January 19th 2011 -- Summit West -- Injury report

Damn - that's too bad, Randy. I hope the prognosis is good on the cracked vertebra.

Look before you leap indeed.

The crack is in the "transverse" portion of the vertebrae -- i.e. on of those spikes that stick out to the side that the muscles attach to -- so while there was no injury to the spinal column, it does make movement painful.   Her condition is improving -- getting in and out of bed no longer involves clenched teeth and tears.

very sorry to hear this -- hope she feels much better very soon. Being injured sucks, doubly so in your back.

Way too much emphasis on straight-lining everything among the younger set. You see kids who are really good who can do it totally under control, and kids who emulate them who can't. Too bad not everyone has the smarts to pick their moment and realize a blind roll on a beginners' hill is not the time or place.

I'm sorry to hear of the injuries & hope the healing process goes fast. On a similar note while skiing out of the Blackcomb glacier area a few years back, A guy shot over a cat track, blind landing of course and took out a young girl, maybe 8 -9 years old. He put his shoulder down when he knew hw was going to hit her and she literally exploded gear all over the hill. I saw some friends / family going to her aid so went after the hit & run boarder. About 1 mile downhill, I caught up to him and asked what the hell he thought he was doing. Smart mouth got into it with me and in half a minute there were 3 or 4 of his "friends" with him giving me a ration and threatening a good ass kicking. Jumped off my boards and said "Who gets it first? and they knew I would take blood over taking their B.S. and they left. But almost shocking was the response at Blackcomb skier center. Sure, they took the report, description of the thug, where, when but after that it was too nonchalant. My impression, they didn't even want to address the problem. Didn't even contact Ski Patrol to have some one check the girl out although by then, the call was probably made. It's good when a person takes responsibility and I commend them for that. Unfortunately, there are others who won't.

Randy,

I'm sorry to hear about the injury to Shellie.  In late August, I had spinal surgery and more recently had a fall on the flats that still affects my back. I understand the pain associated with spinal injuries.  Hopefully Shellie's recovery will enable her to participate in those activities she enjoys.