Guest AllMountain Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 here's what i did to my back last week in a freak accident: it's a stable compression fracture of one of my vertebrae (note the 2 good ones and the scrunched one in the middle). "stable" means it's holding itself together, so i don't need traction / brace / surgery, etc. by the grace of God, my spinal cord appears to be completely unaffected, and i don't have any pain, so i can walk around and do pretty much anything that's not strenuous. it'll be "spring conditions," if not next season, before i can get back on a snowboard :( i'm usually pretty cautious, but a number of things came together to make this happen. i was on a cat track, carrying moderate speed, because it was deserted. exactly at the point where the cat track widens out into a large slope, i came upon another snowboarder, who made an unexpected move to the right. the path of least resistance was to scoot around him, further to the right. it appeared that there was plenty of room, since there was a wide slope below us, not a tight cat track edge. the lighting was very flat, and i didn't see that there was an "unofficial" jump there, until i was riding up the side of it. i caught a bit of air, with snowboard up and rear end down. landed on my rear end on pretty hard snow. man, did it hurt! it was a "perfect storm" of conditions. if i'd come up to the snowboarder anywhere else but the very end of the cat track, i would have just slowed down. if there hadn't been a jump where i wasn't expecting one, i would have been fine. if the lighting were just a little better, i would have seen the jump and avoided it. i'm not really sure what lessons to take away from this. maybe just be even more cautious around other skiers/riders (although i think of myself as pretty cautious already). maybe become more of a "fair weather" rider and just stay off the slopes when visibility deteriorates. try to get the mountain staff to notice when riders make a jump in a particularly dangerous place and remove it... oh well... the bottom line is this could have been much, much, much worse. barring any unexpected developments, the net effect on me is little more than an inconvenience. thank God! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBrad Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'm just wondering, if it doesn't hurt then what prompted you to get x-rays done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfj04 Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Welcome to this season's club. Really sorry to hear this and hopefully it will heal well. Personally, I think runs should be marked by the "chance of getting hurt" and not the "level of difficulty". Thay way, we'd all focus more in the areas where we shouldn't need to focus - like cat tracks. Sort of like the rule of thumb that most auto accidents happen close to home. Just kidding but sounds like it was a fluke and lucky that it wasn't a lot worse. Same question - what made you decide to go see the Dr if you have moderate mobility? Wise choice to say the least! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 That sucks man! Glad to ear you have good mobility and no pain at least - heal well!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkaholic Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Sorry to hear about your injury AM. I hope the healing and rehab go well to get you back on board strong and healthy. There are too many injuries already this season. BE CAREFUL OUT THERE PEOPLE! ink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AllMountain Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'm just wondering, if it doesn't hurt then what prompted you to get x-rays done? heh, heh... i guess i didn't tell enough of the story. when it happened, i was in utter agony. in fact, i lay there screaming for a couple of minutes before i could collect myself. like all of us, i've taken my share of falls, and sometimes they hurt a lot, but usually the pain calms down after a few mins. not this time. i was strapped onto a back board and pulled down to the first aid station behind a snowmobile, and then to the hospital in an ambulance. about 2 hrs after the accident, in the hospital, i got 800 mg of ibuprofen, and that calmed down the pain. that was the last time i was in serious pain. i took ibuprofen for a couple of days, and then weaned off it over a couple more. so when i said "i don't have any pain," i was referring to my current state, not my initial state. when it first happened, it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverchick Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'm sorry to hear about your accident AllMountain. I am glad however that you didn't suffer any spinal cord injuries or will not require surgery. I know what it's like to be injured so early in the season. I have a high ankle fracture that as of right now still hurts quite a bit. I got hurt over Christmas break and I'm walking around in an immobilizer boot thingy. Not fashionable at all! Anyhow I'm hoping that I will be able to ride at SES. P.S. Good luck to everyone that has suffered injuries so far, worst case scenario, we can all get together at SES and share some cocktails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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