Guest Comrade Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 First off, if I don't make a whole lot of sense, my speech and writing haven't been the best lately. Here's my story. On Memorial Day my family and I went to the lake to do some waterskiing. I was skiing at 32 mph and 22 feet off or so (I know, the 35 feet off freaks me out.) I crashed pretty hard. I don’t know what happened, but I am guessing the ski hit my head. It felt like I had the wind out of me, but I noticed that I couldn't move. My little brother saw something was wrong, so he pulled me in the boat. Everyone in the boat noticed that I had a softball size bump on my head and I also was speaking a bunch of gibberish. My dad rushed me to the hospital where a cat scan showed that I had crushed the left side of my skull. The doctor immediately operated on me where he found on some bleeding on my brain and some lacerations on the brain as well. So he stapled me together and I spent the week in the hospital. I am now in the recovery stage. I hit the brain that controls speech and expression. I am getting better, but it will still be a three month process. Lucky me. So, my question is: there are a few who water-ski here, and I was wondering if anyone wears a helmet? I am guessing that when I go again, I will have one. Would a kayak helmet work? ->Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 i hit myself slalom waterskiing when i fell laterally at full speed: almost crushed my ear.. Since then i have cut down a bit but i was going to look into the Gath surfing helmets (made in Oz) for waterkiing, they even come with a visor on certain models, if you are really scared by crushing your face! Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted June 12, 2004 Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 Did you go out over the front of the ski?? How did you do it or do you remember? I've had my scariest moments while accelerating through the wake, got pulled out over the front of the ski. I felt that I could kiss my ski tip. The only head injuries that I have received from skiing is two ruptured eardrums. I was trying those Mike Kjellander slam dunk turns at 35 off and slammed the water hard with my head. Immediate and intense pain, tried to stand, fell over. Something is not right here, what is this liquid oozing down the side of my face?? INnner ear fluid, the stuff that helps with your equilibrium. Took 4 months for the ear to heal to ski again, now I ski with earplugs. Earplugs as probably do helmets take away some of the perception as to how fast you're going, since youcan't hear the wind across your ears anymore. At least, not as loud. For awhile I was running the course at 37/38 mph until I got used to the lack of wind noise. Using a helmet I woudl be concerned about the water gettin under the helmet and ripping it off your head. It wouldn't be as bad as the off-shore boat racers who would flip their boats going 100 mph and the water would pop off their hlemets along with their heads, not a pretty sight. Thank goodness for F-16 style cockpits for the offshore racers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knoch Posted June 12, 2004 Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 Helmets, okay i haven't slolum skied in a few years but i do a ton of wakeboarding and i did wear one for a while after i got a concussion, well i mean more than once i got a concussion. Hittin water can be like hittin bricks if you hit it hard enough...i guess. The good falls are all barefooting though, nothing like catchin some chop and tumbling head over heals, skipping across the top of the water, and i've had some crazy fights with the boom when i decide to do it that way, head butting a metal post doesn't feel good at all. Oh and with the weeds floating on the surface with zebra muscles all over them, i've come to rest really bloody before. There are tons of helmets out there made specifically for waterskiing. ProTec and Boeri make some good ones that are pretty cheap, but there are tons out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maciek Posted June 12, 2004 Report Share Posted June 12, 2004 http://www.thinkhelmets.com/front.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Comrade Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 oldvolvosrule, I can remember crossing the wake, and I fell. I am guessing I went over the front. I was very conscious during the event. Only my brother saw the wreck. He said that the crash was pretty hard, but he never saw what hit me. The ski was still attached to my feet, so we are guessing that the ski tip did hit me. My mom was driving the boat. My dad was taking some pictures in the observer's seat. He was looking in the view window, so he didn't see the crash. My family has somewhat of a history of ski accidents. My dad broke some ribs. My older brother tore a ligament in his knee, that's why he wears a brace during skiing and carving. A couple years ago, the ski came off and hit my knee. I tore up my knee to the tendon. ->Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 Waterskiing, most people just cruise behind the boat, slowing down to cross the wake, what do we do? Rock back on our edge, snatch the rope into our hip, lean the shoulders back and hang on. " What wake?? I didn't feel any wake. I have a 1988 Ski Nautique 2001 and that throws up a pretty big wake for most long liners, put a good skier behind it and the wake is not an issue. I have gone out over the front of the ski on a few occasions, never impacted it though, knock on wood. There have been a few times when I get my weight forward on the tip as I am going through the wake, try to catch my balance and ski right up onto the shore. It's not fun. The tourney lakes that I go to in So Cal have little room between the turn balls and the shoreline, so getting grounded is kind of common. You've never felt a ski decelerate until you ski on the shore. Had to fix a few waterskis with PTex candles and marine tex. Hope you heal soon, summer is still in its infancy, hopefully you can get out on the water soon. The best falls for me occurred when I was trying to learn how to barefoot backwards, can you say neck whip. I only barefoot forwards, throw in a couple tumble turns and some one footers and I 'm good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knoch Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 That post reminded me of ruining one of my wakeboards...I was on a little tourney lake like he described, really shallow and narrow. So i cut in to do a raley and tried to throw it too soon, so i ended up going really far but not so much high at all, and totally out of control. When i finally came down, the tip of my board hit first, and it just so happened it was only in about 2 feet of water, so the board dug into the clay bottom, i went skipping across the surface after it was ripped off my feet, and when i walked back to my board, the tip delaminated all the way back to the center of the board. So what i did, was get up and finish my run switch because i had to throw a few more tricks in there. After about 3 weeks of fartin around with fiberglass and resin i had a great slider board, so it wasn't a complete waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Whenever someone crashes hard, we need to think about what could have prevented the injuries. I've been waterskiing for almost 30 years and never thought once about wearing a helmet...until now. But even now, at 40 years old, I don't rip it up as I did in my teens and 20's. I will consider getting a surfing helmet in the future for surfing in crowded Santa Cruz waters. Then, I could use it for waterskiing too. Get well soon, Hugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sic t 2 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Garth helmets are good. Just keep those earplugs in! Reason I don't ride without one anymore: high sided and slapped the side of my head when I hit the water. Felt a little funny as the boat circled so I held my nose and popped my ears. Left side just hissed and pissed water and fluid out of it though the ruptured ear drum. NEVER AGAIN! Sic t 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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