Ski injuries can be avoided with proper strengthening, good gear
Snowboarders make their way down the Falling Star Run at Nordic Valley on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014.
Ski Patrol staff member Peter Francis, left, helps Stephanie Gill out of a small snow avalanchhe during a training session at Snowbasin on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015.
Ski and snowboard injuries aren’t just a pain. They can be a disaster for your bank account with mounting medical bills, not to mention that pricey nonrefundable season pass you’re not longer able to use.
Dr. Dann Byck, a local orthopedic surgeon with a background in sports medicine, said skiers are more likely to see injuries in the lower half of their bodies, while snowboarders experience more injuries in the upper half.
“For snowboarders, it’s head and back injuries,” he said. “For skiers … it’s mostly knees, but it can be a tibia.”
Snowboarders often hurt themselves when they try to brace a fall, which can fracture wrists or tweak shoulders. Skiers, meanwhile, are likely to twist, tear and break ligaments in the knee, like the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, the medial collateral ligament, or MCL, and tissue like the meniscus.
A few preventative measures, along with some common sense, can go a long way into creating an enjoyable season on the slopes.
Be mindful of the season
Byck sees two waves in snowsports-related injuries — early season and late. Early on, both skiers and riders are less likely to be in shape, which leads to more falls and botched landings. There’s less snow coverage, which poses unique risks, too.
“You’ll see more fractures when people turn on a rock thinking it’s snow — that’s when we see more tibia fractures,” Byck said.
Later in the season, the snow becomes stickier and Byck sees another peak in injuries.
“Spring skiing snow will stick to skis and lead to more ligament problems — it’s like you’re taking turns in slow motion, which is sometimes just enough to pop an ACL,” Byck said.
A lot of these injuries can be avoided with some strengthening.
“Skiing is a fun sport, but it requires year-round fitness,” Byck said. “Doing different sports and cross-training is great for skiing and snowboarding. That way, you’re not catching up right before ski season.”
Good cross-training sports for the off-season including cycling and running. Byck also recommends joining a preseason conditioning program and training muscles important to skiing and riding.
“There are pre-ski programs around, they can be found online. A lot of gyms have six-week programs,” he said. “Stay fit and do balance and core training — balance is very important in these snow sports. Quick-second changes can be the difference between a crash and not crashing.”
Inspect gear
Few things lead to injury faster than an ill-fitted binding.
“If too tight, bindings will not release at a certain pressure and that’s when you get knee injury,” said Morgan Hancock, a ski tech with 2nd Track Sports in Ogden.
And if bindings are too lose? “You’re coming out of your skis. If you make a turn too hard, you’ll come right out,” he said.
Bindings are adjusted to release depending on a skier’s ability. A properly trained technician can help dial them in based on height, weight and skill.
“It’s always a good idea to have bindings checked out once a year, even if you’d had them fitted before,” said Jeff Montague, general manager of Alpine Sports.
Properly fitted boots and sharpened edges also help skiers and riders stay in control. Take gear in for a tuning before the season starts and get it regularly maintained throughout the season. If buying skis or boards secondhand, Hancock said, make sure the edges and bindings are in good shape.
“Just having good equipment is always more safe, obviously,” he said.
Use your head
Speed and taking air make the sport a lot more fun. Unfortunately, the best way to prevent suffering on the slopes is to ski or ride slow and stay away from jumps. Short of that, Byck said to stay in control.
“For people who like to huck, who like to take air, you always want to scout out the landing so make sure it’s the proper angle and no one is below you,” he said.
A proper angle is a slope that’s not flat, which can be abrupt on the body.
“The steeper it is, the more the chance of skiing out of it,” Byck said. “Flatter will stop you. If you’re not perfectly balanced, something’s going to give.”
It goes without saying, too, that smart skiers and riders wear helmets to prevent injury.
“It’s not going to prevent a concussion, but it will prevent lacerations and fractures of the head,” Byck said.
Montague has skied for 37 years, and his only big injury was getting knocked on the head.
“I was wearing a helmet,” he said. “It would’ve been a lot worse if I wasn’t.”
He recommends newer helmets that include MIPS technology — multi-directional impact protection system.
“It acts like the fluid around your brain to help, if you take a hit to your head, reduce chance for injury,” Byck said. “It gives you another level of possible protection
Wrist guards, too, can be helpful for snowboarders.
“Every one who snowboards is going to fall, and they usually put arm in front of them to prevent hitting the head. We see quite a bit of wrist fractures from that,” Byck said. “You’re down so fast you don’t know it happened.”
Take time to recover
Some injuries will put you out for a few weeks, some will put you out a season or more. No matter how antsy you get for snow, Byck said it’s important to let the injury fully heal.
Ligament injuries, like a torn ACL, can take eight to nine months to heal. Hit the slopes earlier than that and you run a big risk of a re-tear.
“The big push in sports medicine is to get you back as quickly as you can and sometimes we overdo it,” Byck said. “I think this is one of the cases where American medicine has overdone it. We’ve since pulled back and said, ‘Maybe that’s too fast, we should probably wait a few more months.'”
Concussions need care and time as well. If you or a fellow rider has a concussion, it’s important to stop all activity immediately.
“A second concussion causes severe damage to the brain, and that can be something that takes years to recover from,” Byck said. “We’re finding that younger people who have concussions have more long-term affects than adults, and that is bad.”
Post-concussion, it’s important for a patient to keep from reading, watching TV or gaming until she’s asymptomatic, then wait a week or two before skiing or riding again.
“It’s brain rest, just like an ankle or a wrist,” Byck said. “It’s very boring, it’s something no one wants to do, but that’s the best way to recover. And there are some people who just don’t recover.”
Contact Reporter Leia Larsen at 801-625-4289 or llarsen@standard.net. Follow her on Facebook.com/leiaoutside or on Twitter @LeiaLarsen.