Most Memorable Fall(s)

[Crank]

Last January at JH. Was skiing OB with a buddy and was getting kind of tired, OK completley knackered, on our last run of the day. We were skiing a brushy area, last pitch before the traverse back into the ski area and the snow was deep and getting a bit heavy and like I said I was getting tired. Found myself heading right towards a smallish tree and just not able to turn so I dove headfirst to avoid hitting it. Hit it with my helmet anyway but not hard enough to knock me out. Wound up in a mini tree well. Face down, but not upside down buried in the snow and not really able to move much. Fortunately my arms were free and I was close enough to the surface to clear breathing space and find daylight. No sooner did I do that then a hugh clump of dense consolidated snow/ice fell right on top of my back. Couldn't really move much at that point. 1 ski had released and by really stretching and straining I was able to use the toe of my free boot to release my other binding at the heel. Still couldn't get out with all that weight on my back. I managed to unbuckle and wriggle out of my back pack and dig my way out. Phew!

Where was my buddy you ask? He was in front at that time and waited for me on the traverse. When he didn't see me after a while he thought I must have come out farther down the traverse. When I got out I called him and at that time he was walking back up the traverse to look for me. I could have reached my phone while still trapped but was so focused on getting out that I didn't really consider it.

Not going to forget that fall- ever!

 

[dean_spirito]

There are some great photos in this thread.....


https://forum.pugski.com/threads/best-ski-crash-photos.2596/

 

[Frankly]

I don't know how most of us survived... blue ice moguls, tree wells, spinning safety straps, funky bindings. Everyone has multiple near death experiences from skiing yet we keep coming back even when the boots hurt all to Hell. Must be something to it?

This wasn't my fall but it was memorable....


Should play let me know....

 

[at_nyc]

take chair 23 and ski Wipeout Chute because the wind buff in there was really good. After I took two turns near the top of the chute I got in the back seat a little, spun around on my heels and went down, really down...twisting and spinning. For anyone who knows this chute, you know that there are rocks and such sticking out into the area of the chute, so I was freaking out that I may slide into a rock on my way down.
...
Point of reference - Mammoth's map.

Wow! That's THE chute!!!

*I* was the one who suggested a friend's husband to do that chute. I had already done it once and knew the snow was pretty good.

He said he was going to take a slightly different line that looks even more fun. So I skied a few turns and stop to watch him slay it in style. Instead, I saw him caught an edge... spinning and twisting... I started to get worried "stop yourself, there're rocks down there"... only to see him losing one ski, than another, poles...

I remember thinking, "what am I going to tell his wife?"

That was also my exact thought. His wife was pregnant at the time too.

Fortunately, he missed all the rocks.

That event changed me. Not sure if it's good or bad.

 

[Tricia]

My wife was skiing behind me, more like watching from a stationary position, then catching up when I got way out in front, but anyway, she watched me disappear into what I THOUGHT was a snow bank. In actuality it was a ravine that was full of snow.

Jeez!
Glad you landed in soft snow and didn't suffer any injuries. Lucky guy!

 

[mdf]

Ok, a change of pace. Here is a nice gentle fall from seven years ago. It was my first powder of the season, and evidently I forgot how over the summer.

 

[Michael Kane]

Ok. Bit of a back story, this happened just outside Snoasis at Winter Park, Flatest dang section of trail on the whole hill. My daughter just about peed her pants when it happened.

 

[Tricia]

I don't know how most of us survived... blue ice moguls, tree wells, spinning safety straps, funky bindings. Everyone has multiple near death experiences from skiing yet we keep coming back even when the boots hurt all to Hell. Must be something to it?

This wasn't my fall but it was memorable....

Video embed playback is disabled by the owner. But I went to Youtube to watch it and its quite spectacular.

 

[luliski]

I've fallen many, many times, but only one fall in 45 years of skiing (and falling) left me really fearful. Actually the fall itself was not a big deal, but the consequences of falling were terrifying. I caught an edge dropping on to "The Wall," at Kirkwood last year. The snow was hard and I fell head first. As soon as I hit the snow I started sliding faster and faster. Neither ski released. I remember thinking that I needed to self-arrest, and that I had no idea what I was sliding towards. I was terrified, and I was upside-down. I managed to dig into the hard snow with something ( my elbow, pole grip?), which spun me around so I was sliding feet first, face down. One ski released in the spin. I finally could spread out and dig in and eventually stop. I took a lunch break and 600 mg of ibuprofen. I skied the rest of the day, but later started to feel my very bruised ribs. The next day I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. This season I've been pretty afraid on the steeps, pretty much avoiding them unless the snow is soft.

 

[Frankly]

Fixed my video settings hopefully

 

[KevinF]

@agreen, speaking of April Fools Day, Stowe 2008 Philpug's Bumpfest Retro Day. The Trail: Goat. The conditions: Springtime big bumps. The Skis: 1974 The Ski with Tyrolia 350D..with safety straps. The Scenario: It started with a lapse in judgement. Taking (then) 30 year old skis with the same age bindings...with safety straps down one of the narrowest and steepest mogul trails in the east..what coudl go wrong? Well, pretty much ehat you could expect to go wrong...about 4 turns in, the binding releases and I start tumbling..and tumbling...down Goat. @KevinF was all the way down, he has a different story for the day (pics below) and @epic was about 1/3 the way down with camera in hand to get pics of the fall. But as I was tumbling down, the ski that had released was still attached to me via the safety straps so every other rotation, I got walked in the head reminding me that it was a poor life choice to take these skis down the trail. I believe the pictures are floating around, hopefully the only copies were not just on Epic.

View attachment 24718 View attachment 24719

One of those photos will be engraved on my tombstone...

@epic was standing there watching... I was above watching @Philpug tumble. I thought it was @Living Proof was there as well? I didn't recall @mdf 's presence, but it was a long time ago now.

My tumble was just above where Midway cuts through at what is now the intersection of Goat and Lower Goat. My fall was caused by my ski breaking; i.e., the ski broke and then I fell. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it!). So I was able to get out on Bypass / National / Bypass again / Liftline to get down, doing a whole lot of one-ski sideslips. I encountered patrol about 100 yards from the bottom; they were wondering what the hell I was doing.

I remember @Living Proof had his own issues getting down; I think he had a memorable crash-and-burn on the headwall as well? @epic was probably drinking heavily by the time we all got out of there...

 

[KevinF]

At one of the Stowe ESA's I was skiing Chin Clip (an endless bump run). It must have been a powder day because I remember the bumps being soft. I had a good rhythm going and then I speared a bump with my ski. Like, the ski went into the bump, not over it.

I double ejected, super-man'ed and face-planted a little ways down the hill. Somewhere there is video of that incident unless @Bob Barnes has blissfully deleted that clip.

Despite these two mishaps (i.e., the Goat story and this one) I still enjoy skiing Stowe bumps. I like big bumps! I cannot lie.

 

[mdf]

One of those photos will be engraved on my tombstone...

@epic was standing there watching... I was above watching @Philpug tumble. I thought it was @Living Proof was there as well? I didn't recall @mdf 's presence, but it was a long time ago now.

My tumble was just above where Midway cuts through at what is now the intersection of Goat and Lower Goat. My fall was caused by my ski breaking; i.e., the ski broke and then I fell. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it!). So I was able to get out on Bypass / National / Bypass again / Liftline to get down, doing a whole lot of one-ski sideslips. I encountered patrol about 100 yards from the bottom; they were wondering what the hell I was doing.

I remember @Living Proof had his own issues getting down; I think he had a memorable crash-and-burn on the headwall as well? @epic was probably drinking heavily by the time we all got out of there...

I remember someone posting a score for that run, something like "Goat 4, Bears 2"

 

[mdf]

Done!

Turns out the blow up was in the best ski crash thread, Havent found the full photo yet,

 

[Crank]

I've got a nice video of Kevin falling and double ejecting at the top of Paradise, MRG. Mdf's son has a nice shot of me on the ground in some chute at Snowmass. Not a super memorable fall except that I hurt my shoulder on my last run of 10 straight days in Aspen on a run I told myself to take it easy on. Decided to get aggressive near the bottom and hooked my ski tip into a pile of crud.

 

[KevinF]

Wait a minute... what am I talking about? Most memorable fall? Goat! HA! Chin Clip? Hmmph!

Nah, my most memorable fall is responsible for the "Call me Lefty" tag under my profile picture. i.e., bunny hill, broken arm, ambulance ride, the whole works. @SKI-3PO witnessed the whole thing (sort of; I think he was really watching his son veer off into that orange safety netting stuff).

Hmmm... All three of these incidents occurred at Stowe. Ummmm... might be time to re-evaulate my choice of skiing destinations? I hear Okemo is nice.

 

[Posaune]

Two falls stand out:

1. In the '70s I was on ski patrol at Stevens Pass. On a powder day I found an uncut, steep area called "Winnie Hill." While short, it is in view of an entire intermediate chairlift (Brooks). I skied it well and pictured myself in a Warren Miller film, impressing all who saw me. When I finished the hill I had to transition to the groomer at the bottom and, well, I didn't. Yard sale. All of those adoring masses laughed themselves silly. "Ski Patrol!!!" was the call of the day.

2. At Mt. Baker it was a storm day with lots of new snow and a bunch of wind and poor visibility. I headed down a slope of uncut that I knew well and when I got to the bottom both tips dug into a wind lip that I had never seen before, and have never seen since. The skis stopped dead, but I didn't. I did a complete forward summersault and landed like I was sitting in an armchair. I still had my poles in my hands and I just sat there for a while, up to my armpits in snow and completely comfortable.

 

[agreen]

Good thread.
Most memorable fall for me for two reasons

• I was genuinely scared, and humbled
• I was genuinely embarrassed at how I handled myself because I screamed like a 5 year old the entire time.

I was skiing during the WWSRA On Snow at Mammoth 3 years ago. Clem, (our good friend, and then Blizzard rep) suggested that we take chair 23 and ski Wipeout Chute because the wind buff in there was really good. After I took two turns near the top of the chute I got in the back seat a little, spun around on my heels and went down, really down...twisting and spinning. For anyone who knows this chute, you know that there are rocks and such sticking out into the area of the chute, so I was freaking out that I may slide into a rock on my way down.
At first I tried to self arrest, but then I just started screaming like a kid with a skinned knee, "Oh my gawd, I'm gonna die!!!"

I came to a stop at the bottom, near Phil's feet. The look on his face was -Holy shit, are you okay?!
Clem skied up to me and said...
Clem: You okay?
Me: Gimme a minute
Clem: Take your time
Me: I think I'm okay [visibly shaken]
Clem: You have to go back up there and slay the dragon that bit you.
Me: Not sure about that.
Clem: I'm sure.

I did go back up and I did ski it but it wasn't pretty and I took it really easy. Since then I've made it a point to ski it whenever its open just to make sure that I've got this.

Point of reference - Mammoth's map.
View attachment 24725

On a serious note, the rocks on the Wipeout chutes in Mammoth have claimed several lives in the past if what I've heard is true. Some chutes, if you fall, you funnel between the rocks with no problem. But some of those rocks on Wipeout can be directly in the slide path. Glad you made it through safely!!!

 

[mdf]

I was at Aspen Highlands skiing one of the fairly short mogul runs off the side. The thing was, the exit was an uphill traverse. I figure, heck with this, I'm riding this out. I loosen my knees and shift my weight back. The thing was, though, I changed from "maximum control" to "maximum glide" a little too early, hit a rut, and went down, and then over the edge of the exit ramp. Fortunately I wasn't going very fast, and the snow was soft. But I wound up standing in some steep brush looking at a wall taller than I was.

It took me two tries to throw my skis far enough to stay on the road -- fortunately I caught them when they came back. And then I had to dig into the wall till I found some roots I could grab to get enough leverage to climb back up.

 

[skibob]

I note a preponderance of double ejection stories here (along with bumps). I'll add one. Skiing through some trees last january with some friends. Came to a narrow creek crossing. I looked at it and opined that I didn't think it was wide enough for us to come back out of. One of them laughed this off and went down. And back up. No problem. I then watched several more, all ostensibly less experienced skiers, go down and back up out of it. I watched as their skis bent and conformed to the rut as they came back up. Well, I guess I was wrong. So I decided to go for it. A few of them didn't carry enough momentum to get all the way up the other side though. So I decided to be sure to carry enough momentum to get up to the lip on the other side.

Down. Splat. Double eject face first into the bank on the other side. I carried my skis up the embankment and laid them down on the snow while my friends howled. It then occurred to me. All of their skis were notably shorter and softer flexing than mine.

My initial assessment was correct. But I failed to properly account for the nuances of the situation.