I’ve had two significant crashes, a tib/fib in '15 and a subdural in 2023, both from high speed carving crashes where I overweighted my inner ski, lost the outer grip and spun at speed. Crazily, I skied off the hill after both only to realize the severity later. I’ll be back in the horse as soon as the snow flies. You can too. Good luck!
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35+ years on ski patrol? Wow! I appreciate him and the rest of the crew who work hard to keep us safe out there.
Yeah, it was last week when WP posted a snow video. Hopefully, some of it will stick around! My college kid is looking forward to bringing friends home to ski over break. That’s the wonderful thing about living in a desirable area: all the kids want to visit. 
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My friend had a very bad break (femur) a few years ago and decided that was it for her, but she had osteoporosis. Their son loved to ski in the winter sports program at WP (he has Down syndrome) and it was something their family could do, but her son was getting sick a lot too (RSV, pneumonia, afraid of covid) so they just gave it up. It was sad for her.
I’ve had three major crashes - one as a kid when I went through a fence and needed stitches, one as a college student when I tore up my knee, and one more recently in my late 40s where I displaced a disc in my lower back and could barely move for a few months. I got cleared to ski again the following year and did so. I will say that my days of tearing down the mountain are over, I stick to groomed runs, and I’m more cautious but I can’t give it up. Some day I want to be one of those octogenarians still on the mountain skiing for free.
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Mine was tib/fib fracture as well and I am now a bionic woman with a titanium rod. I have worked so hard on recovery that I am actually stronger and more flexible now than when I got hurt. It’s just whether or not my brain will allow me to get back into it! The whole experience is something I hope to never ever ever repeat.
This thread is like Richard Dreyfuss and Captain Quint comparing shark bites in Jaws! You’ve got me knocking on wood for an injury-free season.
Glad you’re on the mend!
My wife ruptured her ACL in ‘18. She rehabbed it, skied with a custom brace, and now only wears Stoko tights.
If and when you go back, just take it slow. Be a ballroom skier for a while, maybe forever.
Good luck!
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I’m an intermediate skier, proudly seeking out my favored “blue cruiser” runs. I can handle some expert runs if conditions are decent, but typically I only do that if with my kid along. Part of the day we separate so she can do her double diamond runs.
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Same. Once the kids got old enough to ski independently, but not old enough to be let loose at a big resort, we started skiing at a place where all runs led to the lodge. Spouse and I would knock off midday and start après-ski early while the kids had the run of the mountain. They enjoyed skiing without mom and dad and we enjoyed our beers in peace. Everyone went home happy!
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I’m not a skier but my husband buys an Ikon pass every year. He has a good friend who pushes him to go at least two trips. Two of my kids also like to do a trip with him. My husband and kids are all snowboarders. They go to Mammoth. I think my husband is ready to slow down and just eventually do one trip with family as grandchildren get older.
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We were a Plattekill family and still try to get up there at least once per season. Such a great vibe - when D23 was little it was one of the few places I could really just let her go off with other kids and be a kid. Now we go to Magic Mtn in VT, similar vibe. I’m told it’s more challenging which is good for DH and DD, but I rarely ski anymore. We used to always rent houses for the season but the pandemic & pandemic hangover has made that challenging. I miss having a winter house. I’m encouraging Mr Poochie to take more trips out West and do what he loves (Jackson Hole) and I know he’s hoping we can get our daughter up to VT for a few weekends.
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LOVE Magic Mountain. Alas, they closed Suicide Six, I think. Those smaller hills are the best!
They didn’t close suicide six (unless it was VERY recent). They renamed it last year to Saskadena Six.
I think I skied Plattekille too, but many of the NY ski centers are a childhood memory blur to me.
I do clearly remember Highmount (closed now I think near Bellayre). We lived in Hurley, near Kingston. In the winter our town and West Hurley got together and sponsored free schoobuses/driver and discount $4 tickets. Dad required sis and I to each chip in $2. He went as chaperone and also got the $4 deal. Eventually I got to be pretty good riding Tbars and Jbar, but I was a slow learner.
Oh, good! Probably a less intimidating name for today’s sensibilities.
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Snowmass!
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We are ready for ski season to begin. We usually do around 20 plus days on the Ikon pass. There will be many trips to Mammoth this season and our big road trip in February will be to Colorado. We will ski Copper, Winter Park and Steamboat. We also bought 2 day Epic passes so we could ski Breckenridge and Vail this year. H and I used to be advanced skiers, but these days stick to difficult blues and easier blacks as we don’t want to injure ourselves doing anything crazy. H is 66 and I’m 63 and we would like to still be skiing when we are 80!
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I love that you and your husband are doing these yearly ski trips. It makes me wish I enjoyed the sport.
My in-laws skied well into their 80’s.
I grew up skiing Hunter and some of the VT slopes. Now head to Colorado, Utah and Tahoe. No particular favorite , though I loved beaver creek til we broke our bones last year! Great condo right at a chairlift. But not to be deterred, we are skiing with the older s and family at Park City in December. Liked the canyons area before it got so built up.
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My older s had a femur fracture on a ski slope when we were looking at colleges for younger s. Older s has a titanium rod in his leg. We were at Big Bear in southern CA then. And for those of you who don’t know, this past January my DH broke his leg (tibial Plateau fracture) and I broke my pelvis (superior/inferior rami fractures) a day apart at Beaver Creek! But we have our epic season passes again and will ski with the kids and grands in Dec. we are able To get such ridiculously cheap passes b/my H was military that they pay for themselves in a day .
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