First Time Skiing Post ACL

D

DendexG

Member
Sup guys, so I had ACL and LCL surgery 12 month ago now (hamstring for ACL, synthetic for LCL). I took the rehab seriously, and my legs now are probably stronger than they were pre-op. I've been doing a ton of sprinting and cutting exercises, trampolining a bit, and bouldering some hamstring heavy routes, and all feels fine. Wouldn't say my knee feels quite like a normal knee but feels strong and not sure it'll ever be quite the same again.

So on Tuesday, I'm finally going to ski again. Unfortunately it's going to be on snowflex/dendex (no access to snow), and I'm not gunna pretend I'm a bit nervous. Was hoping some guys would be able to let me know how their first time back skiing/ progression back to jumps etc went after surgery, and any other tips etc.
 
Congrats on the recovery man! Sounds like you’ve been working hard to re-gain strength into that knee. It’s pretty normal to be nervous getting back on the sticks- I tore my acl and a few other things in 2015 and was definitely nervous getting back on my skis, yet everything came back to me relatively quickly and my knee felt good! Just take it slow to start and make sure you don’t have any pain- if you do don’t push it. I made that mistake once and I’m paying for it this summer. By the sounds of what you’ve been doing you’ll have no problem transitioning back into skiing. Hope that helps. Best of luck man!
 
I had a similar surgery plus MCL and Meniscus in April five or so years back. I did a shit load of hiking, stretching, and spent grueling amounts of time at the gym to ensure my knee was ready to go the following fall. I was non-weight-baring for 6 weeks post surgery so the atrophy in my calf, quad, and hamstring were pretty significant when i started rehab. I stayed out of the park until probably late Jan or Feb and just ripped groomers and off-piste mostly. Even when i did go to the park that first season I didn't do much more that 3's 1's 0's shifties etc... Basically wanted to land as square as possible all the time. I honestly will never ride the same as I did before the first time i tore my ACL; i ride much more cautiously. That being said, I was drunk and over rotated off a rail the 2nd season back and tore the meniscus again, but luckily it healed on its own without another operation. Since then I haven't had any further issues with it other than just getting swollen and sore(knock on fucking wood). My best advice is make sure that you keep your hamstring stretched out. Mine tends to cramp up easily and it affects the endurance of the smaller muscles around my knee.

It sounds like your knee is probably stronger than mine was at the beginning of the season and every case is unique. IMHO though, you can't bee too careful when it comes to knee health. Vibes man and cheers to getting back on the whips. Have fun out there!
 
13702067:ConnorClayton said:
Congrats on the recovery man! Sounds like you’ve been working hard to re-gain strength into that knee. It’s pretty normal to be nervous getting back on the sticks- I tore my acl and a few other things in 2015 and was definitely nervous getting back on my skis, yet everything came back to me relatively quickly and my knee felt good! Just take it slow to start and make sure you don’t have any pain- if you do don’t push it. I made that mistake once and I’m paying for it this summer. By the sounds of what you’ve been doing you’ll have no problem transitioning back into skiing. Hope that helps. Best of luck man!
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13702094:big.love said:
I had a similar surgery plus MCL and Meniscus in April five or so years back. I did a shit load of hiking, stretching, and spent grueling amounts of time at the gym to ensure my knee was ready to go the following fall. I was non-weight-baring for 6 weeks post surgery so the atrophy in my calf, quad, and hamstring were pretty significant when i started rehab. I stayed out of the park until probably late Jan or Feb and just ripped groomers and off-piste mostly. Even when i did go to the park that first season I didn't do much more that 3's 1's 0's shifties etc... Basically wanted to land as square as possible all the time. I honestly will never ride the same as I did before the first time i tore my ACL; i ride much more cautiously. That being said, I was drunk and over rotated off a rail the 2nd season back and tore the meniscus again, but luckily it healed on its own without another operation. Since then I haven't had any further issues with it other than just getting swollen and sore(knock on fucking wood). My best advice is make sure that you keep your hamstring stretched out. Mine tends to cramp up easily and it affects the endurance of the smaller muscles around my knee.

It sounds like your knee is probably stronger than mine was at the beginning of the season and every case is unique. IMHO though, you can't bee too careful when it comes to knee health. Vibes man and cheers to getting back on the whips. Have fun out there!
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Cheers guys, really useful posts! Yeah had 4 weeks non weight bearing and leg literally faded away! I think I'll be much more cautious forever now too, but probably not a bad thing. Planning to season Whis next year so plenty of non park stuff to do, and I'm looking forward to even just straight airing again!
 
The first year after I tore my ACL I was in grad school. I did six years as a ski bum in Tahoe then hurt myself and decided to take my life in a different direction. I rehabbed like a madman and was ready to go by the next fall, although I did not end up skiing much that first year. My next year I skied about 30 days and felt pretty strong and confident. I didn't ski quite the lines I had before surgery but that is because I became a weekend warrior. Had I stayed in Tahoe I think I would have been just as good after surgery.

A decade out and I feel fine. It sounds like you attacked the rehab so you should be ready to go, just ease back in. In a sense not skiing much my first year back allowed me to make sure I was fine before I went in hard, but with proper work you should be fine this year.

Good luck.
 
Cheers guys, actually went much better than I expected! No pain, hit some boxes and did a couple of 180's on the bigger jump with absolutely no issues! I'm actually really glad I waited this long now to get back into it, was so great to just get back on skis and love it straight away again. Thanks for all the advice and vibes to anyone else on the road to ACL recovery.
 
I broke my knee (and most likely tore my acl) biking today and reading all of this is (as much as it breaks my heart to admit) making me think i shouldn't even get a pass this year.
 
13714369:TheDoughAbides said:
I broke my knee (and most likely tore my acl) biking today and reading all of this is (as much as it breaks my heart to admit) making me think i shouldn't even get a pass this year.
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Vibes bud, just listen to your doctor. It seems hopeless at first but you'll be alright man.
 
13714369:TheDoughAbides said:
I broke my knee (and most likely tore my acl) biking today and reading all of this is (as much as it breaks my heart to admit) making me think i shouldn't even get a pass this year.
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i hate to be the bearer of bad news but if in fact you did tear a ligament youre looking at a long winter on the side lines man did mine last Jan. skied 10 times on my $1400 season pass to Alyeska, AK also put 150 miles on a brand new sled... its goes by fast ma dude! listen to docs an PT's
 
13714415:big.love said:
Vibes bud, just listen to your doctor. It seems hopeless at first but you'll be alright man.
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13714614:Glansbergin907 said:
i hate to be the bearer of bad news but if in fact you did tear a ligament youre looking at a long winter on the side lines man did mine last Jan. skied 10 times on my $1400 season pass to Alyeska, AK also put 150 miles on a brand new sled... its goes by fast ma dude! listen to docs an PT's
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Thanks homies, I think im gonna get into music production so i can become famous and have a short but passionate relationship with emily ratajkowski (she'll give me sympathy for the for broken knee, im pretty sure), then we'll part ways when i feel good enough to ski again. /plan
 
UPDATE: Just got back from the orthopedic specialist and they said they know for sure in two weeks but 95% chance they won't have to operate!!! They said i broke the bone connecting my acl to my knee but did not tear my acl!!

They didn't really mention anything about skiing or biking and i forgot to ask because i was kinda fucked up from the oxy and I was too amazed by their diagnosis/recommended treatment. I still don't really believe its true; my knee feels likes its completely fallen apart right now.
 
I know that this has nothing to do with knee injuries, but about a month ago I broke my tib/fib for the second time (pretty badly I might add.) I first broke it back in april overshooting a jump. Didn't receive surgery. I was well on my way to being fully healed and I made the dumb decision of jumping on a diving board. I probably wasn't fully healed and long story short, on my second bounce the bones snapped in the same place as they did before. I got a plate and 8 screws in there the second time around. Doctors say I could be skiing by January but I assume they don't know that I do park. My mom isn't gonna let me ski this season anyway, so with these 2 injuries I ended my last season and I can forget about skiing this season. Probably a good idea to wait anyway because it wouldn't be worth it to ski this season and risk the possibility of never skiing again. All I can say (and this applies to any major injury) is attack the PT and definitely wait until you know you are fully healed because trust me, you pay for it and it really sucks. Best of wishes and be safe out there and think twice before doing something that could re-injure you.
 
13714768:TheDoughAbides said:
UPDATE: Just got back from the orthopedic specialist and they said they know for sure in two weeks but 95% chance they won't have to operate!!!
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Today I found out that I'm part of the 5% whom they do operate on. They have to screw my acl down to my knee or something and as a result i'll be on crutches until November and likely miss the entire season. FML
 
Congrats on the recovery and the attitude you have with bettering your knee. So the one major piece of advice I have to share is confidence... Being confident in your ability to ski properly and the status of your knee. My first day skiing after surgery was a super slow day with not a whole lot of excitement other than the fact that I still had the ability to ski. Stretch, stretch, stretch after. As for more advanced skiing, it took about 4-6 days after my first day back to be able to confidently ski a black diamond. Oh man was it so rad! You'll be pumped when you're able to get back to what you were doing. Just trust yourself and be confident.
 
Just a random bump to this thread, thanks for all the advice, in Whistler now for the winter season and skiing as harder than I did post op! Haven't really been in the park much yet, but skiing some burly lines and dropped a few reasonable cliffs with no issues! Spent opening week basically lapping groomers, and even first 180 and first double black was a genuinely scary experience, but I'm 28 skiing days down now and feeling as good as ever. Anyone going through ACL now, just stretch a ton and take your time and you'll get back to it.
 
13772690:DendexG said:
Just a random bump to this thread, thanks for all the advice, in Whistler now for the winter season and skiing as harder than I did post op! Haven't really been in the park much yet, but skiing some burly lines and dropped a few reasonable cliffs with no issues! Spent opening week basically lapping groomers, and even first 180 and first double black was a genuinely scary experience, but I'm 28 skiing days down now and feeling as good as ever. Anyone going through ACL now, just stretch a ton and take your time and you'll get back to it.
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just about a year surgery how does yours feel when sitting back on your skis thats the only time im getting pain also very sore after riding all day glad your back !!!!! hoping im on my way to skiing like i used too..... Powder Bump for CA an CO
 
13772749:HaydenWrong said:
just about a year surgery how does yours feel when sitting back on your skis thats the only time im getting pain also very sore after riding all day glad your back !!!!! hoping im on my way to skiing like i used too..... Powder Bump for CA an CO
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I can walk pretty much regularly now and i'm only a few degrees off the extension/flexion i have in my good leg.
 
13772770:TheDoughAbides said:
I can walk pretty much regularly now and i'm only a few degrees off the extension/flexion i have in my good leg.
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Now all I have to do is get the muscles in my affected leg even with my good one. Then i can ski! Idk how long this will take though so I'm not sure if I'll get to ride at all this season. I'm thinking I'll just hit the gym super hard and be a beast next season!

Really sucks right now because all my homies are understandably skiing powder during all their freetime and I'm stuck here in foco reading books. I really want to kick with all my friends who live around the resorts too but driving through these storms when you don't get the ski them the next day is not that cool.

Sorry for the double post, hope everyone else is recovering nicely!
 
13772690:DendexG said:
Just a random bump to this thread, thanks for all the advice, in Whistler now for the winter season and skiing as harder than I did post op! Haven't really been in the park much yet, but skiing some burly lines and dropped a few reasonable cliffs with no issues! Spent opening week basically lapping groomers, and even first 180 and first double black was a genuinely scary experience, but I'm 28 skiing days down now and feeling as good as ever. Anyone going through ACL now, just stretch a ton and take your time and you'll get back to it.
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Stoked for ya bud!
 
13772749:HaydenWrong said:
just about a year surgery how does yours feel when sitting back on your skis thats the only time im getting pain also very sore after riding all day glad your back !!!!! hoping im on my way to skiing like i used too..... Powder Bump for CA an CO
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Hey, yeah landing/skiing fully backseat is something I try super hard to avoid now, and the few times I have it has hurt a bit. I actually snapped it in the first place by backslapping a landing and trying to stand back up (phantom foot), but now I just do my best to not sit back at all basically. Sucks because lazy boy 3 used to be my go to trick!

On a side note, apparently there's been big success reducing ACL rates by avoiding backwards twisting falls. A couple of times I've realised I'm in a super backseat landing and basically thrown myself forward rather than trying to regain balance etc.
 
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