# Have you experienced events which change the way you ride?



## ridinbend (Aug 2, 2012)

Had a deep experience with a tree well once. Came flying over a snow ridge and tried to stop with my heel edge without success. Disappeared into its darkness board first against the tree trunk, pinned with my knees to my chest. Then the heavy snow started falling on my face and I thought I was drowning. The snow didn't quite cover me but I was for sure panicking. My riding partner was yelling for me while I was screaming back. He couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear him. Fortunately he hiked back up, quickly, found me stuck after a few minutes and helped me out. Probably one of the most scared couple of minutes ever while snowboarding. We both vowed to avoid anymore deep experiences. Tree wells at Mt. Bachelor are no joke.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Fear either controls you or you control it. Go fast, take chances, it will all work out in the end.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

The experience wasn't negative but still incisive. Had a severe crash with a tree while eventing, lucky me the neck wasn't broken, another crash _did_ damage the neck. Been very restrained afterwards... bailed off any too dangerous obstacles, couldn't overcome my fear.

Fast fwd some years. Winter. Standing ontop of a run way too steep n narrow for my rabbit heart, really scared. If there would have been an option, I would have bailed out... overcoming that fear, riding that run... sounds worn out... but never felt that alive before. 

That moment was an eyes-opener. I'm still an innate rabbit heart, guess this never changes, but don't avoid those challenges anymore even if there'd be an option. Learned to enjoy those moments. Swallow, take a deep breath, do it! It feels good. 

Snowboarding "healed" me.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

'Twas a day I soon won't forget. Dropped my lighter whilst ridin' the chair one time. Now I carry two. Learned a life lesson fo' sho'.


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## sabatoa (Jan 18, 2011)

Kind of.

I don't play on kickers anymore after a bad crash a couple of years ago but I'll still pop off lips and rollers when I can and I still charge hard.


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## vajohn (Jan 12, 2014)

It does not always work out in the end. Messed up my shoulder on Sat, luckily it did not pop the whole way out and get stuck. Got a damn chest cold the same day, which may have contributed to lack of concentration and then failing to land correctly off a natural feature with crusty landing that had soft snow a couple days prior when I did land smoothly off it. Hurt like hell to cough the past couple days since I also bruised up my stomach from my waist to my ribs. Could have been worse...but I won't be hitting the park or doing any jumps for a few weeks--so it has impacted my riding temporarily. My other shoulder popped out several times and had to have surgery....took a while to get over being so protective of that shoulder, now I have to be mindful of my other one since it will be more likely to dislocate until I can recover and do strengthening exercises for a bit. Other injuries over the years have not changed the way I ride...shoulders have been the worst for me.

--Almost forgot...tearing up my knee and having surgery a few years back put me out of riding completely for a bit. That one sucked...would barely even go off a jump the first season back. Actually knee injuries are worse than shoulders for me.


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

mojo maestro said:


> 'Twas a day I soon won't forget. Dropped my lighter whilst ridin' the chair one time. Now I carry two. Learned a life lesson fo' sho'.


Yea. My moment was at copper a few years ago, riding with all my paraphenalia strewn all over a backpack. Couple lifts later I'm looking in there for the container of joints I brought when I smell one being smoked on the lift in front of me. I yell up "smells good!" They're like, "ya man, we just found this little jar of joints! Stoked!" Get off the lift and realize I been running with an open zipper, these folks are enjoying my stash! I only had a few in there so I let them keep it and they gave me one.

2 lessons.

a. backpacks are for backcountry

1. shut your zippers, stoner

2. only bring a little to lose on the hill, you can always go back to the car


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## Demi9OD (Dec 23, 2014)

Broken scaphoid, broken rib, broken collar bone, and nearly broken jaw. None of it really scared me like a being stuck in a tree well would have though.


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## sheepstealer (Aug 19, 2009)

Broken wrist (failed tail press, slipped out)

Broken pinky finger (hurt like the dickens. Failed on a quarterpipe)

Broken collarbone (hurt even more like the dickens, I was sobbing in ski patrol...as a 25 year old).

2-3 concussions (over a five year period, all from failing on booters)

The collarbone affected me the most. I got it by catching a toe edge on some ninja ice. Didn't even see it coming. Now whenever I find myself on a patch of ice I just point it and don't side-slip. I get a little nervous everytime this happens.

I've taken some major falls on jumps in my life but none have really affected me, always come back for more.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Not yet broken anything yet snowboarding.
Broke one collarbone and bruised my tailbone in two motorcycle incidents.


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## Big Foot (Jan 15, 2013)

I broke 3 ribs two weeks ago by slipping in the lift line and landing directly on my rear binding's highback with my ribs. From now on I will be pushing my rear binding's highback down when my rear foot is unstrapped.


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## Deacon (Mar 2, 2013)

Splitting my helmet in half, spending two days in the hospital with a concussion, and tearing both hip labrums had definitely affected my riding this season, much to my chagrin. I do not accept weakness in myself, but i seem to have a slight mental block, that is exacerbated by my far more aggressive camber board I'm riding this year. But i will not settle.


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## Altephor (Feb 4, 2010)

Fell on a green run and got slammed in the head with the base of the board of the rider behind me who tried unsuccessfully to stop and avoid me as I fell. No helmet. Never gone without a helmet since then.


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## jjz (Feb 14, 2012)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Fear either controls you or you control it. Go fast, take chances, it will all work out in the end.


I never said I ride like a pussy now - I just wait till there are no trees below me to take chances



mojo maestro said:


> 'Twas a day I soon won't forget. Dropped my lighter whilst ridin' the chair one time. Now I carry two. Learned a life lesson fo' sho'.


Preach it. I gotta carry 2 even when I'm just going for a toke outside my house. One time I put a lighter down on the desk beside the door, and spent half an hour looking for it.



neni said:


> The experience wasn't negative but still incisive. Had a severe crash with a tree while eventing, lucky me the neck wasn't broken, another crash _did_ damage the neck. Been very restrained afterwards... bailed off any too dangerous obstacles, couldn't overcome my fear.
> 
> Fast fwd some years. Winter. Standing ontop of a run way too steep n narrow for my rabbit heart, really scared. If there would have been an option, I would have bailed out... overcoming that fear, riding that run... sounds worn out... but never felt that alive before.
> 
> ...


The most memorable snowboarding experiences are the ones that are just a tiny bit out of your comfort zone.


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## honeycomb (Feb 6, 2011)

Cracked 3 ribs, bruised tailbone, and knocked myself out for a minute and got a concussion last year, while wearing a helmet. 

I wish I wasn't a pussy when I started riding, I used to be scared of big jumps and trees and never really pushed my limits. Now IDGAF, but still know my limits and try not to push myself too far past them.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

jjz said:


> I never said I ride like a pussy now - I just wait till there are no trees below me to take chances


Never said you ride like a pussy. Just said go fast, take chances, and it will all work out in the end. Advice to live by from a guy that had his heart restarted from a snowboarding accident.


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## BoardWalk (Mar 22, 2011)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Never said you ride like a pussy. Just said go fast, take chances, and it will all work out in the end. Advice to live by from a guy that had his heart restarted from a snowboarding accident.


Heart???? Who is this????


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## Big Foot (Jan 15, 2013)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Never said you ride like a pussy. Just said go fast, take chances, and it will all work out in the end. Advice to live by from a guy that had his heart restarted from a snowboarding accident.


Do you mean restarted like when the Grinch's heart grew and he started caring about people again? Or restarted like you were dead and they brought you back to life? Because I call bullshit if it's the former.


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Big Foot said:


> Do you mean restarted like when the Grinch's heart grew and he started caring about people again? Or restarted like you were dead and they brought you back to life? Because I call bullshit if it's the former.


I don't give a fuck about people. So figure it out from there. Lets just say Flight for Life is not cheap.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

BurtonAvenger said:


> I don't give a fuck about people. So figure it out from there. Lets just say Flight for Life is not cheap.


You can actually get life flight insurance for like $50 a year. Seems stupid but holy hell even with great normal health insurance I still haven't paid mine off. Debated getting this ever since

As for falls or accidents, I found a creek hole in to a massive cave while riding alone, no idea how I made it out of that one. Managed to wedge myself between the wall of the hole while I was falling in. took me about 3 hours to get out of that one.

Then simple edge catch in the park led to lacerated liver and a sadly destroyed Adrenal gland among other things. That was a 3 day ICU visit. Definitely in the back of my head when I ride and I'm a little more cautious with what I decide to try but you can't hold back once you commit to going for something, that's how you get hurt again!


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

I wonder if they had that insurance back in 02. I should probably consider investing in it.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

BurtonAvenger said:


> I don't give a fuck about people. So figure it out from there. Lets just say Flight for Life is not cheap.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

BurtonAvenger said:


> I wonder if they had that insurance back in 02. I should probably consider investing in it.


Not sure, I found out about it about 6 years ago from a nurse in the hospital. Before every season I tell myself I should get it, I mean hell it actually ends up cheaper to be airlifted out of the mountains than it would be to get an ambulance even if you happen to be at a resort. Still haven't pulled the trigger though.


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## Big Foot (Jan 15, 2013)

I could only imagine what life flight costs. I just had an $1,800 ambulance ride.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

lab49232 said:


> Not sure, I found out about it about 6 years ago from a nurse in the hospital. Before every season I tell myself I should get it, I mean hell it actually ends up cheaper to be airlifted out of the mountains than it would be to get an ambulance even if you happen to be at a resort. Still haven't pulled the trigger though.


I know in 2008 there was no airmed transport membership program in Colorado. That might since have changed though. MASA membership is a good way to ensure air transport coverage. It's somewhat pricey but works everywhere and covers everything outside of private insurance scope.


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

Yuppers. The first few years I rode hard and rode fast. I still tend to ride too fast...I prefer to just bomb it down the mountain, and according to my GPS have broken 60mph more times than I should have. I love the rush. I used to love getting air over rollers and hills. Nothing huge, mind you, but definitely left the ground a lot. Then one day at Stowe, VT, on a pretty basic blue (Perry Merrill) I was high-speed bombing it around a turn, hit a bump I didn't see, and went sliding on my back, head first, off the trail into the woods. Miraculously, I didn't hit any trees, and managed to grab onto a sapling to stop myself. After I changed my stained shorts, I decided I was getting too old for this shit.

There have been a few others...triggered a minor avalanche in Tahoe. Slid down a diamond trail for twenty or thirty yards, buried a few times, but nothing serious. Missed a turn at Kirkwood and wound up in some double diamond glades I had no business doing at my skill level...but worked it. Made me a better rider. But I also realize that I think I'm done looking for the THRILL...now I just go for the enjoyment with a bit of adrenalin rush.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

all the events that have 'happened' to me (made happen mostly) have been positive, having to do with my gear, the state of my body, and mind


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

the event...getting older-56...the challenge learning to dial it back...in my mind I can go ripping around...in reality...last year badly sprained both ankles on 1 crash, this year...twice yard-sale banged my head while bombing and last weekend, popped something in my knee when scorpioned...first time in about 3 years...seems my skills are quickly devolving ...it fricking worse than my treewells incidents....cause its slow and painful :injured:.


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## Joe77 (Feb 7, 2013)

I have broken three bones in separate ocasions and also few concussions. I have learned to be aware of the situations that could lead to those crashes and make sure to either commit 100% to what I will about to do or just not rist it at all. Gray Area is what makes me crash.


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## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

I had either shoulder or rib injuries mostly and as of last week(bruised ribs). I normally would challenge myself on situations but even though i wear protective paddings, my main concern is if i get hurt doing something would it be a bitch to drive home or call the wife, would i be able to work while injured,etc. I still have a great time riding but i take risk worth taking too, one bad thing also when us old folks get hurt is that it takes forever to heal:injured:


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

I haven't had any major incidents while snowboarding. A year and a half ago, I was in a pretty serious car accident that totaled my car, gave me a concussion, and banged up my knees pretty good when I slammed them into the bottom of the dashboard as my car spun into the opposite lane of traffic. Now if I go on a 4-5 day riding spree, I get a bit of knee fatigue and I'm considering wearing the brace I got after the accident on the one that bothers me the most. 

Mostly I've had some nasty wipe-outs that have spooked me. I had a bad crash with an out of control skier that gets me nervous sometimes on crowded days when I hear someone coming up fast behind me. A couple of weeks ago, I had a pretty brutal spill when my heel edge washed out on some ice. My edge slid out from under me so I tried to jump over to my toe edge...over corrected and ate shit. Slid down this icy slope, scraping and bruising my legs. Now when I hit an ice patch or know I'm riding on hard/iced terrain, I find myself getting timid on my heel edge. I want to look into getting a nice cam hybrid with mag for those really icy days. Need to sell this '15 NS Onyx mini 136 I never ride first though. Luckily, I don't have a huge desire to go tearing down the mountain...but I've been pushing myself to get out of that comfort zone and pick up a little speed in order to progress.


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## SkullAndXbones (Feb 24, 2014)

nothing really too bad happened to me while snowboarding. some minor bruises and soreness for a few days, that's it. riding my bike is a whole other story though. fucked up my face pretty badly. over 40 stitches under my eye. lost some skin. i still have about a nickel-sized scar under my eye and the bottom of my eye lid doesn't close all the way (it sags down little but it's not really noticeable unless i point it out). this was over 14 years ago and i still never rode a bike the same way again. not that i even care to do anything stupid on a bike or even ride one for that matter anymore so it's no big deal.


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## Jibfreak (Jul 16, 2009)

I used to do drops to flat without a second thought. One day I did a big drop to flat and the landing was pow so I was ok. Decided to do the same drop the next run and ended up in my bombhole from the previous run. Took a knee to the face, tore my meniscus and ACL.

Now I give a second thought and shoot for tranny.


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## Jibfreak (Jul 16, 2009)

I also got a grade 5 AC joint separation (shoulder dislocation where all ligaments are destroyed) on the tiny tow rope run at my local hill.

Lesson I learned here is don't fuck around on firm days, and that shit can happen at any point if you let your guard down. Because of that incident I no longer ride when I'm too intoxicated or tired. No more last runs for me, if I'm tired that's it I'm going to the lodge/car.


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## jjz (Feb 14, 2012)

Jibfreak said:


> I also got a grade 5 AC joint separation (shoulder dislocation where all ligaments are destroyed) on the tiny tow rope run at my local hill.
> 
> Lesson I learned here is don't fuck around on firm days, and that shit can happen at any point if you let your guard down. Because of that incident I no longer ride when I'm too intoxicated or tired. No more last runs for me, if I'm tired that's it I'm going to the lodge/car.


My worst injury, like yours was on a really easy run, and nothing spectacular happened. 

First run of the season, wash out, put my arm out to catch myself and tear my rotator cuff.


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## Littlebigdreams (Jan 27, 2011)

My friend was found dead in a creek, she went into trees alone and for some reason hiked all the way to the creek at the bottom of the mountain and died of hypothermia. My friends and I taught her how to snowboard and she's become pretty good, but none of my friends or I knew much about safety, or we didn't stress it enough when we taught her. 

Was the most devastating thing that happened to me and I'll never take beginners into trees ever again. If friends insist on going into trees I always make sure there's a good rider leading the way and I'm staying behind so I can keep an eye on everyone. And I always talk about safety with anyone I ride with.

Aside from that... fractured humerus on rail, bent tailbone off an icy large kicker, numerous sprains/tears on ankle/knee/shoulder, bruised ribs, concussions... Most of these injuries happened when I was a reckless novice rider and I wanted to "learn" by going for the biggest terrain park features. Now that I got better, and I'm also riding more safely (speed checks, warm up runs, working up slowly to the bigger stuff) I don't injure myself as much anymore.


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## SkullAndXbones (Feb 24, 2014)

shit man, sorry to hear about your friend.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

Littlebigdreams said:


> My friend was found dead in a creek, she went into trees alone and for some reason hiked all the way to the creek at the bottom of the mountain and died of hypothermia. My friends and I taught her how to snowboard and she's become pretty good, but none of my friends or I knew much about safety, or we didn't stress it enough when we taught her.
> 
> Was the most devastating thing that happened to me and I'll never take beginners into trees ever again. If friends insist on going into trees I always make sure there's a good rider leading the way and I'm staying behind so I can keep an eye on everyone. And I always talk about safety with anyone I ride with.
> 
> Aside from that... fractured humerus on rail, bent tailbone off an icy large kicker, numerous sprains/tears on ankle/knee/shoulder, bruised ribs, concussions... Most of these injuries happened when I was a reckless novice rider and I wanted to "learn" by going for the biggest terrain park features. Now that I got better, and I'm also riding more safely (speed checks, warm up runs, working up slowly to the bigger stuff) I don't injure myself as much anymore.


That's horrible, very sorry to hear about your loss and her family's loss.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Littlebigdreams said:


> Was the most devastating thing that happened to me and I'll never take beginners into trees ever again. If friends insist on going into trees I always make sure there's a good rider leading the way and I'm staying behind so I can keep an eye on everyone. And I always talk about safety with anyone I ride with.


That's horrible! Sorry for your loss. 
I hope, you don't blame yourself too much, your wording sounds a bit alike... Things like that can happen, even to experienced ppl. A family member was found dead in a very tiny gully. No one knows what had happened; he was riding solo in familiar, mellow terrain. He was a certified mountain guide, knowing everything about safety... Horrible things can happen... no ones fault.


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## cookiedog (Mar 3, 2014)

The most painful shit for me was falling on my tailbone last season. Heart like hell for two weeks. I bought AZ Pad for my ass and reinforced it with two layers of impact foam. It's looks like a diaper but fuck it I fell few times last year so hard I though im going to knock my teeth out and for sure I would've broken my tail bone.But thanks to it I was able to stand up and ride away like it never happened. On top I'm wearing low prof. knee pads under my pants helped me few times+ wrist guards and helmet.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

I've never broken anything in my life before *knock on wood* whether from snowboarding or other sports/activities.

I have had 1 concussion while snowboarding.  That was maybe 14 years ago, screwing around on some kickers I had no business messing around on. Caught a heel edge coming down the landing and smacked my head on the hard-packed snow/ice.

As for changing the way I ride... well, I no longer flat-base runs and bomb the whole trail.

While at Okemo about 12 years ago, my brothers and I were racing down one of their longer trails, I believe a green trail (forget which trail exactly). I flat-based either the entire thing or at least most of it. I was the first one down and pretty excited to win the race, by a large margin. As I came down the final slope towards the lodge I went to stop heelside. I wound up catching my toe edge and smacking flat on my stomach onto the hard-packed snow.

I thought I had just knocked the air out of me at first. So, I gathered my breath, picked up my hat and goggles and shit that had flown off when crashing. As that happened I noticed my arm/shoulder hurting a lot and couldn't really move it. So, I thought that I had probably broken my collar bone. I took of my board and walked down towards the lodge where my father was hanging out. He had seen the crash and walked up the mountain a bit to see if I was OK. I thought I was, but mentioned I might have broken my collarbone, so I let him carry my board to the lodge for me while I walked. My arm was very sore, but I could move it, so that kind of ruled out a broken bone. A woman sitting near us in the lodge said "that may be a sign of internal bleeding, go to first aid!" So I did. They checked my collarbone. It was fine. The nurses rushed and put IV's in me - they did a horrible job and I recall small pools of blood on the floor from them missing veins in my arms and wrists.

I got an ambulance ride over to the hospital up in VT. I spent a week in ICU up there hopped up on morphine with a bruised large intestine, lacerated spleen and lacerated liver. Luckily I did not require any surgery to stop the bleeding and healed on my own. I have never been in so much pain in my life. I wound up missing about a month of high school and then when I did go back, I couldn't carry more than one book at a time.


Sorry for the long story:injured:


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## Ballistic_BW (Jan 12, 2015)

Well I can compete with the internal bleeding above haha...

But one day years ago i was riding with a couple buddies out in the trees. I was in the lead and bombing a somewhat established trail through the trees. We are 99% evergreen where I ride and there was a thin bushy branch sticking out over the trail a bit. Instead of ducking it i put my hand up to swipe it out of the way. 

Turns out there was a 3-4" diameter sawed off branch hidden right behind the thin bushy one. Hand hiit it hard enough to spin me around 3 times before i hit the ground and thought i'd broken my arm for most the day. Turns out no broken arm, just a partially torn rotator cuff. 

I now duck all tree limbs :hairy:


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## Littlebigdreams (Jan 27, 2011)

neni said:


> That's horrible! Sorry for your loss.
> I hope, you don't blame yourself too much, your wording sounds a bit alike... Things like that can happen, even to experienced ppl. A family member was found dead in a very tiny gully. No one knows what had happened; he was riding solo in familiar, mellow terrain. He was a certified mountain guide, knowing everything about safety... Horrible things can happen... no ones fault.


Sorry to hear about your family as well. I just think that as experienced riders we owe it to stress the importance of safety to new riders. When they ride with us all they see is the freedom, the excitement, and the thrill for everything that snowboarding has to offer. But they don't see the dangers that we have learned to be careful to avoid. 

Too many times I see people who have no business to be out of bounds try to side slip down an icy bowl or kids hucking themselves off XL jumps without helmets (in this case I'm only referring to those that don't know what they're doing).


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## Littlebigdreams (Jan 27, 2011)

cookiedog said:


> The most painful shit for me was falling on my tailbone last season. Heart like hell for two weeks. I bought AZ Pad for my ass and reinforced it with two layers of impact foam. It's looks like a diaper but fuck it I fell few times last year so hard I though im going to knock my teeth out and for sure I would've broken my tail bone.But thanks to it I was able to stand up and ride away like it never happened. On top I'm wearing low prof. knee pads under my pants helped me few times+ wrist guards and helmet.


I can totally relate to that. I was dumb enough to try straight airing an XL jump on an icy day without doing any speed checks on the jump first. 

After landing on my ass, I could barely breath for 2 minutes. Literally felt like I was going to poop my pants and I had to concentrate really really hard to not actually doing it. When I went home I found out that I had a hole the size of a baseball on both my snowboard pants and on my underwear. My butt was black and I couldn't sit properly for 6 months.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

Ballistic_BW said:


> Well I can compete with the internal bleeding above haha...


Yeah, I don't recommend it!:rofl3:


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