Mental preparation for returning to skiing after injury

[Kimmyt]

Yes I have a brace and will wear it for the first season. Doing some uphill is a great idea, I just hate getting my butt out of bed early on my day off work!

 

[Dumarski]

Welcome back!! Unless you were in Banff, you picked a good season to miss last year.

It's normal to have fear and hesitancy after coming back from a serious injury. My injury was in 2015 and I STILL have flashbacks on occasion! With that, be patient with yourself, listen to your body, and start out on easy terrain that you are very comfortable on. Avoid going when it's crowded if at all possible. If you have a favorite ski buddy, try to have them join you.

My determination definitely outdid my fear when it was time to get back out there, and I also sold the skis I got hurt on. That's not an irrational thing to do, I don't think.

I had a bike injury October 31, 2025. I broke my ankle and now have 8 pins in it. I can relate to reluctance returning to the mountain. I like the advice of listening to my body and going easy to start. I’ll be wearing an ankle brace for sure.

 

[VermontLady]

I have had 3 knee surgeries , acl surgery and now have had 2 hips, 2 knees and 2 shoulder Replacements. I ski at Alta and I am 71. Don’t stop! Get back out there and just take it slowly to start.

Wow! Inspiring to say the least. Good for you

 

[trinkd]

I just had a hip replaced 5 weeks ago. My 12 week "have a blast" clearance is *supposed* to arrive at the end of November, timed so I could ski this year. I've got a similar road ahead. Again.

I have already been uber-cautious skiing after my spinal osteoporosis diagnosis a few years ago, and you know what I've learned? Skiing is fun on many different levels, it doesn't HAVE TO be all about steep and fast. One of my most fun early seasons was coming back after two different knee surgeries, each with a 6 week NO weight-bearing recovery (which means OMG where did all those muscles go?). I spent a lot of days on the bunny slope, doing what the lifites assured me was a record # of laps for a single day. Get your "happy ski tunes" playing in one ear and just enjoy being outside and getting that strength back. After that felt good, it was on to the other greens, and then "light" blues, then blues. And that's good enough for me, for now. Adrenaline comes from finding MY current edge (mental or physical) and nudging up to it. It takes time, but if you want to get back to bombing down double blacks, you can. If you don't, then don't! Ski in the moment!

Getting over the fear from the broken ribs crash after being mowed down from behind by a snowboard was a bit different - that took finding a lovely flak jacket for protection and putting a priority on learning to be as defensive a skier as my brain needs on any given day.

I found the people on the bunny, greens, and light blues are a blast (mostly). They are nervous, too, or also recovering from injury, and everyone appreciates a seasoned skier's advice or local tips of the best way to get down any slope for a newb. No one on a green is going to look down on you, they will only envy what you've gone through to try to work your way back.

 

[Electricwoman]

I haven't skied since my ACL replacement over a year ago, so I'm not sure if I will be able to slide right back into it without any psychological impacts, confidence, fear, etc.

Wondering if anyone has come back from a ski injury and if they dealt with these things, or if anyone can offer tips or tricks.

I'm considering selling the skis I got injured on, I do love them but I don't know if they're the right skis for my first season back and thinking a fresh start might not be a bad thing.

Dear Kimmy,
The hardest thing for me was stopping the pain meds. The second hardest thing was overcoming my shame at insisting on returning to skiing at an advanced age after a leg fracture. Once I actually got on the slope and started executing the turns, it was all downhill from there!

You are badass for going back to a sport you love. You'll be great!

 

[Jilly]

As many of you know, I had open heart surgery Dec of 24. I was not allowed to ski the winter of 25. I worked hard on my cardiac rehab and passed it with flying colours. But the mind game is so real. I decided that I was only going to use my familiar Rossi hero's for the first trip out. I asked all my friends to go far far away. I wanted to get my feet and legs under me on my own at my own speed.

A couple of days later, I was skiing with 2 friends in the fog. I took a header. With the fog I didn't know if I was upside down or sideways. Everything was white. I heard Mike say, Jilly's down. They are you OK. What I really needed to know was, did I hit my head? Did I black out? I'm on some mean BP pills that give me bruises for just walking by something that I could hit.

But I knew if I wanted to ski I needed to get over it and get going. Which I did. But I was super cautious until I could talk to all the medical staff I have. (Dr won't change the med, but I will try it again.)

And I NOT skiing in fog, unless it can't be avoided.

So start easy, go slow and enjoy the daily improvement.

 

[skibum4ever]

I refuse to ski on weekends and holidays. The risk of getting hit is too high, and I can't afford to break anything else.

 

[VickiK]

I refuse to ski on weekends and holidays. The risk of getting hit is too high, and I can't afford to break anything else.

Yes, Mammoth is a zoo on weekends and holidays. Even Thursdays & Mondays can be crowded as people look to avoid crowds.

 

[pinto]

I didn't have an actual accident, and I am sure that plays on your mind totally differently than just an operation. But I wanted to reiterate that things might feel weird if your biomechanics have changed, which is what happened to me after the TKR, and it threw me for quite the loop until I figured things out. So just keep that in the back of your head as well. I ended up switching out almost my entire quiver thinking I just couldn't ski anymore, but I just needed some boot tweaking. (Duh.)

 

[diymom]

^^^this

My first day back I couldn't find the inside edge on my "bad" side for the life of me. I swapped skis around in case it was the tune, nope. Biomechanics had changed, and I was bearing more weight on the outside of my foot. But I'm glad I didn't do anything permanent to my boots, just a temporary rigging of my footbeds as things have returned to my old usual over time.

 

[HikenSki]

I tore my ACL in spring 2022 and had full repair done. I was able to get out and try skiing in spring 2023 after 11mo of rehab. It was just depressing. I was so scared and my skiing was crap. It was all mental. It did not help that my skis were far too stiff and advanced for where I was. The following season, I bought narrower beginner skis, sought out lessons and started to find my groove but still struggled. Since then I've taken many lessons, many with fellow women who have been injured. My confidence has started to return, iin smiling and laughing. The most progress I made was last season when I did a 2day women's clinic in VT. Our instructor had torn her ACL the previous season and was very cautious herself on the slopes. It was comforting to know she understood where I was coming from. She saw that when I got out of my head, that more advanced skier was there. It's just gonna take time and repetition to get more comfortable and confident. I hope to do the clinic again this coming season.

I think of this time now as a new season, much like my running is different now here in my mid-40s compared to my speedier 30s. Interestingly, I'm stronger now physically than I ever was pre-injury. Strength training anyone? Last season, I finally took off the brace and think that helped my head not think of my injured leg as bad, somehow weak and not capable. Just like another poster commented, I listened to my knee to know when it was time to call it a day or take it easier. I'm no longer interested in the steep runs or going fast. I call it a day if the runs are too icy or crowded. I have a 6yr old son who started to figure out skiing last season. I'm excited to ski with him this season. I want him to see a strong confident momma, and learn that falling down is gonna happen. We get back up and try again, even when it gets hard and we want to cry.

 

[HuntersEmma57]

I completely can relate to how your are feeling. I tore my ACL in February of 2020. I had been skiing that year on a new pair of skis that were longer than my previous skis. I was convinced that I should sell those skis and get a new pair that were shorter. I went to the store where I purchased my skis and spoke with the owner. He looked at my skis and suggested to "detune" my skis, which at the time I didn't understand what that exactly meant. He suggested I ski with them one more time and see if that helped my confidence to return. He smiled and said as much as I'd love to sell you a new pair of skis, these skis are great skis and you should give this a try.

Ultimately he was right. I skied a little more cautiously at first but I did eventually regain my confidence and didn't need new skis. I'm now skiing skis that are even longer than the skis that I had when I was injured.

It takes some time to shake that feeling and regain your confidence. I always do an easy warm up run as my first run of the day which helps to set me up to feel more confident. If I'm skiing and I start to doubt my ability I push those negative thoughts away.

I did a women's clinic in Vermont with a sports psychologist and every woman there had the same story: skied for years confidently, had an accident, and now has lost there confidence. That clinic has probably been the single best thing I did to be able to ski and not think about getting hurt. The sports psychologist suggested tips and tricks to deal with our fears and lack of confidence. By the end of the clinic I was skiing so much more confidently and now if I'm faced with a negative thought I have the mental tools to push away those thoughts.

There's nothing wrong with getting new skis if you think it will be a good fresh start but you may need to find other ways to rebuild your confidence. Hope this helps.

Start easy, start slow, but absolutely START. Remember the fun in skiing and how many runs and turns you made. I like the idea of being in a clinic or even with a small group or private lesson. Being a bit distracted by focusing on others, your muscle memory can just kick in. I wore a pretty much a fake knee brace for awhile - more a psychological crutch than any real help. Then one day, I forgot to put it on and haven't since (16 years) and now ski Big Mountains. Sounds weird, but I also decided to quit calling the injured knee my "bad" knee. It wasn't bad, I just had an accident. Good luck and welcome back to the snow!

 

[gourmetJo]

Start easy, start slow, but absolutely START. Remember the fun in skiing and how many runs and turns you made. I like the idea of being in a clinic or even with a small group or private lesson. Being a bit distracted by focusing on others, your muscle memory can just kick in. I wore a pretty much a fake knee brace for awhile - more a psychological crutch than any real help. Then one day, I forgot to put it on and haven't since (16 years) and now ski Big Mountains. Sounds weird, but I also decided to quit calling the injured knee my "bad" knee. It wasn't bad, I just had an accident. Good luck and welcome back to the snow!

I had a similar experience with my knee brace. Had some serious knee surgery 15 years ago and had a custom knee brace my ortho had me get. Always used the brace to ski. One year we were on our way to Maine to ski and 4 hours into our 5 hour drive I realized I forgot my knee brace. I decided I was still going to ski but I would just take it easy and not doing anything outside my comfort zone. I skied that trip without it and never looked back. When I saw my orthopedist for follow up and told him about it his response was quite interesting. He said, "you only needed the brace for the first year and after that you only needed it until you had the confidence that you didn't need the brace."

 

[VickiK]

I had a similar experience after my MCL sprain. At first I used a sleeve-type support bc I had no idea how my knee would feel once I was skiing. Then I wore it as a precaution, a just in case thing. I ski without it now but I still pack it in my boot bag.