The last expensive mistake I made was a few years ago when I realized (mid-flight to LA) that I forgot my passport at home x_x ... thankfully, I had a day buffer to go back and get it before heading to London... but today's mistake carried much more weight...
I got out early on the slopes today at Park City; working on turns and spins... it was going pretty well. After a little over an hour, the crowd had found its way over to Silverlode, a lift that had only recently opened this weekend. I decided to head over to the terrain park (3 Kings Lift), where it's typically less crowded, and challenge myself on the rails and boxes. On the ride up, I noticed a Medium sized jump where several skiers were gathered and figured I would check it out.
I did a 50/50 on a narrow and short box, avoided a rail or two, and then joined the cue for the jump. One after another, skiers were sending it big! 720s, 900s, calling their trick before dropping in. The approach was steep and the kicker angled to match, easily providing a 10+ foot clearance over the deck... the takeoff speed seemed close to 30 mph and none of the snowboarders around seemed interested at all. A man and his son slowly rode up to the deck to check out the feature and then rode away. When it was my turn, I pointed my board straight and got up to speed, imagining what it would be like to go off this massive (to me, the park noob) kicker. Along the way I must have forgotten to shave off speed entirely because before I knew it, I was airborne and at a devastatingly awkward angle.
The kicker is designed to send the rider into the air at an angle that assists in landing safely; but from my trajectory, I only briefly saw the steep slope of the landing as I flew over the deck... and then... it was just my board in view along with a fading memory of the slope... I was landing this one blind. I slightly over rotated on the way down and made first contact with the nose of my board, causing it to over-flex. Since all I could see was the board at the moment of impact, the visual of it flexing was terribly vivid. The board gave out under me and shot me into the hard snow. I braced my fall with my arm and slammed hard into the ground; sliding for several feet before getting up and riding away. I rode straight to the parking lot, walked to my car, and drove back to the condo... my day was over.
Driving immediately after a crash was not the right decision and looking back on it, I probably had a mild concussion even though I don't remember hitting my head on the ground. My shoulder was throbbing with pain and I kept mobilizing it to reassure myself that nothing was torn or dislocated. Once back in the condo, I laid down on my back for a couple rounds of icing... my shoulder started to feel a little better and I rolled over onto my chest to take a few breaths of relief. Then I heard a loud, crackling snap and felt something in my chest move. All the pain in my shoulder seemed to fade away in an instant and a sharp pain localized at or near my 4th rib. Have I broken a rib?
I spent the rest of the day icing my ribs, where most of the residual pain resided... apparently I overlooked this trauma earlier but the pain is now widely spread across several ribs with no sign of relief. Because the imagery of the board flexing was still so vivid, I decided to inspect it for damage... the topsheet had separated on impact and the tear went inward through half of the board's width... it's time to retire this board -_-
Today I got bodied. While scouting a jump, I forgot about the landing. My failure to slow down enough to ride through safely cost me dearly. I lost a board and damaged at least one rib (either contusion or fracture) but possibly a few. It's hard to tell whether its the bone or muscle hurting and is most likely a bit of both... but most concerning of all, is that this may only be a foreshadowing of the dangers that lie ahead of me. I keep reliving the moment I was airborne; playing out various scenarios in my mind... and most of them don't end well. I crashed in one of the safest places to fall from such a height (~15 feet) at high speed and have been fortunate enough to have not experienced a crash of this magnitude deep in expert terrain (where the slopes are even steeper and the landing possibly over rocks and debris). Each time it replays in my head, I am convinced I need the skills to land it safely... in spite of my mistakes, I need to train to recover mid-flight.
Looking back at heart-rate monitor data, I was encouraged that I kept my composure throughout, even if that's only a part of the challenge... I feel I did the best I could have in this unfortunate (and easily avoidable) situation and came out in fairly good shape, all things considered. A slower and safer scouting run next time, for sure... sticking to the plan for the day's training... visualizing the exit and not just the entry... all crucial for continued progress... I'll need to get back out on Medium jumps later in the season with a much better game plan.... I have been working towards taking on similar sized jumps/drops at slower speeds but on even steeper slopes, where the consequences are much higher - today was a reminder that expensive mistakes are also part of the journey... after all, this is an extreme sport.
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| heart rate spiked at the box before the jump and the speed spike is the kicker |
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