I am just getting back to skiing after a minor injury. Through this, I've found out some info which I'll share, in case it's helpful to anyone.
1) Symptoms: Pain in chest/ribs on my right side. Pain breathing deeply. The "spot" was hard to identify - I could feel it in the back and the front. Pain increased as I continued skiing for a couple of weeks until it was really bad after an 8-pass slalom set where I was very afraid I had really done some damage.
2) Cause: Unknown. But, the timing corresponds to me changing the way I do deep water starts. Before the pain began, I had a slight bend in my elbows (thus using my biceps a little on the get-up). But then I started really straightening my arms on the get-up. Discussion with my PT about this and he agreed that more straight arms would put more pressure on the back muscles. So...now that I've started skiing again, I have gone back to the slight bend in the elbows.
3) Treatment: I went to Physical Therapy and found out that a rib was out of place. He could tell by feeling each rib and there were 2 ribs much closer together (not evenly spaced) like the other. Apparently, if you have more pain on the inhale, a rib is "down", or more pain in the exhale, a rib is "up". He did massage and cupping on my back muscles to try to relax the muscles. He recommended daily massage (@jpattigr) and cupping plus exercises.
4) Exercises: (1) Side bend/stretch with deep breathing. (2) Lay on back. Bend 1 knee and then cross that knee over to the floor on the opposite side. (3) Lay back on a pool noodle with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Deep breathing and then rock knees side to side. Move the pool noodle and repeat inch-by-inch (rib-by-rib) up and down the back.
5) Results: After 1 week off and faithfully and patiently doing these exercises daily, I'm back to skiing pain-free. I know this won't help for broken ribs, but perhaps can help anyone with minor rib injuries.