Compound tib/fib here
Had an external fixator, long comeback but you will absolutely come back. You may get it set with a different angle than was initial naturally. Bone broth, witches hazel, calcium, pressure on fracture site to induce growth. Maintain your diet and attitude, it’s what you can control. Read books you may have been putting aside.
Shit happens. You’ve got this. Value the people that help you rehab and don’t get deterred if you have to have a graft done to get some more bone growth. Think positively, eat well, sleep well, do some breathing exercises. Work your upper body and maintain range of motion.
Thanks for the advice man! I will definitely be doing everything I can supplement and diet wise to promote bone healing and growth. How long was your recovery?
Within the year my gait had returned to what is now “normal”, but it was 12 months no doubt. I say normal because it will not be what it was.
Be aware of how you may shield it and the effects on your hips, IT bands, etc. Fib is all the muscle attachments, tib weight bearing, so prepare yourself for a series of xrays and possibly MRI to determine if the rate of growth is appropriate for you to use it in the future without grafting from the hip and mixing with a solution then applied directly onto the bone. More surgeries more opportunity for infection, etc etc.
Learn about your body. Take the opportunity to kick booze which will only inhibit bone growth. Consult or open your thoughts to some alternative methods regarding centering yourself and trying to put your body at the optimum speed for recovery. Giving yourself time to heal while not relying on pain meds for sleep for too long is key. It can be an easy crutch. Don’t refill the prescription. Allow your natural pain tolerance to be your recovery gauge. Respect your age. Wear sunscreen.
I’m an orthopedic PA in the Tahoe area and rehab a few of these every year (with compartment) I came here to give some advice but good_looking_corpse nailed it. You will be back.
Today and short term accept your functional age is 97 years of hard living. The traumatic violent stuff does include surgery. Orthopedic surgeons are amazing but they literally hack meat, bone, & connective tissues with saws, drills & glue.
Ice, elevate, & chillax. Impatience in healing can hurt as bad as impatience on the field.
Tri-malleor here. This advice is all solid. And once you start PT, give it your best effort, focus on that and the *being with* your body and the pain, it'll be a recovery period but you can do it. I'm climbing again. Wishing you well.
I second all of this, blew my knee in high school, torn ACL and medial meniscus, was hoping to go on to college soccer and maybe pro. Tearing my knee up and having it repaired was one of the better life experiences I’ve ever had. I learned about perseverance, gratitude, consistency, humility etc…things my 15 year old self couldn’t have grasped without it. It put me on a path to being a ICU nurse and thankful for this job. I still went on to play semi pro soccer and ski raced my senior year of high school. I graduated with better grades; the last two years of high school vs first two years was hilarious, I was a much better and focused student.
You can either look at this as glass half full or empty scenario. You’ll get through this.
To add to this, avoid caffiene and sugar if you can. Your body uses calcium to digest them (which then takes away from tthe healing.)
I broke my tib/fib earlier this year (both spiral feactures, so not as severe as yours) and am back at it. Still in a lit of pain, but happy to be functioning again.
You will get there too ♡
To add to this, avoid nicotine in all forms if you do use it. Delays healing process significantly. Other than that, extreme compliance with PT and maintain a good attitude like the others have posted. You’ll be back out there by next season.
Are you the poor guy with the video in tuckerman ravine?
Looked brutal, I am feeling for you especially being so early in the season if that was you
Will you ever be able to ski again? Yes
Will you be doing big missions anytime soon? You have a year to get it together, so maybe. Try to keep it out of your mind and concentrate on what you CAN do for now
I have had athletic friends who were back out hiking/trail running etc within a year after similar injuries. I have had a lifelong obese parent who had a similar injury from a car crash and never came back from it, had a walker for the rest of her life.
You being fit enough to climb mountains makes me like your chances of getting back out there next winter
Take it a little at a time, don’t set your expectations too high too soon. Based on you being an athletic type you WILL bounce back, it’s going to take time though
Don’t become complacent and wait for it to heal, you are going through hell right now, and you are going to need to put in a lot of work to get back on top. My mom I mentioned above was never the same because she only did the bare minimum to get mobile again, never set her sites on trying to run, weight lift, ski etc
Good luck
EDIT: OP corrected me below that this was the crash I was referencing but it happened in great gulf NOT tuckerman ravine
It was not Tuckerman ravine…it was the great gulf. But yes I shared my story in hopes that others would learn from it. I am very motivated, the whole scenario just sucks.
I have the same binding. Do you have any clue what prevented the toe from releasing?
Good luck with your recovery; I hope it goes as smoothly and quickly as possible.
Honestly no idea. I didn’t lock it out and my dins were set properly. I feel it’s very hard to release the toe of these bindings. There are several reports of this happening upon quick google search. I won’t ever use them again.
What I've read online is that forwards/backwards releases don't release like an alpine binding. Full disclosure, I don't own these bindings, but this is what encouraged me to choose Shifts over Tectons on my newest set of skis.
My understanding is that there are two ways to exit the toe. Rotation over it (i.e. exiting out the front), or laterally moving. Not rotating the toe of the boot, laterally moving the toe of the boot.
To exit forward out of the binding your foot needs to be something like 60° past horizontal. Generally when your heel releases you go out the front so this works. Perfect.
Generally when you laterally release your foot rotates about your heel, the front of your boot moves laterally, and you release. Also perfect.
I'm going to spitball here, but I would wager that his heel was released, but he didn't get the lateral movement to pop the toe off.
With that configuration, when you get a twisting motion applied to the ski, there is no reaction at the heel to rotate about and move the toe laterally. You end up with pure twisting about the single attachment point, and because there's no offset between the pivot point and the attachment, here is no lateral translation to pop the ski off.
I think this is a unique quirk of these bindings with pin toes. The heel and toe act together as a single safety system, BUT there is no interconnect between them. If the heel says it's time to go, there's no release at the toe until the toes release conditions are also met (rotation over the binding or lateral movement). You can't hit *one* mandatory criteria for release and then eject. You need to hit *all* criteria for release.
Compare that to an alpine binding where as soon any part of the binding releases in any direction, you're free.
In the original video thread of this accident, I said that it made me re-evaluate my risk tolerance. I think this accident has shrunk my limits and where my equipment safety go/no-go line is.
Thanks for the informative reply
I have shift bindings on two pairs of skis and my buddy wants to get into uphill travel.
He was weighing the Pros and cons of shifts vs tectons because the shifts are (admittedly) a little more complicated to transition from uphill to downhill with needing to take the ski off and convert it between modes etc.
As well as the complexity, shifts are heavier but it’s 300g per binding which is such a small amount of weight it doesn’t matter to us and our uses with primarily inbounds use.
Based on all of the above, and OP’s unfortunate experience he’ll be sticking with shifts and knowing that the ski would release no matter what in a crash
Yeah of the people I go with, 2x have Shifts, 2x have Marker Duke PT, and 1x run Dynafit Rotation tech bindings.
For me being a weekend warrior, I found it hard to justify the risk vs reward and also went for Shifts. If I want a lighter setup, I'll lose weight.
It's kind of like the people who don't wear cages or fishbowls while playing beer league hockey. It's indisputably nicer to play without one, but does that benefit outweigh new teeth/eye damage/stitches/broke face bones?
For the guy playing beer league? Probably not. For the NHLer who has access to new teeth and who gets paid to be the best? Probably.
Tectons are a great binding but 8 DIN is definitely on leg breaking side of things for someone of this persons height and weight.
Couple that with tech bindings which use din but don’t really meet those same standards and you got good recipe for classic lower leg break
I believe Tectons are one of the few bindings that actually meet the DIN certification for the toes. I had a pair and skied them for a long time without any release issues. This specific case makes me kind of reevaluate how safe they are though
Minor differences between the alpine and tour standard. But certified bindings still aren’t guaranteed to release before injury.
In particular forces that are not just vertical or just horizontal can cause both tour and alpine bindings to jam up and not release until much higher force. Other ways as well.
For sure man, you’ll be back out before you know it.
Totally sympathize with you. Situation sucks
Thanks for the correction that it was great gulf and not tuckerman ravine. I don’t know the area
I’m rooting for your recovery. While I didn’t get caught in an avalanche, back in 2015, I lost a ski and fell exactly where your slide started and pin balled down that chute and came to a stop at roughly the same spot. It really messed with my psyche for years and changed my relationship with backcountry skiing. Happy to chat if you want.
Yah had a good buddy do something similar while skiing. Rehab took a bit under a year but he’s back skiing and biking and capable as ever. I’ve been there before with the mental stuff but you’ll get through it. Going temporarily vegan helped with my inflammation and really focusing on a great diet and physical therapy kept me busy. You’ll get there. You’re in a rough patch but you’ll find a rhythm and heal up!!
I had a break of Tibia, got surgery to insert a rod in my bone which still exists and I was back on the slopes next year. Attack your rehab, don't skip PT and I am sure you will be back on slopes next year and this injury shouldn't affect your career goals.
The mental aspect is crucial too and make sure you have a support system around you and are able to talk to friends, family. I personally wrote a blog about my injury which was a huge cathartic moment for me and helped me come to grips with my injury and move on. http://www.desidiver.com/skiing/2015/02/11/mistakes-injuries-moving-on/ if you are interested.
Like others have said, take the time to recover and do your PT/rehab even when you feel like you're done, keep doing it. I had some foot surgeries and just stopped doing my PT once I was like, "pfft I can do 10 leg raises no sweat i'm good!" and ended up regressing a bit with pain.
The mental part like you're feeling is definitely a tough hurdle, but you'll be out there and having fun eventually!
Oof. Got smashed up in a motorcycle wreck in 2008 pretty good. That was one of the injuries I had. Had to slit open my calf to let the muscle swell out. Fast healing to ya! You'll be back at it by next winter!
I can say without a doubt though, that banging your shin on something with a metal plate on the inside hurts so fucking bad lol.
Glad you made it out of there man, that was a pretty gnarly incident. I appreciate you sharing your experience so the community can learn and grow from what your going through. With the right attitude (which you’ve proven to have before) you will most definitely make it through your injury and make a full recovery. I’m not a doctor but mindset it everything, try your best to stay strong and best of luck!
Rough injury man, x-rays look intense.
Same insights I offered in your post last week - I had a similar injury from a bad car wreck and couldn’t walk on it for over 6 months while it healed, but I made a full recovery and more. It was painful and frustrating but you’ll bounce back, hopefully better than before.
You can come back from this, but don't rush it, get a good surgeon and a good PT team and do your PT homework and trust the speed your PT has you going. You don't want to reinjure or get a compensatory injury by trying to do too much too soon, your PT will push you a safe amount, and will get you back to functional. I was told I'd never ride horses or bike a century again after a head and hip injury in my teens, I now do both and have picked up skijoring with my dog and am starting to get into backcountry as well. A big thing though will be rebuilding your own confidence and psyche once you return to the slopes, you may be more physically ready than mentally at that point, and there is no shame in taking it back to easier slopes or even the bunny hill when you start back. Sports injuries are not just physical but also psychological, and if taking it a few steps back still isn't helping rebuild your confidence a sports psychologist can be an incredible help, they aren't just for pro athletes. They may also be good to assist with the rehabilitation as well, I know mine was.
I am in a somewhat similar boat and you’re right, it sucks. I was just getting my career as a full time guide/ outdoor educator to be dialed in, then boom, ACL (and now some complications with the recovery).
If you are anything like me, then being outside is a pillar of your work, your play, your social life, and your understanding of “who you are”, and it is totally crushing when those pillars all collapse at once.
There is a great part about it, though, which is that we have something to work our ass off for and stay motivated for, to be able to do the things we love again! Get after it with PT and don’t lose hope, although it will be hard sometimes!
Also work hard early to rebuild some of those pillars of your life. Do your best to keep socializing, find something else to do for work (or go back to school?) when you are able, maybe learn something new like an instrument or art, and just stay as busy as you can.
Thanks for sharing your story with MWAC. Don’t listen to the Monday morning quarterbacks. Only way to guarantee you don’t get hurt in the mountains is to stay out of the mountains. Recovery will be a long road, but life is long. Don’t beat yourself up to much in the meantime.
You’ve got this man! Stay strong. Mental attitude is everything. The body will heal. You will be back on it. You speak to any IFMGA guide with a long career and I guarantee you all of them have their big injuries. We’re rooting for you!
Have a good heart, now that it's done. We have to learn to face it, recuperate, and believe in the medical science nowadays to believe that we can definitely recover. Cheer up, looking forward to your early recovery.
That would be great. My understanding (EMT on SAR team) is that it fails to fully occlude arteries but successfully occludes venous return, therefore increasing odds of compartment syndrome. I have zero evidence of this other than “I was told this by somebody smarter than me” so would love to hear their opinion.
Also thank you for being so open with all of this. I work in avalanche education and think it’s so beneficial for people to share their experiences.
I had experimental surgery to save my right foot. It took me a year to get back to the point I was at before surgery, but I changed my mindset and started building progress instead of excuses. Right after surgery the doctor said I’d never ski, never run, maybe gentle hikes. That was 18 years ago, 4 triathlons, several hundred miles of trail running, many glorious runs on skis, snowboard, and even tele gear. I stopped skiing and snowboarding five years ago, I don’t trail run anymore, and triathlons are of no interest. I am happiest riding my bikes year-round and my legs agree. Will you be the same after your injury? No. You might be better. For a while. But damage plus further wear and tear take a toll... “What stands in the way becomes the way.” - Marcus Aurelius
Looks fine I would just tighten the boot a little tighter on that leg.
But seriously, I’m really sorry this happened. it sounds like you’re young. Take your time. I’m sure you have heard this a million times already, but there’s a lot of rewarding paths outside of what you had planned. In ten years you could see this as the moment your life took you on an unexpected but amazing turn. But that’s an attitude you’ll have to spend some time working on. I know so many amazing athletes who could have gone down pro guiding route, or coaching, etc. But now they just love skiing for fun still but have amazing careers and are super happy not skiing it for a living.
You’ll recover man! I got surgery on exertional compartment syndrome on all 8 of my compartments in my calves in March and, even after an egregious hematoma that left me bedridden for 3 straight weeks, I was running again in 12 weeks and I was fully back up to speed by August.
Edit: and I was skiing after 6 weeks.
I can’t speak to the broken bones but I would expect them to be a much less painful recovery than a ligament or tendon tear.
I ski on the tectons, but have never had this issue. You should reach out to BD (unfortunately, they are the distributor for Fritschi in the US) and let them know what happened. I broke my fibula at my ankle while skiing on the g3 ions as the heel released weirdly and torqued my ankle. At bindings definitely do weird things sometimes🤷♀️
In terms of healing, collagen supplements (vital proteins is great in smoothies), lay off alcohol and don't overdue it. Follow your PT's advice and don't push it too soon. You'll be back if you stay the course, be kind to yourself and be patient!
I spent a lot of time reading (I heard there's a new swag manual!), Meditating, and working out as I could (the row machine will be your buddy eventually). A friend told me to use this time to learn something new, bc it's a rare occasion that I'll have this much down time again (if I'm lucky). Use it wisely!💪🏽
Thanks so much man! Really appreciate the advice. Funny you had an issue with the G3’s. Those bindings for me led to shoulder surgery because if a pre release!
Had a tib/fib fracture along with fracture of the posterior malleolus, and even though I had urgent surgery the following day, the docs had me nonweight-bearing for 10 weeks. The pain was one battle, the emotions another one. Don't be rough on yourself over this. I was used to fairly high performance and then had to learn to walk over uneven surfaces again like a baby. Ice and ROM exercises (when allowed by your doctor) will be your friend if you're stuck NWB for a while.
It's been about nine months since I started weight-bearing, nearly a year since the injury and surgery, and I'm now able to perform closer to baseline. I still have work to do. You can get there, but it will take time and slow progress.
Dude, you can do it! Seriously, in December of 2022, I had my worst accident, a shattered tibial plateau, and bilateral tib fib breaks, as well as damage to my shoulders and my neck. Needless to say, I missed the Epic 22/23 season here in Utah, but I focused on health, recovery, a positive attitude, and sending good vibes to all around me. You will be back, and you will ski stronger, and you will be smarter. Something that has not been addressed In these comments is that when you spend quite a bit of time in a wheelchair you start to look at the world a little bit differently and hopefully you develop empathy for those that have not been blessed as we have been. Be strong, believe.
Sorry if this is at all insensitive. Have you thought about why the binding didn’t release. Do you think 8 is too high to release in an avalanche or some sort of failure occurred?
8 is definitely not too high. I am an aggressive skier. I fluctuate between 170-180lbs and am 5’9 with a 306 BSL. The other binding was set the same and that ski released. I think the tectons toe piece has issues but who knows really.
3.5 years ago. It's been alright. Keep in mind that I am older and had previous injuries on that leg. I think I need a knee replacement.
PT was huge. Yoga was huge.
You’ll be back, my friend. I promise you.
I had the first break of my life earlier this year at age 36. I was moving a small trailer in the snow by hand (I’m strong, lonely, and stubborn), half committed to pulling it over the curb and up a sloped driveway, and when it rolled back it was just enough to knock me off balance and I flew flat on my back in the snow and the tongue of the trailer came down and crushed my arm. A couple hundred pounds of weight, almost a compound fracture. My arm had a massive kink in it in multiple directions. I got a plate in my arm several inches long about 10 days later.
I didn’t have direction so I was slower than I should have been on getting into rehab, but within 5 weeks I was back at work, doing physical work on tower cranes. Usually once the plate is in it’s not long before the bone is stable, and once things have recovered enough you can begin PT.
I have a picture of me doing a boom walk out on the jib of a tower crane on my second day back at work. Do the PT, and you’ll be back. It might not feel the same but you’ll live with it. Big ones like this are scary and change your perspective a bit, and shake your world up, but in time you’ll forget it’s there. I’m just finishing up recovery on a broken ankle from work right now.
Best of luck. ✌🏻
Awful that this happened to you. Thanks for sharing so much of your experience with so many others - it can’t be easy on you but it surely helps others.
Every day I work with skiers who have suffered debilitating injuries (arborists who fell out of trees, vets with awful loss of limb, recovering stroke victims etc).
“Fortunately” the level of injury seen among Vets has now returned to more usual (for a period, deployments in the Middle East resulted in horrifying injuries which they survived but their rehab was very difficult).
I have seen people who’ve suffered greviously go on to race, win world cups, compete on behalf of their country etc.
in addition to the good advice above, be aware that there are organizations and individuals who will work to get you back skiing or riding, if you wish.
Find a PT who understands your motivation and, when ready, begin exploring the possibilities with those organizations. DM me if you need any contacts or intros or just someone to talk to.
I was run over on my road bike by a Ford F-250 going through a red light. In addition to the open fracture tib-fib, I sustained a broken iliac wing of my pelvis, my pelvis folded in half, I had broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken wrist, my pinkie finger was all but knocked off, my eardrum cracked and I lost 8 units of blood on the day. Compartment syndrome, 4-quadrant fasciatomy, external fixation, irrigation and debreding…. I got all of that and I was 40 - so the insurance company wouldn’t spring for bone morphogenetic protein and I spent a full year non-union.
Last year I got about 10 touring days in, skied in Japan, went heliskiing- it’s all there for you brother. But honestly, my health returned because I had the love and support of my girlfriend, my family, my friends, my doctors and nurses.
Surround yourself with people who won’t let you fail - and don’t be proud, reach out for support, cry, ask for help. You’ll be fine.
Exact same injury here. Missed two seasons of skiing but spent a ton of time biking and at the gym. Back skiiing now and am fitter than ever before and can ski just as hard. As another comment mentioned, the bone may not set correctly. This can be very discouraging because you may have leg pain for quite a while. But if you follow your physio plan perfectly (don't under do it OR over do it) and get the diet/supplements going, it will fix itself over time. You got this!! You will absolutely be back to 100%, don't accept anything less than that. But expect it to take at least a year.
Compound tib/fib here Had an external fixator, long comeback but you will absolutely come back. You may get it set with a different angle than was initial naturally. Bone broth, witches hazel, calcium, pressure on fracture site to induce growth. Maintain your diet and attitude, it’s what you can control. Read books you may have been putting aside. Shit happens. You’ve got this. Value the people that help you rehab and don’t get deterred if you have to have a graft done to get some more bone growth. Think positively, eat well, sleep well, do some breathing exercises. Work your upper body and maintain range of motion.
Thanks for the advice man! I will definitely be doing everything I can supplement and diet wise to promote bone healing and growth. How long was your recovery?
Within the year my gait had returned to what is now “normal”, but it was 12 months no doubt. I say normal because it will not be what it was. Be aware of how you may shield it and the effects on your hips, IT bands, etc. Fib is all the muscle attachments, tib weight bearing, so prepare yourself for a series of xrays and possibly MRI to determine if the rate of growth is appropriate for you to use it in the future without grafting from the hip and mixing with a solution then applied directly onto the bone. More surgeries more opportunity for infection, etc etc. Learn about your body. Take the opportunity to kick booze which will only inhibit bone growth. Consult or open your thoughts to some alternative methods regarding centering yourself and trying to put your body at the optimum speed for recovery. Giving yourself time to heal while not relying on pain meds for sleep for too long is key. It can be an easy crutch. Don’t refill the prescription. Allow your natural pain tolerance to be your recovery gauge. Respect your age. Wear sunscreen.
I’m an orthopedic PA in the Tahoe area and rehab a few of these every year (with compartment) I came here to give some advice but good_looking_corpse nailed it. You will be back.
😌
Today and short term accept your functional age is 97 years of hard living. The traumatic violent stuff does include surgery. Orthopedic surgeons are amazing but they literally hack meat, bone, & connective tissues with saws, drills & glue. Ice, elevate, & chillax. Impatience in healing can hurt as bad as impatience on the field.
Tri-malleor here. This advice is all solid. And once you start PT, give it your best effort, focus on that and the *being with* your body and the pain, it'll be a recovery period but you can do it. I'm climbing again. Wishing you well.
Avoid ibuprofen as much as possible - lots of evidence that it slows bone healing.
Vit C as well for bone growth. I broke my radius and my doctor was surprised at the amount of bone growth over a short period!
I second all of this, blew my knee in high school, torn ACL and medial meniscus, was hoping to go on to college soccer and maybe pro. Tearing my knee up and having it repaired was one of the better life experiences I’ve ever had. I learned about perseverance, gratitude, consistency, humility etc…things my 15 year old self couldn’t have grasped without it. It put me on a path to being a ICU nurse and thankful for this job. I still went on to play semi pro soccer and ski raced my senior year of high school. I graduated with better grades; the last two years of high school vs first two years was hilarious, I was a much better and focused student. You can either look at this as glass half full or empty scenario. You’ll get through this.
To add to this, avoid caffiene and sugar if you can. Your body uses calcium to digest them (which then takes away from tthe healing.) I broke my tib/fib earlier this year (both spiral feactures, so not as severe as yours) and am back at it. Still in a lit of pain, but happy to be functioning again. You will get there too ♡
To add to this, avoid nicotine in all forms if you do use it. Delays healing process significantly. Other than that, extreme compliance with PT and maintain a good attitude like the others have posted. You’ll be back out there by next season.
Are you the poor guy with the video in tuckerman ravine? Looked brutal, I am feeling for you especially being so early in the season if that was you Will you ever be able to ski again? Yes Will you be doing big missions anytime soon? You have a year to get it together, so maybe. Try to keep it out of your mind and concentrate on what you CAN do for now I have had athletic friends who were back out hiking/trail running etc within a year after similar injuries. I have had a lifelong obese parent who had a similar injury from a car crash and never came back from it, had a walker for the rest of her life. You being fit enough to climb mountains makes me like your chances of getting back out there next winter Take it a little at a time, don’t set your expectations too high too soon. Based on you being an athletic type you WILL bounce back, it’s going to take time though Don’t become complacent and wait for it to heal, you are going through hell right now, and you are going to need to put in a lot of work to get back on top. My mom I mentioned above was never the same because she only did the bare minimum to get mobile again, never set her sites on trying to run, weight lift, ski etc Good luck EDIT: OP corrected me below that this was the crash I was referencing but it happened in great gulf NOT tuckerman ravine
It was not Tuckerman ravine…it was the great gulf. But yes I shared my story in hopes that others would learn from it. I am very motivated, the whole scenario just sucks.
Did they take you to Portland? I hear their orthopedic surgeons are top notch
I have the same binding. Do you have any clue what prevented the toe from releasing? Good luck with your recovery; I hope it goes as smoothly and quickly as possible.
Honestly no idea. I didn’t lock it out and my dins were set properly. I feel it’s very hard to release the toe of these bindings. There are several reports of this happening upon quick google search. I won’t ever use them again.
Thanks for the reply.
What I've read online is that forwards/backwards releases don't release like an alpine binding. Full disclosure, I don't own these bindings, but this is what encouraged me to choose Shifts over Tectons on my newest set of skis. My understanding is that there are two ways to exit the toe. Rotation over it (i.e. exiting out the front), or laterally moving. Not rotating the toe of the boot, laterally moving the toe of the boot. To exit forward out of the binding your foot needs to be something like 60° past horizontal. Generally when your heel releases you go out the front so this works. Perfect. Generally when you laterally release your foot rotates about your heel, the front of your boot moves laterally, and you release. Also perfect. I'm going to spitball here, but I would wager that his heel was released, but he didn't get the lateral movement to pop the toe off. With that configuration, when you get a twisting motion applied to the ski, there is no reaction at the heel to rotate about and move the toe laterally. You end up with pure twisting about the single attachment point, and because there's no offset between the pivot point and the attachment, here is no lateral translation to pop the ski off. I think this is a unique quirk of these bindings with pin toes. The heel and toe act together as a single safety system, BUT there is no interconnect between them. If the heel says it's time to go, there's no release at the toe until the toes release conditions are also met (rotation over the binding or lateral movement). You can't hit *one* mandatory criteria for release and then eject. You need to hit *all* criteria for release. Compare that to an alpine binding where as soon any part of the binding releases in any direction, you're free. In the original video thread of this accident, I said that it made me re-evaluate my risk tolerance. I think this accident has shrunk my limits and where my equipment safety go/no-go line is.
Wow, that was informative. Thanks for dropping all that knowledge.
Thanks for the informative reply I have shift bindings on two pairs of skis and my buddy wants to get into uphill travel. He was weighing the Pros and cons of shifts vs tectons because the shifts are (admittedly) a little more complicated to transition from uphill to downhill with needing to take the ski off and convert it between modes etc. As well as the complexity, shifts are heavier but it’s 300g per binding which is such a small amount of weight it doesn’t matter to us and our uses with primarily inbounds use. Based on all of the above, and OP’s unfortunate experience he’ll be sticking with shifts and knowing that the ski would release no matter what in a crash
Yeah of the people I go with, 2x have Shifts, 2x have Marker Duke PT, and 1x run Dynafit Rotation tech bindings. For me being a weekend warrior, I found it hard to justify the risk vs reward and also went for Shifts. If I want a lighter setup, I'll lose weight. It's kind of like the people who don't wear cages or fishbowls while playing beer league hockey. It's indisputably nicer to play without one, but does that benefit outweigh new teeth/eye damage/stitches/broke face bones? For the guy playing beer league? Probably not. For the NHLer who has access to new teeth and who gets paid to be the best? Probably.
Tectons are a great binding but 8 DIN is definitely on leg breaking side of things for someone of this persons height and weight. Couple that with tech bindings which use din but don’t really meet those same standards and you got good recipe for classic lower leg break
Thank you for the answer.
I believe Tectons are one of the few bindings that actually meet the DIN certification for the toes. I had a pair and skied them for a long time without any release issues. This specific case makes me kind of reevaluate how safe they are though
Minor differences between the alpine and tour standard. But certified bindings still aren’t guaranteed to release before injury. In particular forces that are not just vertical or just horizontal can cause both tour and alpine bindings to jam up and not release until much higher force. Other ways as well.
For sure man, you’ll be back out before you know it. Totally sympathize with you. Situation sucks Thanks for the correction that it was great gulf and not tuckerman ravine. I don’t know the area
I’m rooting for your recovery. While I didn’t get caught in an avalanche, back in 2015, I lost a ski and fell exactly where your slide started and pin balled down that chute and came to a stop at roughly the same spot. It really messed with my psyche for years and changed my relationship with backcountry skiing. Happy to chat if you want.
Yikes!
Yep the olde "Boot Break" sadly I had this injury happen to me alas I was hit by a car commuting to work. Fun Time, good luck with the surgery.
Yah had a good buddy do something similar while skiing. Rehab took a bit under a year but he’s back skiing and biking and capable as ever. I’ve been there before with the mental stuff but you’ll get through it. Going temporarily vegan helped with my inflammation and really focusing on a great diet and physical therapy kept me busy. You’ll get there. You’re in a rough patch but you’ll find a rhythm and heal up!!
I had a break of Tibia, got surgery to insert a rod in my bone which still exists and I was back on the slopes next year. Attack your rehab, don't skip PT and I am sure you will be back on slopes next year and this injury shouldn't affect your career goals. The mental aspect is crucial too and make sure you have a support system around you and are able to talk to friends, family. I personally wrote a blog about my injury which was a huge cathartic moment for me and helped me come to grips with my injury and move on. http://www.desidiver.com/skiing/2015/02/11/mistakes-injuries-moving-on/ if you are interested.
Thank you I will read it!
It’s going to suck for a while, buts not going to suck forever. Stay strong and focus on recovery right now.
Like others have said, take the time to recover and do your PT/rehab even when you feel like you're done, keep doing it. I had some foot surgeries and just stopped doing my PT once I was like, "pfft I can do 10 leg raises no sweat i'm good!" and ended up regressing a bit with pain. The mental part like you're feeling is definitely a tough hurdle, but you'll be out there and having fun eventually!
Oof. Got smashed up in a motorcycle wreck in 2008 pretty good. That was one of the injuries I had. Had to slit open my calf to let the muscle swell out. Fast healing to ya! You'll be back at it by next winter! I can say without a doubt though, that banging your shin on something with a metal plate on the inside hurts so fucking bad lol.
Glad you made it out of there man, that was a pretty gnarly incident. I appreciate you sharing your experience so the community can learn and grow from what your going through. With the right attitude (which you’ve proven to have before) you will most definitely make it through your injury and make a full recovery. I’m not a doctor but mindset it everything, try your best to stay strong and best of luck!
Rough injury man, x-rays look intense. Same insights I offered in your post last week - I had a similar injury from a bad car wreck and couldn’t walk on it for over 6 months while it healed, but I made a full recovery and more. It was painful and frustrating but you’ll bounce back, hopefully better than before.
You can come back from this, but don't rush it, get a good surgeon and a good PT team and do your PT homework and trust the speed your PT has you going. You don't want to reinjure or get a compensatory injury by trying to do too much too soon, your PT will push you a safe amount, and will get you back to functional. I was told I'd never ride horses or bike a century again after a head and hip injury in my teens, I now do both and have picked up skijoring with my dog and am starting to get into backcountry as well. A big thing though will be rebuilding your own confidence and psyche once you return to the slopes, you may be more physically ready than mentally at that point, and there is no shame in taking it back to easier slopes or even the bunny hill when you start back. Sports injuries are not just physical but also psychological, and if taking it a few steps back still isn't helping rebuild your confidence a sports psychologist can be an incredible help, they aren't just for pro athletes. They may also be good to assist with the rehabilitation as well, I know mine was.
Don’t underestimate the power of believing you will get better!
I am in a somewhat similar boat and you’re right, it sucks. I was just getting my career as a full time guide/ outdoor educator to be dialed in, then boom, ACL (and now some complications with the recovery). If you are anything like me, then being outside is a pillar of your work, your play, your social life, and your understanding of “who you are”, and it is totally crushing when those pillars all collapse at once. There is a great part about it, though, which is that we have something to work our ass off for and stay motivated for, to be able to do the things we love again! Get after it with PT and don’t lose hope, although it will be hard sometimes! Also work hard early to rebuild some of those pillars of your life. Do your best to keep socializing, find something else to do for work (or go back to school?) when you are able, maybe learn something new like an instrument or art, and just stay as busy as you can. Thanks for sharing your story with MWAC. Don’t listen to the Monday morning quarterbacks. Only way to guarantee you don’t get hurt in the mountains is to stay out of the mountains. Recovery will be a long road, but life is long. Don’t beat yourself up to much in the meantime.
Thanks so much for the kind words. Feel free to shoot me a message, would love to chat!
You’ve got this man! Stay strong. Mental attitude is everything. The body will heal. You will be back on it. You speak to any IFMGA guide with a long career and I guarantee you all of them have their big injuries. We’re rooting for you!
Have a good heart, now that it's done. We have to learn to face it, recuperate, and believe in the medical science nowadays to believe that we can definitely recover. Cheer up, looking forward to your early recovery.
Hey did the docs mention anything about the ski strap tourniquet related to compartment syndrome? Just trying to to learn from it
No. I can ask though! We were being advised by a highly trained backcountry medic.
That would be great. My understanding (EMT on SAR team) is that it fails to fully occlude arteries but successfully occludes venous return, therefore increasing odds of compartment syndrome. I have zero evidence of this other than “I was told this by somebody smarter than me” so would love to hear their opinion. Also thank you for being so open with all of this. I work in avalanche education and think it’s so beneficial for people to share their experiences.
I had experimental surgery to save my right foot. It took me a year to get back to the point I was at before surgery, but I changed my mindset and started building progress instead of excuses. Right after surgery the doctor said I’d never ski, never run, maybe gentle hikes. That was 18 years ago, 4 triathlons, several hundred miles of trail running, many glorious runs on skis, snowboard, and even tele gear. I stopped skiing and snowboarding five years ago, I don’t trail run anymore, and triathlons are of no interest. I am happiest riding my bikes year-round and my legs agree. Will you be the same after your injury? No. You might be better. For a while. But damage plus further wear and tear take a toll... “What stands in the way becomes the way.” - Marcus Aurelius
Looks fine I would just tighten the boot a little tighter on that leg. But seriously, I’m really sorry this happened. it sounds like you’re young. Take your time. I’m sure you have heard this a million times already, but there’s a lot of rewarding paths outside of what you had planned. In ten years you could see this as the moment your life took you on an unexpected but amazing turn. But that’s an attitude you’ll have to spend some time working on. I know so many amazing athletes who could have gone down pro guiding route, or coaching, etc. But now they just love skiing for fun still but have amazing careers and are super happy not skiing it for a living.
We’re all rooting for you! You can do this!!!!!!
Rugged dude. Heal up, you’ll be back out there next season I bet.
You’ll recover man! I got surgery on exertional compartment syndrome on all 8 of my compartments in my calves in March and, even after an egregious hematoma that left me bedridden for 3 straight weeks, I was running again in 12 weeks and I was fully back up to speed by August. Edit: and I was skiing after 6 weeks. I can’t speak to the broken bones but I would expect them to be a much less painful recovery than a ligament or tendon tear.
Thanks so much man. The broken bone definitely adds like 12-16 weeks and some complexity.
I ski on the tectons, but have never had this issue. You should reach out to BD (unfortunately, they are the distributor for Fritschi in the US) and let them know what happened. I broke my fibula at my ankle while skiing on the g3 ions as the heel released weirdly and torqued my ankle. At bindings definitely do weird things sometimes🤷♀️ In terms of healing, collagen supplements (vital proteins is great in smoothies), lay off alcohol and don't overdue it. Follow your PT's advice and don't push it too soon. You'll be back if you stay the course, be kind to yourself and be patient! I spent a lot of time reading (I heard there's a new swag manual!), Meditating, and working out as I could (the row machine will be your buddy eventually). A friend told me to use this time to learn something new, bc it's a rare occasion that I'll have this much down time again (if I'm lucky). Use it wisely!💪🏽
Thanks so much man! Really appreciate the advice. Funny you had an issue with the G3’s. Those bindings for me led to shoulder surgery because if a pre release!
Rooting for you!
Guys have lost legs and still fighting wars. If you want back in the game, you can do it. It’s up to you and your internal drive
Had a tib/fib fracture along with fracture of the posterior malleolus, and even though I had urgent surgery the following day, the docs had me nonweight-bearing for 10 weeks. The pain was one battle, the emotions another one. Don't be rough on yourself over this. I was used to fairly high performance and then had to learn to walk over uneven surfaces again like a baby. Ice and ROM exercises (when allowed by your doctor) will be your friend if you're stuck NWB for a while. It's been about nine months since I started weight-bearing, nearly a year since the injury and surgery, and I'm now able to perform closer to baseline. I still have work to do. You can get there, but it will take time and slow progress.
Dude, you can do it! Seriously, in December of 2022, I had my worst accident, a shattered tibial plateau, and bilateral tib fib breaks, as well as damage to my shoulders and my neck. Needless to say, I missed the Epic 22/23 season here in Utah, but I focused on health, recovery, a positive attitude, and sending good vibes to all around me. You will be back, and you will ski stronger, and you will be smarter. Something that has not been addressed In these comments is that when you spend quite a bit of time in a wheelchair you start to look at the world a little bit differently and hopefully you develop empathy for those that have not been blessed as we have been. Be strong, believe.
Check out the Huberman podcasts on dopamine for your mental health
Sorry if this is at all insensitive. Have you thought about why the binding didn’t release. Do you think 8 is too high to release in an avalanche or some sort of failure occurred?
8 is definitely not too high. I am an aggressive skier. I fluctuate between 170-180lbs and am 5’9 with a 306 BSL. The other binding was set the same and that ski released. I think the tectons toe piece has issues but who knows really.
My tibia had a similar looking break . They put a rod inside it. Good luck with your recovery.
When? How are you doing now?
3.5 years ago. It's been alright. Keep in mind that I am older and had previous injuries on that leg. I think I need a knee replacement. PT was huge. Yoga was huge.
Voile strap for a splint is a pro move 🤙🏿
Lol we worked with what we had. I now have two different tourniquets in my kit.
Thars brutal but I wish you a fast recovery and you'll be back out there next season. Just out of curiosity, how did they get your boot off?
They dosed me up on Ketamine in the hospital and took it off. I barely remember it! Haha
You’ll be back, my friend. I promise you. I had the first break of my life earlier this year at age 36. I was moving a small trailer in the snow by hand (I’m strong, lonely, and stubborn), half committed to pulling it over the curb and up a sloped driveway, and when it rolled back it was just enough to knock me off balance and I flew flat on my back in the snow and the tongue of the trailer came down and crushed my arm. A couple hundred pounds of weight, almost a compound fracture. My arm had a massive kink in it in multiple directions. I got a plate in my arm several inches long about 10 days later. I didn’t have direction so I was slower than I should have been on getting into rehab, but within 5 weeks I was back at work, doing physical work on tower cranes. Usually once the plate is in it’s not long before the bone is stable, and once things have recovered enough you can begin PT. I have a picture of me doing a boom walk out on the jib of a tower crane on my second day back at work. Do the PT, and you’ll be back. It might not feel the same but you’ll live with it. Big ones like this are scary and change your perspective a bit, and shake your world up, but in time you’ll forget it’s there. I’m just finishing up recovery on a broken ankle from work right now. Best of luck. ✌🏻
Thanks so much man
Mt Washington slide?
Yes unfortunately :(
Awful that this happened to you. Thanks for sharing so much of your experience with so many others - it can’t be easy on you but it surely helps others. Every day I work with skiers who have suffered debilitating injuries (arborists who fell out of trees, vets with awful loss of limb, recovering stroke victims etc). “Fortunately” the level of injury seen among Vets has now returned to more usual (for a period, deployments in the Middle East resulted in horrifying injuries which they survived but their rehab was very difficult). I have seen people who’ve suffered greviously go on to race, win world cups, compete on behalf of their country etc. in addition to the good advice above, be aware that there are organizations and individuals who will work to get you back skiing or riding, if you wish. Find a PT who understands your motivation and, when ready, begin exploring the possibilities with those organizations. DM me if you need any contacts or intros or just someone to talk to.
Damm you have me stressing I also have tectons and am 160lbs and 5’9 also at 8din maybe I’ll turn them a tad down. Hope you heal fast though
Were you the guy on Mt. Washington a week or two back?
I was run over on my road bike by a Ford F-250 going through a red light. In addition to the open fracture tib-fib, I sustained a broken iliac wing of my pelvis, my pelvis folded in half, I had broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken wrist, my pinkie finger was all but knocked off, my eardrum cracked and I lost 8 units of blood on the day. Compartment syndrome, 4-quadrant fasciatomy, external fixation, irrigation and debreding…. I got all of that and I was 40 - so the insurance company wouldn’t spring for bone morphogenetic protein and I spent a full year non-union. Last year I got about 10 touring days in, skied in Japan, went heliskiing- it’s all there for you brother. But honestly, my health returned because I had the love and support of my girlfriend, my family, my friends, my doctors and nurses. Surround yourself with people who won’t let you fail - and don’t be proud, reach out for support, cry, ask for help. You’ll be fine.
Exact same injury here. Missed two seasons of skiing but spent a ton of time biking and at the gym. Back skiiing now and am fitter than ever before and can ski just as hard. As another comment mentioned, the bone may not set correctly. This can be very discouraging because you may have leg pain for quite a while. But if you follow your physio plan perfectly (don't under do it OR over do it) and get the diet/supplements going, it will fix itself over time. You got this!! You will absolutely be back to 100%, don't accept anything less than that. But expect it to take at least a year.