Nothing Is Impossible

Sorry it has been a while since I updated my blog. I have been feeling so good, and making so much progress, I didn't want to jinx myself. However, I am over that now and with my progress to date, I feel like if I had to... I could ski the Olympics today.

After returning home from Utah last week with a 24 hour delay in LAX, I met with my surgeon as soon as I landed in Sydney. He said if I wanted to have a crack at the games, he wouldn't touch it with the knife. He was less optimistic about my chances than I was, but said he would love me to prove him wrong. He said to come and see him after the Games for surgery. So with that, I hopped on the next flight to the AIS in Canberra to begin intensive rehab.

The team up at AIS all sat down, and mapped out a plan for my recovery. They have been great, and have gone above and beyond to help me out. My days are full, and intensive but the results so far have been better than I think any of us imagined.

I am doing 6-8 hours a day of rehab, consisting of; one and a half hours in the morning of ultra sound and magnetic therapy, followed by an hour of physio, then a 20 minute cold bath recovery session. Lunch, followed by a two hour gym session, then back to the recovery centre for another 20 minute cold bath, then back to physio for the same ultra sound and magnetic therapy.

Today, is exactly 2 weeks since the accident happened, and I still have more than 2 weeks until the event.

At the moment I have 120 degrees range of movement. I can contract my quads at full extension. The MCL, and medial retinaculum tear shows symptoms of a grade 1+  (from an original 2 +), I have no irritation from my lateral meniscus, and my PCL is not really a concern in the short time, as it is not overly important in skiing, when the ACL is healthy.

In the gym, I have been doing 80kg decline squats to 90 degrees, Single leg more than 90 degrees squats and leg press. I'm doing lateral jumps, single leg dynamic balancing, mogul specific knee angled weighted squats and weight transfers amongst other things. A lot of balancing, stabilising and strength exercises. I can cycle, jog and almost run. Tomorrow I will begin some more dynamic exercises on the trampoline. With all that in mind, I am confident I can pass the medical assessment coming up in a few days, and get back on skis in Vancouver shortly.

It has been such a shock to be back in Australia at this time of year, mainly because of the intense heat. The room I'm staying in at the AIS is a tiny heat box with no air conditioning. With temperatures hitting 37 degrees over the past week, the fan in my room has been working at capacity 24/7. Luckily I'm half deaf and the sound doesn't bother me too bad. I've been staying in "block 7" with a bunch of post-grad physiology interns which has been great!

Thats it for now. I'll update again once this medical assessment is behind me.

A big Congrats to Scotty Kneller, Katya Crema and Britteny Cox for qualifying for the games!

Ramone

Scrap that... Don't count me out just yet.

So, circumstances have changed. Today, I am feeling much better on my knee. More range, less swelling, more stability and able to contract my muscles. 


I had a long talk with Jacqui Cooper, about her experiences with injury, and what is possible. Needless to say, I am feeling much more up-beat and confident about my chances of skiing in the Olympics.


I am still heading home tomorrow, where I will meet with the surgeon to gain a second opinion, and make a decision whether surgery will be necessary, or if i should just begin rehab.


I figure... I still have my ACL, so that'll cover for my PCL. Meniscus is no big deal. MCL and retinaculum will heal by itself in time, and I can brace that up hard to hold into place.


Will update, with my progress... But I am feeling very confident I can be there in Vancouver.

Olympics Over...

Unfortunately, there is some bad news to report. While training for the Deer Valley World Cup this weekend, I sustained an Olympic/ Season ending knee injury.

I'm Pretty shattered right now. I’ve had a rough few years with some minor injuries, and the one knee surgery, but it all came together this season and I was feeling at the peak of my career (so far). To be so close to achieving something I set out to do a long time ago, and have it so quickly taken away is devastating. Especially given the circumstances were completely out of my control. 

I was skiing down the middle section of the course in Deer Valley, when the binding toe piece snapped in half and blew off the ski, shooting the ski away from under me. I held it together for another turn on one ski, before I tried to pull out to the side. When I attempted to pull out, my boot dug into the front side of a mogul and sent me tumbling down the remainder of the middle section. I felt sudden pain in my knee early in the crash, however once I came to a complete stop, the pain subsided.

I had an MRI yesterday and got the results back today. I was hoping it might have been something simple I could maybe jimmy up with a quick surgery and still make the games, but not to be by the sounds of it. I tore the PCL, a partial tear of the MCL, partial tear of the lateral meniscus, a torn medial retinaculum , and some bone bruising, etc.

Here is a video of the crash:

I am liaising with the insurance company to try and get on a flight home to Australia soon, where I'll meet with the surgeon, and go from there. Who knows, maybe he'll open me up, do some voo doo surgery and fix me up in time. But at this stage I am 99% sure the Olympic dream is over. Looks like my good mate Sammy Hall will get to go in my place.

Here are some photo's pre-injury.

Ramone

(At least I have a good moe)

(D-spin, bottom air)

(Back X, Top Air)

 

It's Tough Out There For The Middle Class Gentleman

We flew from our training base in Park City, Utah to Calgary, Alberta for the next stop on the Freestyle World Cup Tour. We had heard rumours that the course was to be gnarly, and situated down the landing of an old ski flying hill. This turned out to be true. The top of the course, down to half way was pretty modest and although challenging, compared to the bottom half it was a walk in the park. From half way down the middle section the line dipped over a knoll to a descent of 33 degrees.

(The course at the COP looking from the top)

(The course lit up by lights)

(Downtown Calgary - View from the top of the course)

The event was located at the Canada Olympic Park, just 20 minutes from downtown Calgary. The organisers put all the teams in a 4 star hotel in downtown - something we're not usually accustomed to on the tour, but very welcomed.

In training on the first day I overshot the bottom jump, landing backseat in the moguls of the bottom section, straining my Tibialis Anterior. Although, not a long lasting injury, it prohibited me from doing any more training until the day of the event.

This was frustrating for me, as my approach to training is normally real "workman like", where I like to get in there and do plenty of sections, jumps and full runs, trying to familiarise myself with the course and adapt my technique to the different conditions. I was forced to adopt more of a Begg-Smith approach, visualising the course more so than physically practicing.

(Backflip on the Top Air)

(Still running the moe)

On the first day of competition, I had a very average run. I made mistakes coming over the knoll and down the steep face and skied overly conservative. I finished a disappointing 25th.

Sam, had a good run and added a top air 720 to his run. He was a little out of control though, and finished 28th.

Dale skied great. Back to his best. On a difficult course where people were making mistakes, Dale just put down as usual a technically superior and flawless run. He definitely deserved his first win back from injury.

(D-spin on my second competition run)

On the second day of competition my leg feeling significantly better I was more confident. I skied a better run, still conservative but with no real mistakes. Disappointed to finish again outside the finals, this time in 27th. As in the title of this post "It's tough out there for the middle class gentleman", the "middle class" all skied well, and with the extensive depth this season, I was in the middle of the middle.

Sam had a better run in the second event. Landed both jumps, but had a slow time. He was happy. He finished in 32nd.

Dale skied at an entirely different level to the field in finals. Alex Bilodeau from Canada (last years overall winner) laid down a good scoring run, setting Dale a high score to beat for the win. People were doubtful he would be able to do it so soon after coming back from injury. But as usual, he calculated to perfection what he needed to do to win, and just blew the field away. He skied a 21.90 second run, 1 second faster than the next guy. It was one of his greatest runs, and left people shaking their heads.

(Dale, back in the Gold Bib)

(A group of Aussie supporters came to watch us at the COP)

We're now back in Deer Valley, Utah for the next two and final events for the Olympic Qualification. I am sitting in a good position, and all is looking good for me to remain inside the Olympic quota of 30 athletes.

I'll write again after the next events. Thanks for reading.

Ramone

New Years In The U.S.A

After leaving the eternal darkness of Finland after the World Cup events in Suomo, we travelled to sunny Park City, Utah to hook up with "Toppa" and our Development team for X-mas and New Years.

(Flying over the snow capped peaks on route to Salt Lake City)

Toppa and Patto took Sammy and myself under their wings and allowed us to join in with their teams training up at the Utah Olympic Park.

(Training at the UOP, Photo: Patto)

(Gymnastics Training, Photo: Patto)

It was another quiet X-mas away from home and our families. But there were a lot of familiar faces floating around Park City, so we still managed to get into the festivities. 

Sammy and I joined the development guys for some bowling, only to teach them a lesson or two.

(Bowling in my home-made jeans moments before they ripped to shreds)

Utah, experiencing another below average snow season provided little training opportunity for us, so we took a road trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a weeks training over New Years. With a full length course set up from the U.S Olympic Trials, the training was super great. Fresh, soft colorado powder blanketed the course each night, which meant skiing was easy and with little to no impact on our bodies.

(Steamboat Springs)

From Steamboat it was back to Park City and then onto Calgary, Alberta for the next stop on the World Cup.

Details in the next post.

Ramone