-01-2009, 10:08 PM

OMG

+++++++++ vibes

**Meadow Skipper** · 03-01-2009, 10:18 PM

Damn, man - sorry to hear that. That sucks.

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

...my Hammerheads didn't release.

Yeah, well...

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

At TFH, Bonnie Zellers, Lauren, and Diane were all great RNs.

Bonnie Zellers, the boarder/climber?!?. FKNA.

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

Boot-top tib-fib fractures in my left leg, and my left ankle. Ti rod through much of the length of my left tib, with screws at either end. Two screws in my left ankle. Ligaments are sore in both knees, but they seem like they're just strained, thank God.

Another ortho appointment in 10-14 to pull the staples out. Eight weeks on crutches, 3-5 months with no "impact" activities (running, skiing, etc.).

Seriously, get well soon. Here's to as painless a recovery as possible.

**LightRanger** · 03-01-2009, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Bonnie Zellers, the boarder/climber?!?. FKNA.

Yep.

Drugged Out SCUTSKI: "Hey Bonnie, is your husband Jim Zellers?"
BZ: "Yep."
Drugged Out SCUTSKI: "Sweet. I've seen photos of him in guidebooks and magazines. What's he done to himself in terms of this stuff?"
BZ: Various injuries, including a broken pelvis.

Made me feel like I was in good company re: legit injuries.

**hitek79** · 03-01-2009, 10:27 PM

That's rough man. I had the same type of injury about 11 years ago. The recovery isn't too bad, but I'm sure being 18 helped me out some. My ACL injury was much much worse.

**Meadow Skipper** · 03-01-2009, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by SCUTSKI

Yep.

Drugged Out SCUTSKI: "Hey Bonnie, is your husband Jim Zellers?"
BZ: "Yep."

She's an awesome bc boarder and climber in her own right. IIRC, there's a picture of her riding The Checkered Demon in Moynier's book. Spancered rider back in the day.

**The Dad** · 03-01-2009, 10:39 PM

Heal quickly and well. And thanks for the snow....

**adrenalated** · 03-01-2009, 11:01 PM

Shit, sorry to hear that, C. Heal up dude.
A Loveland regular just had pretty much the exact same injury last week, right down to the Ti rod in the tibia. Only he was on alpine gear that didn't release...

**LightRanger** · 03-01-2009, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

She's an awesome bc boarder and climber in her own right. IIRC, there's a picture of her riding The Checkered Demon in Moynier's book. Spancered rider back in the day.

Nice! I had no idea. I'll have to look for the photo in my copy. That's a legit line.

Originally Posted by adrenalated

Shit, sorry to hear that, C. Heal up dude.
A Loveland regular just had pretty much the exact same injury last week, right down to the Ti rod in the tibia. Only he was on alpine gear that didn't release...

Thanks J.

Interesting. There aren't any guarantees either way.

**bio-smear** · 03-01-2009, 11:13 PM

Dude, +vibes+

Taking a solid beater without release on my teles is a fairly anxiety-inducing fear I have...sorry to hear it actually happened to you.

I watched my buddy release from his HH's a while back, but I don't think he runs much preload. In fact, he released a little too easily.

**RoanMtnMan** · 03-01-2009, 11:36 PM

Reading this post reminded me of a fall I took yesterday (actually can't get the fall out of my head today). After failing to check the other side of a little drop I landed directly on two subsurface rocks. My body went forward and my skis didn't. No release, then a front flip, then my left tip got buried in heavy snow and twisted about 90 degrees in relation to my knee. Being a former partoller out your way, I am well aware of and fear the common tib/fib and spiral fractures. It was literally going through my mind as I came to a rest. My first move after stopping was to wiggle toes then ankle. Luckily only some strained muscles and ligaments for me.

I do hope you heal quickly. As major ski traumas go, it's not so bad from a recovery standpoint. I've seen a person fracture his tib/fib in December and be back on skis for the spring corn harvest.

It sounds like the patroller at Squaw was on his game, which is not a surprise, they were the best in the Tahoe area when I was out there. It was cool you gave him some recognition.

**SchralphMacchio** · 03-02-2009, 01:03 AM

Fuuuuuuuuuck Colin what a bummer man. I don't have any PW stoke but I can bring by other DVD's if it'll give you something to numb the boredom when you're strong enough to rehab on a stationary bike/trainer. Even 1-plank stoke is better than Civ Pro books on tape?

Jesus man, that's a solid bummer. I can't tell you how bummed I am to hear this

And about the lesson, yeah we'll just mount up a lawn chair with some HART classic skis and you can slide past me on the bunny hill at the Mammoth Mini with a beer in hand while yelling at me "angulate! aaaaangulate!"

**snowranger** · 03-02-2009, 01:25 AM

That's sucks man. Heal up well, and screw telemarking. It's a waste of time. Get some dukes and crank em up to 14. But seriously, the CRBs are pretty damn good.

**Xover** · 03-02-2009, 01:29 AM

squaw patrol (as you have found out first hand) kix ass!!!

take your time healing up (it is not like you're gonna be healed in time to ski - so take your time my friend), pt appropriately and religiously and then come back next year stronger - physically and mentally; plus buy some beer and liquour for the SV patrol.

good luck; thoughts and prayers with you sir

**Steven S. Dallas** · 03-02-2009, 01:33 AM

Ugh, that blows. Get well soon!

**powdork** · 03-02-2009, 02:47 AM

Gimp Central, Jong!!!

oh, and heal up fast too. vibes.

speaking of jongs, i didn't really know tele bindings were designed to release.

**Bugmasher** · 03-02-2009, 03:05 AM

sorry about the break man... I was in the same position a month ago: luckily I took the tree on the boot and only snapped the tibia in 2 places without breaking the fib. Titanium rod down the tibia with screws at top and bottom. Keep her up in the air and push to get the joints back to their full range of motion. I got my toes and ankle back pretty quickly, but I'm just getting the knee back 90% a month later (since they dislocated it to put in the rod). FYI, I'm just getting off the pain killers this week, hence the screwed up sleep cycle and posting at 0400. I've pretty much read all the TGR threads, watched all the POV vids out there, and bought half of TD for next season. Anyways, best of luck with the leg. Heopfully we'll both be good to go for the start of the '09 season.

Don't be ashamed to hit on the nurses either, might as well enjoy your stay at the hospital.