Post Injury Skiing Question

[Jenny]

I've been idly wondering - what are the chances that I might want/need different skis this year while I figure out how my ankle (or my head!) works again? Will it be easier to start out on something narrow/wide, soft/firm, short/long, etc.? I have been skiing the 2016 Kenjas in a 163, and even before the injury wasn't entirely sure they weren't too stiff for me and how I ski. I also still have my old Nordica Victory skis, which are narrower (78 vs 87) but still kind of stiff, I think. But I don't recall ever thinking they were too stiff for me, like the Kenjas, so maybe the width has something to do with it, too.

And it's certainly going to be interesting to see how my boots fit, since I have no idea whether/how much my foot will still be swollen and my calf still undersized when the time comes. I DO think that I'm not going to have much of a defined ankle bone on the outside of that ankle anymore - it seems kind of hard and blobby down there, like the kind of thing that won't subside. Luckily I'm not a foot model!

Never having been injured before, I don't know what to expect . . .

 

[marzNC]

For what it's worth, my approach after knee rehab was to use skis that were shorter and narrower than what I was skiing on the season before. Happened to have a pair of used skis I bought for my growing daughter that she wasn't ready for yet. They were 5mm narrower and 5cm shorter than what I used as all-mountain skis as an intermediate, 18mm narrower and 10cm shorter than the original Black Pearls I was using the season before the injury (summer, not skiing) as an advanced skier. I used those carvers for Mid-Atlantic skiing in Jan-Feb. Was back on the BPs at Big Sky in March. YMMV

I continued to use those carvers for a couple seasons while I demo'd to find skis for Mid-Atlantic and northeast skiing. When I decided to go with the Head Absolut Joy, I bought one size shorter than what I liked during a free demo day at my home mountain. Less to carry from the parking lot and perfectly fine for how I expected to use them. As it turned out, I've skied them on bumps in the northeast and during late season in the PacNW and the shorter length works out well. While I can ski pretty fast on groomers these days, speed is not what I enjoy most about skiing.

 

[santacruz skier]

I've been wondering about your boot fit after your injury to your ankle at Mammoth......

 

[asherz515]

I am new to the forum, but I would think that with an ankle injury, worrying about your boots is probably more important than the skis. Since you use a ton of ankle flexion when skiing, having the right fitting boot should be a huge priority. I would also make sure they aren't putting any unnecessary force that could cause pain, because that would be brutal. A good boot fitter should help you.
I have a friend that had a bad tib/fib fracture and has a metal plate in her ankle. It's been pretty hard pain wise for her. Good luck, I hope you find something that works.

 

[Skier31]

I agree that the boot may be more of the issue. I had a friend who had an ankle fracture.
He went to a Rolfer for a couple of sessions to reduce the scar tissue. I can't explain Rolfing adequately but I went through several sessions and it was very helpful for some foot issues I had.

 

[Jenny]

I'm not even going to try putting my boots on until sometime in November. I've been assured that the ankle will continue to be swollen, and will swell with use, so assuming I can get my heel seated in the boot ok, I shouldn’t have to worry about the right boot being too loose. The left one - well, it will probably need to have some padding put in it to make it fit this year. I was going to be looking for new boots but it doesn’t seem like this would be the year for it. Gotta wait until my bad ankle settles into a more permanent size/shape, I think.