ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SU CLAUSON-WICKER
NOTHING is as still as a West Virginia forest in mid-winter. When you are waiting for the ski ambulance on a remote cross-country trail in foot-deep snow, you can sit for 40 minutes without hearing even a bird call.
The beauty and silence of nature in winter is one of the reasons I ski. But it's a daunting beauty when you're sitting with a throbbing knee, hoping your ski buddy made it back to the lodge to get help. There's plenty of quiet time to contemplate why 10 miles into a 14-mile trek, you crossed your tips in a sloppy turn, lost your balance and bent a leg at an angle nature never intended.
My ski injury at Canaan Valley happened while I was Nordic skiing, but I was rescued by the resort's downhill ski patrol and have learned that safety advice dispensed by resort patrollers can benefit all skiers.
Skiing is a challenging sport, says Jim Haas, director of risk management and the ski patrol at Snowshoe. But it doesn't take an expert to know riding narrow pieces of Fiberglas down steep mountain slopes in frigid weather presents many opportunities for injury. To avoid injuries, he says, take lessons, eat right, ski within your ability and prepare for conditions.
``The best advice I can give to first-time skiers is to take a lesson,'' Haas says. ``It reduces your chances of getting hurt by 80 percent. Everyone can benefit from lessons because improved skiing increases your enjoyment of the sport.''
Haas' advice about eating hit home with me.
``This is not the time to lose weight,'' he said. ``You've got to increase your carbohydrate intake. Skiing is a vigorous sport, and just being out in the cold burns more calories. Forget about skipping breakfast, even if that is what you usually do. And try to eat or drink something every few hours, even if you don't feel particularly hungry. Having low blood sugar could cause you to pass out or make careless mistakes.''
Besides being underfueled, I had been racing along in the tracks of a seasoned expert, attempting to ski beyond my ability. I'd been skiing out of control on several descents before my ill-considered turn brought me down. I could have been evicted for wild skiing at most downhill resorts, said Snowshoe ski patroller Karen Sealock.
Sealock, with 10 years' experience as a patrol member under her bibs, says she has revoked lift tickets for speeding and skiing out of control. First though, she gives a warning. ``Slow down,'' she shouts at two speedsters. ``Yes, I mean you.'' If they don't, she chases them down and issues a bright yellow lift ticket - probation. People caught skiing out of control with yellow tickets lose their ski privileges.
``There's such a thing as ski etiquette,'' she says. ``You yield right of way to people downhill, you don't cut off skiers when you merge with a main trail and you don't block the trail.''
Sealock's boss, Haas, also emphasizes reading a map of the ski area. ``At Snowshoe and Silver Creek, we have an upside-down mountain,'' he says. ``You come out of the lodge and immediately ski down the mountain. Unless you've planned your route, you could end up in an area beyond your ability.''
Although there's no dress code, you need to dress for success. If you're a beginner, you need shorter skis and bindings that release easily. And warm, layered clothes are a must. Sealock says the ski patrol treats a number of skiers for frostbite each season - skiers who don't have adequate head gear, wear soggy cotton or ignore their body's warning signals.
The most common injuries resulting from ski accidents are to the knees, Haas says. Orthopedic surgeons frequently see two types of knee injuries: a tear in the knee cartilage (like mine) and the more serious injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which holds the shin bone in place.
According to Dr. Leonard Brody, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee problems at Albert Einstein Medical Center, when the knee cartilage tears, pieces break off and float in the knee joint, causing pain and swelling. ``If one or two days of following the RICE rule [Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation] fails to relieve the pain, your best bet is to see a doctor,'' Brody says. Orthopedic surgeons repair the tear through arthroscopic surgery.
A tear to the ACL is a serious injury that requires reconstruction rather than repair and also requires a longer rehabilitation period. The damaged ligaments are removed and grafts from other joint tendons are used to construct a new support system for the knee.
After knee injuries, the second most commonly suffered ski injury is to the thumb, says Sealock. After all, your natural reaction is to break your fall with your hands. But there is a right way and a wrong way to fall.
Holding tight to ski poles in a fall can result in the pole bending the thumb back and tearing ligaments. Instructors at Silver Creek resort recommend you fall on your side and have beginning skiers practice this. When you feel yourself falling, pull your arms in and ball your hands into a fist. Let your entire body, not just your hand, absorb the force of the fall.
You might as well accept the fact you will fall - eventually. Even Snowshoe's president, Danny Seme, who was the first professional ski patroller in the Southeast, admits he occasionally falls.
``I ski about 70 times a season, and I usually fall once. After that I'm a more conservative skier,'' he says.
Now that is something to reflect on if you happen to be lying around waiting for the ski patrol to rescue you.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff. 1. Karen Sealock keeps aby CNBwatchful eye for speedsters at Snowhsoe, 2. where a lift hurries
hundreds of skiers up the slopes. 3. A skier gets assistance from
the ski patrol at Snowshoe. color.