Dumbest Ski Injuries

[Horton]

I wrenched my back getting out of the water last Saturday. I have been walking around like a 90 year old since.

 

Beat that....

[BraceMaker]

I was carrying my trick ski by the loop on the liner in my hardshell... liner slipped out tip landed on my big toe nail and broke the nail off... trick skis are sharp.

[bigskieridaho]

Not a ski injury, but was golfing and had a crappy shot. Got pissed and swung at a branch with my 7 iron, missed and came down and hit my shin. Was on crutches for two weeks not to mention made a scene after getting drunk after I hit myself. Dumb.

[h2onhk]

laying on the deck wiping down the bow of the boat while it was up on the lift. closed bow and lots of wax on the deck. slid head first into ~3' of water with a mucky bottom. my pride was injured a little that day

[thager]

Way back in high school (70s) I figured a fin would cut through the water better if I sharpened it up a bit. Worked great until I had a good fall and put a 4 inch slice a half inch deep in my thigh!

[Wish]

Was pissed (decades ago) with my pass and while skiing back to CL I turned my head to the right and with my right arm threw the handle to the left (I know, never throw and handle) . Snap was what I felt and think even heard. That night I could not hold my heap up without extreme pain. Held a pillow with my arms to to rest and support my chin just to walk. Neck brace for a week.

[BraceMaker]

@h2onhk - story reminds me of a few summers ago - had a brand new battery to install, went to climb from the dock onto the bar of the lift and step into the boat (have done this literally thousands of times) slipped shin right into the bar, dropped the battery which split open on the frame of the lift - ruined the battery.... ruined the shin.

[Horton]

Now that I've started this thread I realize my current injury is not my worst / dumbest ever. A number of years ago I was uncovering the boat with a friend and not looking where I was stepping. I fell sort of between the boat and the dock. On one foot I hyper-extended my big toe so I have what is technically known as turf toe. And my other leg my knee slammed down on the dock so bad I thought I blew a ligament but it turned out to be fine. I didn't ski for another 7 to 10 days and my big toe is still screwed up years later.

[MISkier]

I was enlarging a screw hole on a binding to compensate for a misaligned insert on the ski. Resting the binding plate on one knee, I was kneeling with my other knee and holding the binding in one hand. I was operating the drill with the other hand. The bit slipped out as I was reaming it back and forth. I drilled into my windpants, which began twisting/winding around the bit and wrenching the drill out of my hand. In a momentary death battle with the torque of the drill and desperate to control it, I couldn’t let go of the trigger. Once I started drilling into my thigh, I managed to react correctly and stop it.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@horton since when does being old and fat qualify as a dumb injury? That’s not even in the same league as @MISkier and @thager

[Orlando76]

I usually save my stupid maneuvers for when I’m with a coach. Nothing like spending your money and their time only to miss a deep water start for the first time in a decade, OTF for no reason at all on the pull out etc.

[fu_man]

I don't know about dumbest, but how many of you have racked your nuts on the water during a wipe out?

[Hallpass]

On the strictly dumb scale, cleaning boat at end of day. Climbing out of boat onto dock and missed my step. Managed to bang, cut and brooze multiple segments, well, almost every segment, of the body on the steal infrastructure of the hydrohoist. Didn't do much of anything for a couple of weeks. Oh, and dropped the angle grinder on my leg while grinding rust off the trailer. That was a good one. The more I think about it, the more dumb keeps coming to mind.

 

 

[jhughes]

This is the dumbest, hopefully, that I ever experience. Typically in November I have a business conference in Ft. Lauderdale. I try to ski a bit in the area when I'm there, maybe Okeeheelee, maybe McCormicks, maybe both.

 

A couple years ago I, like usual, extend the trip for skiing. This includes of course packing up the skis and gear, schlepping that stuff across the country and through the airport on both sides, a car rental, extra days at the (expensive) hotel, and driving time (50min back and forth from Ft. Lauderdale to WPB). The whole bit. The cost is probably 1000-1500.00 all said and done to extend the trip like this, aside from time and effort.

 

I meet up with @Scoke at Okee, hop off the back of the boat on the East-West lake, perfect conditions. Opener pass, a total layup pass. Move out, cut through the gates, turn one, [scene missing] HUGE OTF. Had not gone OTF for nearly 10 years previously. Get on the platform and somehow my front foot toe, top of the toe, is cut to the bone. By who knows what, maybe the ski, donno. I duct taped it shut and skied the rest of the set, then right to the clinic for 8 stitches and gallons of iodine. Ski portion of trip ruined instantly after turning only ONE SINGLE BALL. Could not wear a shoe for at least a week after since my whole foot blew up from the trauma.

 

 

[Orlando76]

@Gloersen you win.

[Horton]

@Gloersen I couldn't look at that picture so I hid it behind a spoiler button. If anybody wants to look at it just click the button

[ral]

I was loading my car to go to a tournament. I bended to grab a gear bag from the floor... and I could not straighten my back again!

 

Managed to walk with my upper body in a somewhat perfect 90 degree bend to a couch, where I watched TV for the next few hours with a hot water bag in my back..

[Chef23]

When I ruptured a disc in my back I never fell or even missed a pass. I felt a little funky when I pulled myself out of the water and by the next morning I couldn't even sit on the toilet. 4 months later I had back surgery.

 

I did slice my toe wide open in a tournament once when the fin hit my foot when I fell.

 

My son dropped his jump ski on his foot once carrying them up from the shed for us to pack for a trip to Coble's. Being young by the next morning he was able to get his foot in a binding and ski.

[Bill22]

This is no where close to some of the stuff above.

 

I was skiing at a new site, boat guide pops loose and floats out of the way, finish my set, on the last pass I decided to ski past the boat guide and scoop it up (it’s soft rubber filled with air right?). I swing out of the course, let go of the handle, ski to the yellow ball and try to pick it up as I pass it. Surprise! It’s plastic filled with foam. I jammed my finger so hard it was crooked for weeks until I saw orthopedic Dr.

[LanceHCook]

One summer while in college I took a fall. The ski released, I swam to it, grabbed it and pulled it right into my face breaking one of my front top teeth. Next month I'm getting it fixed again as the pin used to repair it is starting to show through

[ScottScott]

Not ski related, but I've wrenched my back just bending over to pull a T shirt out of the laundry in a chair.

 

Then, getting out of the boat on the lift, I stepped between the boat and dock similar to @horton. But I scraped my calf on the aluminum frame tearing the skin back requiring several stitches.

[Sethro]

Strained a bicep reaching back to open the engine cover from the driver's seat once...cost me at least 7-10 days if I remember correctly.

[sodbuster88]

Did battle with my ProStar bow cover one day that put me out for a week. Standing in my ProStar bow was lifting the bow cover off in an attempt to lower it over the side to the dock. It slipped out of my grip and landed on my toe. Threw me off balance and fell over into one of the seats and then it came down on my head. But I saved my bow cover, my windshield and my upholstery.

[markn]

Was test driving an old '89 Nautique ( once belonged to Andy and Deena Mapple) that we restored for my brother. Back in those days, the swim platforms had open spaces. Had a scuba tank on while fixing the course and as I climbed on, got my finger stuck in one of the spaces and broke it. It did not heal properly and had to have it re-broken and pinned. Pretty much a bone head move.

[BraceMaker]

Another one I remember vividly...

 

@tfin tick-tock waterski mag photoshoot... anyone else give that a go back in the day?

[lpskier]

@Gloersen As you know, my family motto is “If you’re not bleeding, you’re not having fun.”

[UWSkier]

Definitely not as bad as some of yours as it just made me a bit tender.

 

In my haste to jump in and take a nice glassy set three weeks ago, I didn't fully clear the platform. My right thigh just above the knee took a glancing blow of 255 lbs plus gear right off the platform edge. The greenish tinge of bruise blood started about mid thigh and went to mid calf. Center was a nice purple. Still is.

[BobF]

Tried to back roll a wakeboard for a summer (yeah, I know...) with no coaching or experience whatsoever. Did not expect to ever get all the way around. When I actually did complete the flip, had not thought that far ahead. Knees were way too soft. I crushed, and my right knee hit my nose and broke it nearly clean off my face. Would not get back in the boat (mine) until I could get the bleeding under control. Gotta watch out for that carpet! haha

[Tdub]

Last summer I just got the boat home after a great session and was emptying the gear to put back in the garage. You know the boilerplate on the trailer just ahead of the fender? The edge can be a bit sharp and in my usual haste my foot slipped off but the bottom of my big toe caught that plate just right. Blood everywhere. Told the wife it is only a scratch and she said that is way more than a scratch...so did my daughter in law who is a nurse at the local ER. Nine stitches later and no skiing for two weeks.

[vernonreeve]

First day of two week vacation, we set up portable slalom course in front of the rented cabin. First pass through the entry gates, I thought I was going to hit the buoy (and didn't want to pop it), so flattened the ski right at the wake to avoid it. The ski went left and I kept going forward. Broke my ankle. Too make it even more stupid, I thought I just sprained my ankle (even though it was huge and purple), so kept skiing that vacation and the next month before summer was over. Had doctor x-ray it at the end of summer because I still had no strength in it, and he said it had been broken. Luckily it healed okay, so I didn't have to get it re-set.

[Edbrazil]

Citing the @horton original comment: In the prime of my jumping career, I threw out my back in the AM, when I bent over to spit out into the sink after brushing my teeth.

 

[johndesco]

My dumbest ski injury was an accumulation of several things this summer. Two weeks prior I had been pushing my wife to practice jump one evening. She had already slalomed once that morning and had just finished her best slalom set ever, and I convinced her she should go jump. She finally gets ready goes out with zero energy and on her 3rd plop and 3rd fall in row she has a funny twist and fractures a bone in her foot. Fast forward 2 weeks, the Dr says she wont make it any worse go at our own pain threshold. So I order her a reflex for slalom and trick, because she can't get her foot in a rubber binding and because I feel really guilty. So about 11:30 that night I'm getting everything setup and I decide to trim the back of the reflex boot so it doesn't catch when the upper part rotates back. I've got the box knife out carving away and I realize where my left hand is that is holding the boot, and before I can stop I slice my wrist open. I was back home by 1:30 that night with 6 stitches and by 6pm that evening I ran my 32mph/15 pass for the first time, picking up a couple buoys. If I recall the wife had told me not to ski that evening, she now says it looks like I can't take the pressure of skiing when she see my wrist and something about Karma.

 

[ryans1418]

When I was walking to the back of the boat to grab my ski I hit my toe on the engine compartment. Somehow I crushed my right big toenail. Really frustrating!

[jhughes]

@johndesco that's a winner right there.

[Zman]

Hmmmm. Now, which one...?

And, is there a smart ski injury.

[gregy]

Torn meniscus in left knee (LFF) getting up. Ski twisted, loud pop. It happened in mid march. Surgery early May. Didn't feel strong enough to get back skiing until late June. Half a ski season gone.

[aupatking]

No idea how or why anymore but, I jumped in the boat as it was coming up the lift. Took a little too much time getting whatever was so important out and when I went to jump out I knew I was too high, and far from the dock for a good landing, but no one else was there to stop the lift so I went for it. A bunch of bruises and broken pair of Maui Jim’s later.... no smarter

[Wayne]

Dumbest one for me was when I tore a rotator cuff tightening my boat cover down before a big storm when we were renting a houseboat. It sucks getting old.

[Mateo_Vargas]

While going around the turn island I tried to spray the golf cart that was picking up skiers and my foot slipped out of my RTP. Jacked up my foot but did get a ride back from the cart.

[Zoro957]

Several years ago I was in FL looking for a winter home in 5 different cities with the plan to ski at the closest ski school to where I was looking. My first stop was a house at Wish`s lake. He was gracsious enough to take me out for a set. Just as I pulled in for the gates, the ski turned into a helicopter blade and I was spinning around. As I came up, I immediately felt the back if my ski and the fin was gone! It had come loose somehow and dropped out if my ski. Bruised several ribs and I was done skiing g for the entire trip.