Skiing after knee reconstruction

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 11:02:56 -0800, Mike Treseler wrote:

paul j wrote:

The other day I caught an old Warren Miller film on TV and I got real
reminiscent of being out on the slopes. If snowboarding could get me back
on the hills that would be great, but I always believed it to be more
dangerous on the legs and knees than skiing was.

I think this is all nothing more than a pipe dream, sadly. I just really,
really miss it.

You can do it, but it will take a good sports-oriented physical
therapist and lots of work on your part. I recovered from
a compression fracture last year and my knee is now
stronger than before from working it.

That's great news, and must be awesome. I'm gonna look into a few
therapists around here and see if any of them specialize in skiing.
--
Up from Third Base to Huntington
They sang another victory song...........

"Black Metal Martha" wrote in message
...

I would love to see new boarders adopt some of the old school skiing
rules,
such as alerting folks in front of them if they're passing them closely.
Also, alerting other lift passengers that you're new and may fall getting
off the lift is good. This seems to be the most troubling spot for new
boarders, they fall getting off lifts.

Or they sit down at the bottom of the lift unloading ramp to adjust their
bindings.

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 18:02:39 GMT, paul j
wrote:

Well, I gather they haven't changed at all. I haven't been skiing for over
15 years and snowboarders were rude back then. It's a shame they haven't
learned to share yet.


Breaking my heart....actually, I don't see much more rudeness on the
slopes than I did in the pre-snowboarding era, it's just the
testosterone cases are mainly on boards now instead of on skis.

But for the love of Ullr, get back on skis. I don't know what your
injury was, or what you mean when you say you just finished your
reconstruction (are you just now able to walk again, or are you back
near 100% for your everyday activities?). But odds are that some
moderate strength training, coupled with maybe a nice brace (I've worn
one since I had my ACL replaced in '88) would get you back on the
slopes pretty nicely.

And the kicker is, skiing has gotten MUCH easier over the past fifteen
years. The new skis just take a lot less energy than the old ones
did, as long as your technique has evolved along with them. A little
time in the weight room, a little money on lessons and a brace -
that's not too much to pay to get back on the slopes, is it?

bw

Black Metal Martha wrote:
I would love to see new boarders adopt some of the old school skiing rules,
such as alerting folks in front of them if they're passing them closely.

So true. On narrow catwalk trails I have not once heard a boarder call
out 'on your left' as they passed...not once. Hear it quite often from
skiers.

"foot2foot" wrote

I think it is true, but (I just hate to start this again, even though
I'm going to) snowboarding is a *whole* lot more dangerous
than skiing. You're tied up to the board, and if you, for instance
catch a toe edge going even twenty or thirty, you get slammed
into the snow to a dead stop, almost surely injuring something.

It's the fear of the unknown speaking in you. There's no reliable
statistics showing it's the case.

More to the point, typical ski injury is a knee injury, and if it
happens it's usually quite nasty and has very long-term consequences
on you.

With snowboarding, most common injuries are wrists, tail bone and
head concussions. All mostly avoidable if using wrist guards,
impact shorts and a helmet.

The advice of trying to snowboard for someone with messed up knees
comes from knowing this stats. Snowboarding is much easier on
knees that skiing for many reasons, including the fact that
snoboard boots/bindings have much more flex at the ankle which
in turn allows much more natural movements of the whole leg and
relieves stress from the knee.

To me, snowboarding is a kid thing, for peeps with flexible
bodies and strong, easily healing bones and soft tissue. Not
something for an older person to start, if you want to go
all out. However, even still, if you go easy and just enjoy
the board, it might be easier on the knees than skiing.

The learning curve is much steeper, so "all out" on a snowboard
is closer in time than on skis. Also, as it was mentioned here,
if you don't care about doing it with grace and fluidity, you can
take on almost any slope on a snowboard after minimal training.

"paul j" wrote

Well, I gather they haven't changed at all. I haven't been skiing for over
15 years and snowboarders were rude back then. It's a shame they haven't
learned to share yet.

I actually tried snowboarding once and I failed miserably. Before my
injury I had about 12 or 13 years of skiing under my belt, my father first
took me skiing when I was 4 or 5.

I think this is all nothing more than a pipe dream, sadly. I just really,
really miss it.

Bull****. Grab your balls with your strong hands and start training

If yo do want to try snowboarding, here's some advice:

Expect your first 3 days to be miserable. Take it as easy as possible,
you will actually learn faster that way. The problem is that you need to
get your body to "unlearn" the natural movements when your legs are
free, and teach it to act with legs tied to the board. This is not on the
level of thinking, but on the level of reflexes so again take it easy and
just let it happen. Oh yeah, start with very high binding angles, like
+35 +20 or +40 + 25 or something like that. It will make your first
couple of days much more enjoyable.

If you're not very sure of your balance skills, buy impact shorts, and
for sure get wrist guards and a helmet. You will get banged up anyway
on your first couple of days, but you most likely won't brake anything if
you use proper safety equipment.

Because of your knees, you'll need to get very soft boots and very soft
bindings to get more ankle movement. Look for cheaper "freestyle"
models of boots, they tend to be much more flexible. I highly recommend
ThirtyTwo brand of boots, they seem to magically fit everyone and don't
give foot pain problems.

You don't want pure freestyle bindings though, because they lack lateral
support. Just get a lower-level all-around bindings (Nitro Team for
example is a very good entry level binding with adequate support).

For board, also get a cheap low-level model of some well-known
manufacturer. You will want a freeride or all-around board. It will be
flexy and make for an easier entry into the sport. For siziing, I'll need
to know your foot size, height and weight.

Binding setup is critical for knee comfort. Spend a lot of time at home
trying to figure out what binding angles are the most comfortable for
you. Take a small t-shaped screwdriver with you to the slopes and
adjust it right there along with the highback angles. Even healthy knees
can get screwed up if the binding settings are way out of wack, so pay
a lot of attention to this.

Good luck and see you on the slopes.

Mike Treseler wrote:

paul j wrote:

The other day I caught an old Warren Miller film on TV and I got real
reminiscent of being out on the slopes. If snowboarding could get me
back
on the hills that would be great, but I always believed it to be more
dangerous on the legs and knees than skiing was.

I think this is all nothing more than a pipe dream, sadly. I just
really,
really miss it.


You can do it, but it will take a good sports-oriented physical
therapist and lots of work on your part.

....and it'll also take some understanding, that things aren't the same
after an injury. You can't do things the way you used to, because your
body doesn't work like it used to -- so you have to move on, and find
new ways to do what you want with the equipment you've got.

Amputees ski, and people who don't have the use of their legs. It can
be done.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.

"Dmitry" wrote in message
news:QF2xd.259317$HA.66382@attbi_s01...

"paul j" wrote

Well, I gather they haven't changed at all. I haven't been skiing for
over
15 years and snowboarders were rude back then. It's a shame they haven't
learned to share yet.

I actually tried snowboarding once and I failed miserably. Before my
injury I had about 12 or 13 years of skiing under my belt, my father
first
took me skiing when I was 4 or 5.

I think this is all nothing more than a pipe dream, sadly. I just
really,
really miss it.

Bull****. Grab your balls with your strong hands and start training

If yo do want to try snowboarding, here's some advice:

Expect your first 3 days to be miserable. Take it as easy as possible,
you will actually learn faster that way. The problem is that you need to
get your body to "unlearn" the natural movements when your legs are
free, and teach it to act with legs tied to the board. This is not on the
level of thinking, but on the level of reflexes so again take it easy and
just let it happen. Oh yeah, start with very high binding angles, like
+35 +20 or +40 + 25 or something like that. It will make your first
couple of days much more enjoyable.

If you're not very sure of your balance skills, buy impact shorts, and
for sure get wrist guards and a helmet. You will get banged up anyway
on your first couple of days, but you most likely won't brake anything if
you use proper safety equipment.

Because of your knees, you'll need to get very soft boots and very soft
bindings to get more ankle movement. Look for cheaper "freestyle"
models of boots, they tend to be much more flexible. I highly recommend
ThirtyTwo brand of boots, they seem to magically fit everyone and don't
give foot pain problems.

You don't want pure freestyle bindings though, because they lack lateral
support. Just get a lower-level all-around bindings (Nitro Team for
example is a very good entry level binding with adequate support).

For board, also get a cheap low-level model of some well-known
manufacturer. You will want a freeride or all-around board. It will be
flexy and make for an easier entry into the sport. For siziing, I'll need
to know your foot size, height and weight.

Binding setup is critical for knee comfort. Spend a lot of time at home
trying to figure out what binding angles are the most comfortable for
you. Take a small t-shaped screwdriver with you to the slopes and
adjust it right there along with the highback angles. Even healthy knees
can get screwed up if the binding settings are way out of wack, so pay
a lot of attention to this.

Good luck and see you on the slopes.


Damn D- you actually sound like you know what your talking about.
no joke.
'Now if this was just a snowboard NG it would all be in the grip so to
speak.
Seriously you sound like a deascent boarderpun intended
Come on up to Crystal some time and well do some turns.

"Dmitry" wrote in message
news:hq2xd.680468$mD.357639@attbi_s02...

"foot2foot" wrote

I think it is true, but (I just hate to start this again, even though
I'm going to) snowboarding is a *whole* lot more dangerous
than skiing. You're tied up to the board, and if you, for instance
catch a toe edge going even twenty or thirty, you get slammed
into the snow to a dead stop, almost surely injuring something.

It's the fear of the unknown speaking in you. There's no reliable
statistics showing it's the case.

More to the point, typical ski injury is a knee injury, and if it
happens it's usually quite nasty and has very long-term consequences
on you.

With snowboarding, most common injuries are wrists, tail bone and
head concussions. All mostly avoidable if using wrist guards,
impact shorts and a helmet.

The advice of trying to snowboard for someone with messed up knees
comes from knowing this stats. Snowboarding is much easier on
knees that skiing for many reasons, including the fact that
snoboard boots/bindings have much more flex at the ankle which
in turn allows much more natural movements of the whole leg and
relieves stress from the knee.

To me, snowboarding is a kid thing, for peeps with flexible
bodies and strong, easily healing bones and soft tissue. Not
something for an older person to start, if you want to go
all out. However, even still, if you go easy and just enjoy
the board, it might be easier on the knees than skiing.

The learning curve is much steeper, so "all out" on a snowboard
is closer in time than on skis. Also, as it was mentioned here,
if you don't care about doing it with grace and fluidity, you can
take on almost any slope on a snowboard after minimal training.



Ya that or a tabogonsp

"LePheaux" wrote

Good luck and see you on the slopes.


Damn D- you actually sound like you know what your talking about.
no joke.
'Now if this was just a snowboard NG it would all be in the grip so to speak.
Seriously you sound like a deascent boarderpun intended
Come on up to Crystal some time and well do some turns.

Hey what happened? You were such a good proof of the fact that
an average skier is just as much of an asshole as an average
snowboarder, just older and thus trained to hide it with all the
hard knocks received over the years.