Skiing Horror Stories

r._ed

Member
We've all witnessed or heard stories of horrific accidents. In the past week two aquantances of mine have been hospitalized with internal bleeding, one on his kidney and the other on his liver. It really reminds you how fragile we are and how easy it is to get complacent. "It'all never happen to me!" Is what runs through all our heads.

**This thread was edited on Jan 6th 2018 at 10:56:47am
 
I haven't seen the most fucked up shit, but I've seen some pretty fucked up shit working in the ski industry the past 18 seasons. Not even worth sharing. I probably talked to a friend or two about something fucked up just to get it off my chest, but generally it's not shit I like to remember or talk about.

Skiing can be a dangerous sport, you can get fucked up or die doing it. It's not worth dwelling on the bad things. Support your friends going through injuries, try and deal with the loss of people, and keep skiing/ move on.

Some fucked up shit happens on the mountain, really not worth talking/posting about imo. If you really care, troll facebook and the forums, news, whatever. Otherwise just keep going and be as safe as you can.

Fucked up shit can happen to anyone at anytime, no use dwelling on it. Stay safe out there!
 
Maybe I'm just weird, but even the conversations like this people have at the mountain make me uncomfortable. I don't think anyone should deny the risks, but I don't ski to dwell on them either. Life is a fucked up place, and skiing is the kind of spot I go to get away from all that bullshit. Is it dangerous? Of course, but so is anything. I don't see the use in sharing the most fucked up thing you've ever seen on the mountain. Your friend eating shit at the end of the day trying some crazy trick can be fucking hilarious, but people who will never ski again, or are fucking dead isn't something that I really laugh about.

That's just kind of my $.02. Sorry if that was a buzzkill.
 
Never seen crazy fucked up shit. Most injuries i've seen have been in carparks. I do know the head of ski patrol at Perisher, he said that most injuries are in the carpark, just people slipping over and breaking bonez. I've got to agree with the abortionator here, it's not something you really wanna talk about.
 
SAW A kid send it so hard over a tap tube thing that was pretty tall and completely missed the landing, face planted. He got knocked out and we had to find his teeth in the snow. We heard later that he punctured a king and his heart stopped in the ski patrol place thing. The brought a helicopter from mayo hospital to get him.
 
My younger brother tried to backflip snowboarding and broke his wrist with a compound fracture and everything. This all happened a week before spring break too so we had to cancel our trip to Steamboat.
 
13876948:Jdunn3 said:
SAW A kid send it so hard over a tap tube thing that was pretty tall and completely missed the landing, face planted. He got knocked out and we had to find his teeth in the snow. We heard later that he punctured a king and his heart stopped in the ski patrol place thing. The brought a helicopter from mayo hospital to get him.

did u find his teeth?
 
A kid snapped his acl and started having a seizure. That was enough to keep me out of the park for a few days.
 
My friend went of a jump and got stuck in the landing, as it was full of pow. So he took off his skis and was crawling out when a boarder cane out of nowhere and hit him in the back and shattered his L5 and L4 disc. He went into full body shock and started to seize while being skied down. he also had to wait for about half an hour till patrols came. He can walk and ski again, but still has pain, and when he was in the hospital on the mountain his shit was stolen by some scumbag.
 
13877155:ThatSkiierKidd64 said:
My friend went of a jump and got stuck in the landing, as it was full of pow. So he took off his skis and was crawling out when a boarder cane out of nowhere and hit him in the back and shattered his L5 and L4 disc. He went into full body shock and started to seize while being skied down. he also had to wait for about half an hour till patrols came. He can walk and ski again, but still has pain, and when he was in the hospital on the mountain his shit was stolen by some scumbag.

Holy fuck
 
Before I share my stories, I'd like to say I don't like to talk about horror stories just due to the fact that I'm paranoid as fuck when it comes to that shit. The first time I heard about tree wells, I researched them for 6 hours straight (you get the picture). This stuff is just bad juju, like that asshole who says "don't break your leg" when you leave to go skiing. Yes people die. Yes skiing is an extremely dangerous sport. It is however reasonably safe if you take precautions and stay in control. Minimize your risks. All these stories do is incite fear in some folks. Fear is not only the hindrance of progression, but fear also makes for dangerous skiing. Be confident, prepare to be as safe as you can, and don't worry about the bad stuff.... Now to my stories....

I almost saw an awful accident at Jay Peak. Over Christmas this guy was cooking it down the end of a run right under the Flyer lift along the side of a trail. He was approaching those pipes for snowmaking that line the sides of trails, when he loses control and wrecks hard. He missed smashing his face on the pipe by inches. It's not often that a wipeout makes be shout out loud. It was so close to being really bad. If that guy had hit his face on that pipe I'm confident he would have died right there due to severe head trauma. PSA don't ski near snowmaking equipment.

I have friends who saw someone lose control on a blue groomed run and crash into a tree on a trail edge at another resort and die. PSA skiing on edges of trails can be dangerous.
 
Skiing is a dangerous sport and I hope that most people that do it a lot know that there is a constant risk of death. That said lets respect those that have passed by not writing about it on the internet cause that really fucks people up especially is they see someone writing about someone that they knew really well like a teammate or a friend
 
An old ski friend was hitting the park at Killington about 15 years ago. He hit a smaller jump and shot straight up, came down on the knuckle on his hip, broke his hip and shit his pants at same time. Ski patrol had to take him down shit pants and all.
 
I'll share one fucked up experience I had. Nothing gruesome but still a bit crazy to me and it could have gone much worse, especially for such a small error.

I was riding down a very mellow run many years back. It was so long ago I don't remember who I was with or very much about anything from that day, but I'll never forget this happening. I was heading down the hill and the run as I mentioned was super mellow, to the point where I was basically just standing on my skis heading down the hill. I reached up to adjust my goggles with one hand and as I brought my hand back down my pole which was pointing forward somehow caught some snow and my momentum emashed it into my jaw. This apparently knocked me out to some extent as I remember coming to still skiing down the hill and taking a few seconds to remember where I was and realize what happened. The pole must have caught me in the perfect spot as I have never been knocked out before aside from that from being hit. I was really amazed I was still just skiing down the hill when I came to.

Tldr: briefly skied while unconscious
 
Bad shit can happen anytime. Stay in the sport long enough and it'll happen to you or someone else you know and love.

Enjoy every good day. Treasure every good moment shared with friends.
 
I heard this story from my mom, She was apart of ski patrol in the late 1980's at Abay and got a called over to a guy who had gone tree skiing. The guy hit a tree with no helmet and died on contact. My mom had to bring him down. That story is single handedly why I always wear a helmet, even if I'm gonna take it "easy", its honestly gonna save your life. WEAR A FUCKING HELMET PUSSY
 
I was chillin at the bottom of a run waiting for my bro when an old guy comes speeding down the run totally out of control probably hitting around 50 mph. Slams right into a tree, falls over. Ski patrol pronounced him dead at the scene.
 
13877781:Mcc_backcountry said:
I heard this story from my mom, She was apart of ski patrol in the late 1980's at Abay and got a called over to a guy who had gone tree skiing. The guy hit a tree with no helmet and died on contact. My mom had to bring him down. That story is single handedly why I always wear a helmet, even if I'm gonna take it "easy", its honestly gonna save your life. WEAR A FUCKING HELMET PUSSY

Helmets are great and help lessen impacts and penetrating injuries but they're only designed to protect at low impacts... Like 15mph. Most skiers ski way faster than that when deadly impacts happen.

I still always wear a helmet. Hit my head too many times with one on at low speeds, where it would have hurt way worse without one.
 
13877815:IsitWinterYet17 said:
Helmets are great and help lessen impacts and penetrating injuries but they're only designed to protect at low impacts... Like 15mph. Most skiers ski way faster than that when deadly impacts happen.

I still always wear a helmet. Hit my head too many times with one on at low speeds, where it would have hurt way worse without one.

I mean, even if a safety device can't fully prevent something that doesn't mean it's bad. A mattress probably won't stop you from breaking your legs if you jump off a 30' building, but It would still help you not die.
 
I dislocated my knee cap and tore a few ligaments. Other than that, I've seen a few broken ankles and wrists.

Unrelated sorta related: my friend over shot a jump mountain biking this summer and broke both her arms. That was pretty gruesome. And a friend broke his neck on the bottom jump.
 
I myself had a few concussions from crossing up my skis. I'm also a paramedic and have picked up a few people from the ski hill. Broken knee cap was the worst i can remember. Also did ski patrol and the worst i saw was my wife breaking her back. She was ahead of me a little ways. Saw here wiggle out and go down. She fell forward on her knees and the force was enough to break a vertebae. Was patrolling that day so called for the skidoo to bring her down. Said she felt a pop in her back. Compression fracture in the lumbar region. 4 months laid up. She's recovered now. May never ski again due to fear and don't blame her, but I can't quit.
 
13878155:devinpolitis said:
Haha embarrassing but I just ducked a rope going a bit too quick and didn't make it, that's 21 mouth stitches later

Jeez man thats nuts, ropes are not to be messed with, I was learning how to snowboard when I was a kid, almost lost an eye because of that thing hahaha
 
Anyone who has instructed kids to get a free pass has some horror stories, in fact sometimes it's like living in one. But it has it's good days for sure.
 
always know your skill level (and dont go to fast)

this happened to a friend of mine, he luckily only broke his femur

 
13878632:gorm said:
always know your skill level (and dont go to fast)

this happened to a friend of mine, he luckily only broke his femur


Was he trying to do a backflip or something? Really in the backseat on that takeoff
 
My daughter was training with her race team last week when I got the call that she had been in an accident and was being sledded down on a backboard. It feels horrible to be told to meet your kid at EMS.

She had finished a training run on the course and was returning to the lift on a flat traverse at speed when she hit something (maybe a bump in the snow she didn't see) and hooked an edge and veered into a metal fence post. She hit a metal post with her head and chest. She had split her helmet open. Her knees are sprained and her ribs sore but she had no concussion or traumatic brain injury thankfully. Please take a look at the attached picture of the helmet and please consider wearing a helmet.

**This post was edited on Jan 12th 2018 at 8:54:36pm
 
13879297:aggro_skidad said:
My daughter was training with her race team last week when I got the call that she had been in an accident and was being sledded down on a backboard. It feels horrible to be told to meet your kid at EMS.

She had finished a training run on the course and was returning to the lift on a flat traverse at speed when she hit something (maybe a bump in the snow she didn't see) and hooked an edge and veered into a metal fence post. She hit a metal post with her head and chest. She had split her helmet open. Her knees are sprained and her ribs sore but she had no concussion or traumatic brain injury thankfully. Please take a look at the attached picture of the helmet and please consider wearing a helmet.

**This post was edited on Jan 12th 2018 at 8:54:36pm

I hope you kept the helmet so you can show her in case she ever gets dumb and decides to ski without a helmet.
 
13876747:strayln_Skier said:
Never seen crazy fucked up shit. Most injuries i've seen have been in carparks. I do know the head of ski patrol at Perisher, he said that most injuries are in the carpark, just people slipping over and breaking bonez. I've got to agree with the abortionator here, it's not something you really wanna talk about.

i was waiting for a lift up on the village 8 in Perisher and some idiot doing probably 50km on snowboard came speeding down and ran into this little girl knocking her out and breaking her ankle the guy bit his tounge in half and started to choke on it luckily some guy ran over and helped him get it out. it was pretty fucked
 
13880249:jm03 said:
i was waiting for a lift up on the village 8 in Perisher and some idiot doing probably 50km on snowboard came speeding down and ran into this little girl knocking her out and breaking her ankle the guy bit his tounge in half and started to choke on it luckily some guy ran over and helped him get it out. it was pretty fucked

Fucking boarders...
 
13877384:IsitWinterYet17 said:
Before I share my stories, I'd like to say I don't like to talk about horror stories just due to the fact that I'm paranoid as fuck when it comes to that shit. The first time I heard about tree wells, I researched them for 6 hours straight (you get the picture). This stuff is just bad juju, like that asshole who says "don't break your leg" when you leave to go skiing. Yes people die. Yes skiing is an extremely dangerous sport. It is however reasonably safe if you take precautions and stay in control. Minimize your risks. All these stories do is incite fear in some folks. Fear is not only the hindrance of progression, but fear also makes for dangerous skiing. Be confident, prepare to be as safe as you can, and don't worry about the bad stuff.... Now to my stories....

I almost saw an awful accident at Jay Peak. Over Christmas this guy was cooking it down the end of a run right under the Flyer lift along the side of a trail. He was approaching those pipes for snowmaking that line the sides of trails, when he loses control and wrecks hard. He missed smashing his face on the pipe by inches. It's not often that a wipeout makes be shout out loud. It was so close to being really bad. If that guy had hit his face on that pipe I'm confident he would have died right there due to severe head trauma. PSA don't ski near snowmaking equipment.

I have friends who saw someone lose control on a blue groomed run and crash into a tree on a trail edge at another resort and die. PSA skiing on edges of trails can be dangerous.

Holy crap, me so much when i first heard about tree wells. My biggest fear of dying is by drowning and tree wells seem like a slowe version of that. Scares the shit out of me so i make sure to really steer clear of bug trees on pow days since i ride a lone a lot of times
 
13876744:theabortionator said:
I haven't seen the most fucked up shit, but I've seen some pretty fucked up shit working in the ski industry the past 18 seasons. Not even worth sharing. I probably talked to a friend or two about something fucked up just to get it off my chest, but generally it's not shit I like to remember or talk about.

Skiing can be a dangerous sport, you can get fucked up or die doing it. It's not worth dwelling on the bad things. Support your friends going through injuries, try and deal with the loss of people, and keep skiing/ move on.

Some fucked up shit happens on the mountain, really not worth talking/posting about imo. If you really care, troll facebook and the forums, news, whatever. Otherwise just keep going and be as safe as you can.

Fucked up shit can happen to anyone at anytime, no use dwelling on it. Stay safe out there!
13876745:theabortionator said:
Maybe I'm just weird, but even the conversations like this people have at the mountain make me uncomfortable. I don't think anyone should deny the risks, but I don't ski to dwell on them either. Life is a fucked up place, and skiing is the kind of spot I go to get away from all that bullshit. Is it dangerous? Of course, but so is anything. I don't see the use in sharing the most fucked up thing you've ever seen on the mountain. Your friend eating shit at the end of the day trying some crazy trick can be fucking hilarious, but people who will never ski again, or are fucking dead isn't something that I really laugh about.

That's just kind of my $.02. Sorry if that was a buzzkill.

When the essay page requirement is 15 but you're already done at 8
 
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