Skiing & Snowboarding - A Cautionary tale

Ski season is upon us. Remember to get your travel insurance and winter sports coverage too.

Unless you’re lucky enough to be heli skiing on top of a mountain, making your own fresh tracks with no one else in sight, then please have consideration for your fellow skiers.

You might be an advanced and really hot skier, but it’s just like driving on the roads, you never know what the other person is going to do. If you launch yourself down a beginner or intermediate run in full tuck, fantasizing you’re competing in the World Cup races you could seriously injure yourself and someone else (or a tree) and end a life’s skiing pleasure for both.

As an example. A friend recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery for a problem specifically related to an injury in the 1980s while skiing in Vail, Colorado. An improving beginner then, she was skiing slowly down the side of an intermediate run to stay out of the way of faster skiers. Suddenly, a large male skier hurtled out of the trees onto the slope and smashed straight into her. One of his skis went between her legs and they ended up in a tangled heap of skis, poles, and miscellaneous accessories strewn across the slope like a boot sale. Both were winded and stunned but eventually got back on their feet and skis. Our friend thought she was okay. He profusely apologised and went on his way.

Only later would she realise she was not okay. By the time she had skied down there was sharp pain in the knee and her entire inner thigh had become one massive black bruise. She stayed in bed and rested until the pain subsided and eventually skied again. Being in her twenties then she bounced back quickly. She didn’t seek medical help because it was obvious nothing was broken. Plus she had not taken out winter sports insurance! Yes, we know that was dumb and no sane person would do that these days. It was just incredible luck the injury was not more serious. Treatment for a broken leg in the U.S. would have put her in debt for many years.

Twenty years later (as many predicted) the injury has come back to haunt her. Pain in the same knee, same spot where the ski hit her. It took nine months of repeated GP and hospital visits while she hobbled about on crutches before she had surgery on the NHS. Not having private insurance, she resorted to avoiding an even longer wait for treatment by paying for a private MRI (setting her back £350) so they could at least find out what was wrong. It showed a torn ligament and some degeneration and osteo-arthritis. The knee pain was not related to any recent injury but seemed directly related to the weakened and damaged condition of the knee from the previous injury. Even after surgery the knee is still not right and maybe never will be. But for that injury she could have had many more years of skiing pleasure.

So, be warned - make sure you have coverage for winter sports before you set off and …PLEASE, PLEASE, BE CAREFUL – AND CONSIDERATE OF OTHER SKIERS!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 11:13 am and is filed under Ski Holidays, Traveller's Tales .

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