Ski Crutches

jea_toney

jea_toney

Member
I recently tore my acl and my doctor told me id be an idiot if i even tried skiing this winter before or after surgery. I dont know how to deal with this so was thinking i might try mono skiing with ski crutches. However i do not know where you can find some handicapped ski crutches or if it is a possibility to make your own?
thanks NS
 
i dont know where you could find any, well maybe is if your resort has a disabled spots type thing and if maybe you could use them.... or buy some old ones from them... but once you get them try some jibbing or some handrails.....................
 
call the special olympics or para olympics up and ask. normally u will be directed to the local organization and they will know all the info.
 
Im definitely going to try both of those options its just skiing is not that big in NC so it might be hard to find some
 
How stable is your knee?

Ive a torn ACL too and I will try to ski with it this winter (when my therapy is done, hopefully end of november). Of course thats very individual... if you cant even walk some stairs without feeling instability you shouldt just get the surgery asap, otherwise you might try a therapy and see how it works out.
 
That sounds like a bad idea, if I were you, I'd wait until i was all better. Don't want to screw yourself over in the long run. And fun much fun could mono skiing be anyway.
 
Damn i tore my acl too... sucks about missing the season, i know wintergreen (va) has a pretty big handicapped skiing program so you might want to try them.
 
uhhhh you can ski without an acl.... anyone older whos had their knees replaced has no ACLs and they shred a lot, just no tricks or jumps or anything.... you can definitley go out and carve up some corduroy. As long as you stay out of the park, you'll be cool.
 
Im walking fine and do feel stable enough to ski thats why i think mono-skiing doesn't seem like a bad idea...also skiing with a torn acl is not all to smart or so my doctor says, he says it will wear down cartlidge that you cannot replace and also if you tweak your knee the wrong way you are more likely to fuck something else up and have a bad knee for the rest of your life instead of six months
 
not mono as in two feet on one ski but mono as in only using one ski along with two crutches with skis attached at the end of the crutches such as people with one leg use in special olympics
 
The ski crutches you speak of are called outriggers, they usually fit people with lower body weaknesses such as cerebral palsy as well as amputees.

http://www.ssass.bc.ca/images/outriggers.jpg

I don't know how well they would work for ACL injuries, they would probably would be useful in providing some balance and support. You could ask your local adaptive skiing association if you could borrow a pair or something, I know we lend ours out sometimes. Sitskis could also be an interesting option if you're up for it, a little hard to pick up but my buddy can ski park with us in his.
 
Outriggers are meant to support people that can't ski without them due to some disability, whether it is cerebral palsy or the fact that they are missing a leg. Keep in mind that if they fall, they fall just as hard as everyone else, and that they don't ski with outriggers because they have an injury that they need to worry about. However, outriggers would probably work, but you would need to find a pair first. Perhaps google for disabled ski teams in your area.

Keep in mind though, if you take one hard fall you will be FUCKED. Possibly for the rest of your forseeable life, at least for skiing. ACLs are something that heal slowly and are very important. If you mess it up even more you could seriously never ski again. I would honestly take the necessary time off, because you could get seriously fucked up if you fall and hurt your ACL again.
 
I plan to ski park... full potential, which means I try a shitload of new things and fall a lot.

But I feel extremely confident with me knee. My therapist said its almost scary good for a torn ACL.

I can even use my tramp and do all the stuff I did before.

Couple of weeks ago I did some research and red that like 9 hockey players of the german hockey team play without ACL. Even found some soccer players doing fine without ACL.

Long story short, my advice is to go and see a couple of doctors. Dont build your opinion on a single guy cause every doctor has other expierences.
 
Your doctor is going to be SUPER conservative about his advice, they always are. They cant risk giving you any clearance to ski because if you get hurt doing something dumb (like in the park, or hit by a gaper), he could be sued. A few years ago, while watching a mogul comp on tv, they listed some ridiculous stat of the competitors and if they had ACLs or not, something like 60% of the competitors had blown out both knees are were still competing, without surgery.

You'll be cool carving some turns on corduroy, my advice is to restrict yourself by getting a pair of non-twins or race skis so you wont hit a rail or anything.

Do what you want, but plenty of people make turns without ACLs. I think youd be in much more control skiing regular than trying to monoski, which is really hard to learn (I've tried), you'll prolly take at least a few spills.
 
Your doctor is most likely just covering his ass. If you have partial ACL tear and are going for surgery you should think about getting an MRI first. Some partial tears are quite stable, and a brace and physio may be all you need. Surgery for many knee injuries is old school. New school is aggressive physio and braces.

I don't know about not having an ACL, my understanding is that your ACL prevents over extensoin of your knee, and thus provides additional support to your other ligements. Skiing without one all together may be a bad idea, extranl braces can provide similar support.

the pro skiis I know of that blown ACL's arent sking with out an ACL, its just not original parts. Cadaver ACL's have been shown to be better than harvesting other parts of your own body. Many studies show that amature athletes actually return to sport stronger after such injuries, and post operativly, becuse of the agressive physio therapy.

What ever happens, hit the gym bro. I have had my knees raped ... but I keep my body strong. as a result I ski beter than before, I just avoid hard landings and ice .... who wants to ride that shit any way.
 
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