Category Archives: My thoughts

Ski Day #45

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Day #45 was a long one. I woke up a little hungover, but fired up to ski a second powder day at Squaw Valley USA! The two day storm total was 22″ as we reached the resort. It was busier, but the Funi was running and the top half of the mountain was open. We took KT and made our way over to Headwall Express.

From the lift you could tell the wind had done it’s best to turn almost two feet of fresh into two inches of dense snow… aka chalk… aka Sierra Cement… aka Wind Buff… aka Hero Snow. The snow is perfect for big lines at high speeds. Zero visibility is not perfect for lines at any speeds. I got off Headwall in a white out. It felt like I made some fun turns, but my confidence took a huge hit when I found myself airborne off a previously unseen cat track. I landed backseat, felt my knee twinge and decided to spend the rest of the day avoiding a repeat scenario.

I persuaded the group to head over to Granite Chief, where the rocks and trees would help visibility and provide the snow some shelter from the wind. We skied a couple laps, jumping off rocks, and enjoying the best snow on the hill that morning. It was shaping up to be a pretty fun day until we chose to jump a small rock near the bottom of the lift.

Jason’t roommate, the least experienced skier in the group, went first, landing one of the bigger airs off the rock. Matt went next and stayed true to form for the trip as he picked out a smaller air and stomped it cleanly. I went next, dropped a big part of the rock, backslapped and cracked my hemet off two month old ice. I’m pretty sure I gave myself a concussion, which seemed like a big deal at the time, but was quickly forgtten as Jason took Matt’s line, fell awkwardly and couldn’t get up.

Long story short, he tore his Patellar Tendon on impact. And because I’m lazy, here’s the rest of the day with bullet points:

  • We called ski patrol and dug a landing for a toboggan, then waited an hour for them to get there
  • We put a splint on Jason’s leg, loaded him into the toboggan, and skied his gear to the lift
  • After being ushered to the front of a hefty lift line, we loaded him onto the chairlift, then off the chairlift at the top and hooked him up to the snowmobile
  • Then we carried him onto the Funitel, off the Funitel, onto a sled, and onto a gurney
  • We waited a few hours for him in the ER, then drove him to his house in Truckee
  • We packed up his gear, grabbed his dog, and drove him back to Park City
  • We arrived back home at 2:30 in the morning
J Mo in pain

J Mo has had better days

Jason went in for surgery the following Monday. His ACL and PCL were okay, but the Patellar Tendon is going to take a while to heal. He was forced to drop out of is spring semester of nursing school and will be in Park City for a few weeks. It’s a potentially ski career-threatening injury, not to mention baseball, mountain biking and all the working out he does. Tough break for Jason. Get better bud.

Not that fun of a day.

Knee Injury: 28 Days Later (No Zombies Though)

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I visited the doctor again on Tuesday, my four week anniversary of tearing my MCL at Alta. Aside from a few setbacks due to cocktails and forgetfulness, my knee had been feeling a lot better. After my last visit, I intentionally scheduled an early follow-up appointment in order to be given a smaller brace and mostly clean bill of health a week or so early. My gamble paid off and I was given a softer, smaller knee brace and told to resume my normal activities two weeks ahead of schedule.

I made a list of questions and was assured that I would be able to ski, workout, ride a bike, and even kayak so long as I was wearing my cool new brace. Needless to say, I left Dr. Heiden’s office with an ear-to-ear grin. Great timing too, there’s a big storm headed our way this weekend.

What a drastic mood change from my drive home from Alta just 28 days ago. As I drove from Little Cottonwood to the Park City Hospital, I couldn’t help but think that my season was over. At 31 years old, engaged, with a business to run, a mortgage to pay, and other grown up stuff staring me in the face, I don’t have too many more opportunities to get out and pursue my ski bum dream. Losing a season now would be rough.

Fast forward four weeks and what have I really missed? A couple good storms, some sketchy avalanche conditions, a bunch of holiday lift lines and ten days of groomers.

I did it. Time to hit the slopes again.

Knee Injury Update: 10 Days Later

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This post is a week behind schedule, but Christmas, Breaking Bad on Netflix, and work kept me pretty busy since my second doctor’s visit last week. That’s right, I have actually been working this week. It’s nice to be out of the house.

My second visit with Dr. Eric Heiden went really well. After a week of wearing a knee brace that limited my movement to 30-60 degrees of flex (which is weird to say because I was coming from a brace with zero flex, so I was actually given greater freedom of movement), the Doc played with my knee and determined that my MCL is recovering quickly. He switched the setting on my brace, no longer limiting my range of up and down movement. The brace still restricts any side-to-side movement, which is a good thing.

Dr. Heiden said I could start to do some strengthening exercise  He suggested some light pedaling on a stationary bike. The Doc also reduced my expected time in my knee brace from an additional five weeks to “three of four weeks.” At that time I am expecting to receive a smaller brace that might allow me to start skiing again, as my current brace is too long to fit in a ski boot (I have since managed to get a ski boot over my brace, but it is not easy or remotely comfortable).

Due to some scheduling conflicts I booked my next visit with Dr. Heiden on January 8th, which is 18 days out, instead of the 3-4 week suggestion. I hope to be almost completely independent of my brace following that appointment.

Some simple math shows that 10 days + 18 days = 28 days. 28 days = 4 weeks.

Barring any setbacks that I will be sure to try and avoid over the next 18 days, that would be two weeks ahead of the usual six week recovery time.

I can definitely do this.

Knee Injury Update: 3 Days Later

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My original MRI showed a complete tear of the anterior portion of my MCL. Some fibers of the posterior side are still intact. I learned through some online research while laid up on the couch for two days, that the MCL is one of the only ligaments in the body that heals itself. Surgery is typically not required unless the entire ligament is severed and unresponsive to rest and physical therapy.

A torn MCL is a very common injury for skiers. In fact, it is the first example in Wikipedia’s “MCL: Causes of Injury” section.

Skiing

The most common knee structure damaged in skiing is the medial collateral ligament, although the carve turn has diminished the incidence somewhat.[1]

I had an appointment with five time gold medalist speedskater turned surgeon, Dr. Eric Heiden last Friday. He looked at my MRI’s, played with my knee, tested my flexibility, and agreed with the original prognosis of a Grade 2-3 MCL injury. He swapped out my immobilizing brace for a brace with adjustable flex, then told me plan on wearing the brace for the next six weeks. My brace was given a range of motion between 30-60 degrees for the first week.

Dr. Heiden liked my flexibility three days removed from injury and suggested we try to rehab it fairly aggressively. I was given a pair of crutches to use for the week and sent on my way.

I am feeling very optimistic about my prognosis. Arriving at the hospital on Tuesday, I was expecting to hear that I had a torn ACL, six months of recovery, and that I was done skiing this season. Leaving the hospital on Tuesday, I was pretty certain I would be out a couple months following surgery on my knee. Now, just 72 hours later, I am avoiding surgery completely, I will be in a brace for six weeks, I will start physical therapy in a week, and I can see myself skiing again soon, maybe even before February.

I’ll take it.

Now What?

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I am sitting at home icing my swollen left knee. I debated posting a weather forecast that shows the current storm system that is hanging out over Utah for the next week. I could link to the sites posting forecasts of 2-3 feet of snow. I could post about the recent terrain openings at Snowbird, Canyons, and PCMR today. I could share some of the latest pow skiing videos from Whistler, Crystal, and Utah.

This blog isn’t just about skiing. It’s about my life and my interests. Add a torn MCL and take away my skiing experience, and I don’t have much to post anymore. There’s still interesting skiing stuff out there, but it’s not the same without being able to picture yourself skiing. Being injured sucks… and it’s only been four days.

Luckily, I have a new ski edit on the way. It’s more of a lifestyle segment than anything. The skiing isn’t particularly good. But the Apres-skiing is top notch. Leading me to my new motto for the time being:

If you can’t ski, Apres-Ski! – Apres Adam

Ski Day #12 (and 13)

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I took the dog skinning behind the house last month. We went for awhile and I wanted to count it as a day of skiing. I asked around and received conflicting answers on whether or not to count it as a day. Ultimately I decided against it.

Had I counted it, yesterday would have been Day #13, which is an unlucky number for some reason (see: Triskaidekaphobia). I am rarely superstitious, but I have always tried to take it easy on my 13th skiing and biking days of each season. I probably would have taken it a little easier yesterday, had I known it was my thirteenth day and not simply my twelfth.

Alta received 18 inches of new snow over the past 48 hours. Powderhound Matt and Geore skied Alta the day before and said it was the best day of the season. A surprise 5″ of new snow fell overnight, setting up yesterday to be another best-day-of-the-year-so-far.

I skied alone for the first few runs, following people that looked like they knew what they were doing. I got some untracked turns off the HighTraverse, dropping into Eagle’s Nest and Hourglass. I skied alone, skied hard, and had a blast.

Matt showed up and we got first tracks on High Greely, next to Gunsight. We hiked Baldy Shoulder, skied some pow, and dropped a twenty footer. It’s a little early in the season, but the coverage was great. The patrol opened the Backside and we skied some pow and jumped a rock on our way down to Sugarloaf.

On Supreme, we skied a gully and made our way into an area known as Nun’s C-Word. Matt debated dropping a rock into the opening below, but opted to ski it from the top. I made my way onto the rock, decided I could handle the drop, and figured I could make a turn out of it to dump some speed. I went for it, dropping a bit too far, got bounced backseat, and tried to make a hard right turn. I was going too fast and my left leg got hung up. I ejected from my binding, but not until my left knee popped. I heard it pop and I felt the pop reverberate through my body. I rolled to a stop and looked uphill to find my ski. I didn’t feel any pain, but my left knee felt odd.

After climbing back uphill to get my ski, walking back down, then clicking in and making a couple turns down to Matt, I knew something wasn’t right. I started to go into shock. I decided my day was over and tried to ski down to the base. I stopped at the lodge for some water, inspected my swollen left knee, and almost made the call to have ski patrol take me down. Pride and stubbornness kicked in and I instead skied to my car.

The car ride home was rough. I called my fiance and my parents. In between calls I couldn’t stop thinking about my ski season being over. All of the working out I did to get in shape, the fun days hiking with Liz and friends, all of the goals I had for the season, all of the powder I wouldn’t get to ski, all of the stuff I didn’t get to jump off of, and the money I had spent on season passes… It was pretty rough.

An hour later I was checked into the Park City Hospital. The doctor played with my knee and ordered an MRI. I got approval from my insurance company and spent a half hour in the the MRI tube, listening to Neil Young, trying not to get too down.

I got fitted for an immobilizing leg brace and crutches. Then told not to stand on it for a week or two. The results came back as we were about to leave the hospital. I have a Grade 2 & 3 injury to my MCL. Not an ACL, which would have been a lot worse. I meet with a surgeon on Friday morning to see what happens next.

I have since done some research on MCL injuries and have cheered up a little. A Grade 2 injury requires rest and physical therapy for six weeks. A grade 3 injury requires surgery and a recovery period of six weeks. Six weeks from now is the end of January. Last season, I didn’t jump my first cliff until January 18th. The first real powder day wasn’t until January 20th. I can do this.

On Friday I find out more. Then it’s time to start working on getting back out there for Day #14. There’s no way my first day back is Day #13 again.

My YouTube Channel Has 15,000 Views!

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NBD

It seemed like just yesterday when I crossed the 10,000 view threshold. My popularity is growing exponentially. That exponent is rather small, but it is growing in a non-linear fashion!

–> Subscribe today ——-> (this is not a real link, just a satire of YouTube’s mid-video subscription ads).

Snow In the Forecast!… Maybe: A Detailed Analysis

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If it’s not snowing, there isn’t much to do this time of year. I have spent a lot of time working, working out, and re-organizing the house since Thanksgiving. I also dedicated a lot of time to geeking out over weather. It turns out there are a lot of people that care a lot about weather. Following them is time consuming (a good thing) and rewarding. It’s an easy trap to fall into.

For a few days now, I’ve watched a massive storm head towards Tahoe. I’ve been hoping the storm would find it’s way to Utah, delivering some much needed snow to the Wasatch. Most models didn’t predict that happening, with the main portion of precipitation falling on Tahoe, Idaho and spots north of Utah. The GFS predicted  a chance of snow here this weekend, but accuracy is low on predictions that far away.

As of a couple days ago, a storm that looked extremely promising, was poised to miss us completely.That prediction changed a little this morning with the latest GFS model predicting some precipitation headed our way this weekend. Powderchasers.com was the first to mention snowfall headed our way on Sunday or Monday.

A couple of hours later, The Park City, Utah Weather Blog hinted at a weekend storm, followed by the following update from Wasatch Snow Forecast.

The third and final wave from this series is scheduled for late Sunday and Sunday night into early Monday. This is the strongest wave of the three and it is progged by all models to track the farthest south. GFS/GEM/GFES all bring a good open wave and cold front into Utah, allowing for decent snow accumulations.

The National Weather Service seems optimistic as well.

NWS: Cottonwood Canyons Forecast

Today’s PM update from Wasatch Snow Forecast sums up the a potential weekend storm pretty well.

Friday night’s wave is looking a bit better so maybe a few inches will be possible, especially north of I-80. Continuing to gain confidence in the late Sunday/Monday system as well. It’s fast moving and lacks great dynamics, but it has truly insane amounts of moisture to work with — so it could very well be a significant event for the Wasatch. I’m praying this works out and Monday will be a first true lift-serviced powder day of the season.

Time to start looking for someone to cover my Monday and Tuesday shifts at work. I think I could get used to this geeking-out-over-the-weather thing.

Free Entertainment: Group Shred from All.I.Can

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I cancelled my cable service yesterday. I’m not really sure why I chose to do it yesterday, while at work, but I did it and there’s no turning back. It’s going to save me $100 a month, plus a lot of time that I waste watching tv shows and sporting events that don’t matter. I can still stream a lot of media via my laptop, an iPad, and a Wii. Instead of watching random sporting events, sitcoms, and movies, I will have to search out free media on the internet.

I am going to post the best free entertainment on the internet here, on my blog. This is the first video I felt like reposting.