How to determine proper ski width after a spiral fracture of my tibia

[B Dawn]

In January of 2015 I suffered a spiral fracture of my Tibia, a broken Fibula and a shattered ankle while skiing at Alta. I have a plate and 14 screws in my left leg. Surgery in SLC, 14 weeks of non-weight bearing, intense rehab back East and I returned to Alta the following January intent on skiing on the 1 year anniversary--just to get rid of any bad ju-ju I am still skiing, although not as fast as I once did--but I'm out there and still loving it! I've finally decided to get rid of the leg breakers, as I called my beloved Line skis, and demoed a few pairs two weeks ago at Sugarbush. My Lines are 90 underfoot. I demoed the Black Crows Atris, 108 underfoot and the Black Crows Camox Birdies, 97 underfoot. I have never had any pain (while skiing) in my leg post injury. At times, if I'm skiing a little too fast on the flats the chatter is uncomfortable. I skied one day on the Camox Birdies (97) and loved them! The second day jumped into the Atris (108). I had immediate pain in my leg when I skied into a turn--could the Atris be too wide for me? Has anyone had a similar experience skiing on a wider ski? I'm a one pair of skis girl and want an all mountain ski that will serve me in the East and out West....any thoughts?

 

[mustski]

Wow. That sounds like a pretty big injury that you have recovered from. My first thought is that narrower is probably better since you had immediate pain in the leg. I know that if I ski wide skis on groomers, it stresses my knees. Since you are looking for an East coast ski also, it would probably be a good idea to demo them there as well. You liked the Camox Birdies in Alta but even a 97 is probably too wide for East coast daily conditions. @MissySki just purchased the Birdies so maybe she can chime in here if she has tried them for Eastern skiing.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I skied one day on the Camox Birdies (97) and loved them! The second day jumped into the Atris (108). I had immediate pain in my leg when I skied into a turn--could the Atris be too wide for me? Has anyone had a similar experience skiing on a wider ski? I'm a one pair of skis girl and want an all mountain ski that will serve me in the East and out West....any thoughts?

I know many people who have leg and/or knee pain on wider skis, especially those who are post-injury/post-surgery.
In your shoes, I'd go with what feels good. Even 97 is pretty wide by Eastern standards. You can always rent a wider demo out west if need be.

 

[Obrules15]

I would definitely demo. Try something in the 70/80/90 range in addition to your 97 and 108 all of similar shapes (could do the Supershape iSpeed and iTitan for the 70 and 80). That at least might tell you how width alone affects you. I'm not saying to purchase that but your situation is pretty unique and figuring out how your leg is going to react might be key to staying on the slopes and avoiding re-injury.

 

[B Dawn]

I'm headed to VT this weekend and will be demoing a few more pairs....headed to Big Sky on Tuesday! Thanks for the thoughtful replies....so happy I found this site!

 

[Pequenita]

108 sounds crazy wide for ordinary tooling around on the east coast, and even kind of wide for non-soft snow days on the west. Something in the mid 80s has the most crossover for east and west coast, but I think it mostly depends on geographically where you do most of your skiing and the terrain.

 

[B Dawn]

108 is crazy wide...I think I just wanted to try it. I definitely picked the wrong conditions! Each year I find I'm skiing more out west. My husband gave me an Ikon pass for Christmas--so far, we have planned a week in Big Sky and a week in Jackson Hole and Squaw and Alta are on the list.

 

[marzNC]

My husband gave me an Ikon pass for Christmas--so far, we have planned a week in Big Sky and a week in Jackson Hole and Squaw and Alta are on the list.

Isn't trip planning based on Ikon fun?

When you have more posts, you'll be able to see the Meet On The Hill (MOTH) threads in Divas Only. I'll be at Big Sky in late February and Alta in April, as will other Divas. Alta has a demo day in April every year with brand tents and mostly skis that are mid-80s and wider.

 

[nopoleskier]

Welcome and Congrats on getting back on snow after such an awful injury!! YEAH TO IKON!!! You have a super husband!! Tomorrow I'm on my west to sample a few IKON Mts.

I agree going over 100 for me makes my old knees hurt. I have Renoun Z-90's they are first 'fatter' ski that do not hurt my knees. Zero Chatter at high speed even on groomed/ice (I'm east coast)!

I'm hoping to demo some DPS and other 'fat skis' if I get a snow day while out West this winter.

I hope you have a great winter!

 

[B Dawn]

Welcome and Congrats on getting back on snow after such an awful injury!! YEAH TO IKON!!! You have a super husband!! Tomorrow I'm on my west to sample a few IKON Mts.

I agree going over 100 for me makes my old knees hurt. I have Renoun Z-90's they are first 'fatter' ski that do not hurt my knees. Zero Chatter at high speed even on groomed/ice (I'm east coast)!

I'm hoping to demo some DPS and other 'fat skis' if I get a snow day while out West this winter.

I hope you have a great winter!

Isn't trip planning based on Ikon fun?

When you have more posts, you'll be able to see the Meet On The Hill (MOTH) threads in Divas Only. I'll be at Big Sky in late February and Alta in April, as will other Divas. Alta has a demo day in April every year with brand tents and mostly skis that are mid-80s and wider.

Isn't trip planning based on Ikon fun?

When you have more posts, you'll be able to see the Meet On The Hill (MOTH) threads in Divas Only. I'll be at Big Sky in late February and Alta in April, as will other Divas. Alta has a demo day in April every year with brand tents and mostly skis that are mid-80s and wider.

What is MOTH? Are there specific Diva days at Alta in April?

 

[marzNC]

What is MOTH? Are there specific Diva days at Alta in April?

MOTH stands for Meet On The Hill, which is a section for Divas Only, which means Ski Diva members who have posted a minimum number of posts. Discussions about "Diva Weeks" are in MOTH. So are informal "meetups" such as what I just did with several Divas at Taos last week. I'm a bit unusual in that I ski in three regions, southeast, northeast, and out west.

Look for Getting to Know You. Creating a self-introduction thread is an easy way to increase your post count.

TheSkiDiva is an international online forum that's been around for a dozen years. It's not a ski club. It's a virtual gathering place for women who like talking about skiing/snowboarding, including those who travel to ski because they don't live near any big mountains. I'm retired and live in the southeast, so I travel quite a bit and prefer to have a few friends around for fun on snow and off in the evenings. Some are ski buddies who ski about the same terrain, others are friends who have different terrain interests so we may on ski together for a few runs during a week together.

As for Alta, that happens to be my #1 destination resort and has been for quite a while. I meet up with friends at Alta Lodge during late season. There are other Divas who do late season trips to Alta/Snowbird, as well as SLC local Divas. With Easter being late, that means April. Details are in my MOTH thread.

 

[Nano]

In January of 2015 I suffered a spiral fracture of my Tibia, a broken Fibula and a shattered ankle while skiing at Alta. I have a plate and 14 screws in my left leg. Surgery in SLC, 14 weeks of non-weight bearing, intense rehab back East and I returned to Alta the following January intent on skiing on the 1 year anniversary--just to get rid of any bad ju-ju I am still skiing, although not as fast as I once did--but I'm out there and still loving it! I've finally decided to get rid of the leg breakers, as I called my beloved Line skis, and demoed a few pairs two weeks ago at Sugarbush. My Lines are 90 underfoot. I demoed the Black Crows Atris, 108 underfoot and the Black Crows Camox Birdies, 97 underfoot. I have never had any pain (while skiing) in my leg post injury. At times, if I'm skiing a little too fast on the flats the chatter is uncomfortable. I skied one day on the Camox Birdies (97) and loved them! The second day jumped into the Atris (108). I had immediate pain in my leg when I skied into a turn--could the Atris be too wide for me? Has anyone had a similar experience skiing on a wider ski? I'm a one pair of skis girl and want an all mountain ski that will serve me in the East and out West....any thoughts?

Good morning, I am really interested in hearing more about your recovery when you returned to the slopes after Tib Fib spiral fracture. I’m 6 months post surgery and an nor’easter skier. Received the ok from ortho to return to the slopes this winter and just looking for some considerations, things to prep for as I get my body and mind ready. I’m on 88’s so sounds like skis should be ok, going to my boot guru in a couple weeks as there are some pain points. Thanks for any recommendations.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

I second the idea of demoing fat skis is the powder warrants it as a narrow ski in the deep snow could also put tweaking pain inducing pressure on your leg. Traditional thinking though would be for a narrowish softish ski if pain remains an issue.

Holler when you get to Jackson if you need any last minute beta.