The 2012-2013 snow season passed away today after a brief but valiant struggle with warmness.
The 2012-2013 snow season was born in November of 2012 and experienced a sickly childhood struggling against warmness and lack of snowfall. However, in Late January of 2013 the cold and snow came on strong and the snow season of 2012-2013 grew into a strong winter and from that point on provided hundreds of thousands with snow joy! The early struggles with warmness gave the 2012-2013 snow season the strength to persevere way past its expected death but unfortunately it contracted the warms again and this time it succumbed.
Snow season 2012-2013 is survived by Summer 2013 and was preceded in death by Spring 2013. Other survivors include hundreds of thousands of snowmobiles, skiers, snowboarders, ice-fishermen, and others who will not sit idly by during the life of winter.
Funeral services for Snow season 2012-2013 will be held at parks, lakes, beaches, bike trails, roads, ball parks, all over the world during Summer 2013. In lieu of sending flowers, please plant them along with your vegetables and trees.
Just a FYI to my local readers. There is skiing available in the Upper Midwest region. I skied at Ski Brule this last weekend and the snow was good for most of the day. The spots you usually see slush are not slush but ice (which is better than slush). The snow did soften up as the day went on but it was all very good. They have the back of the hill closed and are only running one chair over by Sunrise & Otter Slide. Still, skiing on Bear and Log Jam was fantastic and worth the work!
This is not my favorite topic to write about, but let’s be clear and honest about this, moving fast with minimal protection can lead to injury. Unofficial Networks summarizes a Denver Post article entitled Colorado skiers die on groomed, blue runs after hitting trees. The Unofficial Networks article is just a set of bullet points summarizing the article and the real interesting stuff is in the comments.
Those who died on Colorado slopes ranged from a local doctor to a snowboard instructor to a paraplegic using a sit ski. More than 80 percent were men. The youngest two were 11; the oldest, 73. Just more than 60 percent were out-of-state visitors.
If those who died had anything in common, it was catching an edge or losing control just long enough to crash into a tree on the side of a trail. [emphasis added]
“People don’t want to hear it, but it’s really the luck of the draw. It’s an experienced skier and a perfect storm of events or one bad moment of judgment,” said Joanne Richardson, the former coroner for Summit County, where four ski areas account for close to 4 million skier visits a season. “In my experience, deaths are rare, but serious injuries are not. The mountains don’t want to tell you how many people are injured. I was listening to the scanner last year and just said, ‘Wow.’ “
Apparently, Lindsey Vonn has locked in the downhill championship for this season! Recall her terrible season ending crash in Schladming (schladming-ading-adong) and of course we thought that was it for her season if not her career. I am confident she will be back next season, but who thought she would hang in and win yet another downhill title?
Mind you, she has not skied since the crash, but she had such a lead built up and no woman was able to dominate the downhill event sufficiently to overcome Lindsey’s total. One wonders where Lindsey would be if she was able to compete till the end of the season, I bet she would be fighting it out with Tina Maze for the overall title.
Lindsey Vonn’s crash rocked the FIS ski world. These snow athletes are the best in the world but even they go back and forth over the edge of control. One moment they are in control the next moment they are fighting to regain control. In Lindsey’s case things were going well and before she could do anything it was all over but the helicopter ride to the hospital.
Lindsey is skiing well and has a narrow lead at the first split and about one-tenth of a second behind at the second split. However, there is a minor hiccup here and there in the skiing and then at 47 seconds she launches into the air and when she lands, her right leg crumples on impact. The reports have Lindsey tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), her medial cruciate ligament (MCL), and fracturing her tibia.
The ski then goes off on its own and torques her kneee, spins and tumbles her around, then both of her skis finally release, but the crash has done its damage. I have not seen anyone say with certainty what happened and the type of fracture she received is a lateral tibial plateau fracture which occurs in the upper part of the tibia just below the knee and SportsMD (http://www.sportsmd.com) says this about this kind of fracture:
How does a tibial plateau fracture occur?
Tibial plateau fractures occur by three main mechanisms. The first is by a medial or lateral based force (such as the so called “bumper fracture” when a car’s bumper strikes the outside of a person’s leg creating a valgus, or inward, force across the knee). The second mechanism is by a pure axial, or compressive force (such as a fall from height). [emphasis added] The third mechanism is by a combination of both axial and medial or lateral directed force.
That is, the impact of Lindsey landing broker her tibia and then the ski caught the edge and torqued her ACL nad MCL apart. When I see the crash that is my overwhelming thought, her tibia breaks and then the rest of the injuries happen. Hard to believe as Lindsey is well-known for her dedication to training and I am sure she is eating well, but that gives one an idea of the forces involved here.
The other possibility is the valgus force, but after watching the video I do not believe that is what happened, it appears she lands and then all support on the right side of her body is gone and she collapses over that lost right leg, but the right leg remains fairly straight, that is it does not appear as if there is any serious sideways forces to the knee at that immediate point.
Lindsey Vonn — the Aftermath
She has a long road ahead of her, especially if she wants to compete in the Sochi Olympics. However, she has the time and resources available to her to make that happen. I assume as soon as she can she will be seeing trainers and therapists to get her going again. Lindsey Vonn is going to amaze people!
Lindsey Vonn — and the Snark
I have seen some very snarky comments about her, read through the YouTube comments after the video I present. I think they are quite uncalled for but I see where they are coming from. Lindsey’s season was one of brash talk about joining the men’s circuit and then mixed results in the women’s racing prior her month break.
Lindsey Vonn — Fierce
Lindsey Vonn is a fierce competitor and this is not going to get in her way and she is also a seasoned skier and I believe she will be quite comfortable getting back into the starting house. Godspeed on yoru recovery Lindsey!
Update March 14, 2013 — Replaced the video from the suspended account with the video from Universal Sport’s YouTube account. That one, will not disappear.
Step up to the table and place your bets! Payoff is sweet skiing next season and the minimum bet is $99 and you are guaranteed to win! I never thought we would see this again, but Black Ski Resort is again offering its $99 season’s pass deal! Again, the offer is valid during March of 2013 for the 2014 snow season.
I do not know all of the details yet, but last time Blackjack offered this pass if you bought in March, you were able to use it starting then.
Go get it and tell them The Wisconsin Skier sent you!
I want to call out a Friend of the Wisconsin Skier and that would be the the Brave Ski Mom. I am finding myself visiting her site on a regular basis and like myself all of her writing is not centered on snow but mostly so. Even when the articles she writes are not strictly snow-related they are still worth reading!
Since she has linked to yours truly I dub her a friend of the Wisconsin Skier and I suggest you read her site regularly and subscribe to it for the latest updates!
January is learn to ride month (I like to ski but I do not care how you ride the snow, just ride it!). So get up to Indianhead Mountain and learn to ride, tell them the Wisconsin Skier sent you!
Yeap, the Vikings loss is your gain! Ski Brule is once again offering a carload weekend. Come one up, the Packer game is late and it is better listening to Wayne and Larry anyway! It always seems the pinheads on TV are also talking against the Packers.
The routine is you and your snow pals load up into a car or truck (buses do not count, I am also guessing Ski Brule excludes panel trucks and 18 wheelers too) and you all ski for $60.00 for the day. Stuff 6 people into your car and that is $10.00/person-day! What a deal!
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