They're only valid for temporary stays outside the issuing country, i.e. for residents of that country.

As I don't work at all in my country of residence, I don't pay any National Insurance contributions. When I get my Swiss OAP earliest age 63 I will have to pay Swiss health insurance, at that point I will get an EHIC. I do believe I could pay Swiss health insurance as a non-resident now, I can get an online quote.

Couldn't you pay voluntary NI contributions? Or is that only open to people who work?

I am fully paid up in the U.K. I probably could in Malta, however, I would have to pay employer/employee & pretend to run a business. Worked out at about 2k a year when I looked.

Sounds like a bargain compared to the over 26,000 you have now.

BUPA should pay all but £2000 of inpatient Hospital expenses. Rescue & minor medical expenses paid by ski insurance.
My premiums invested would exceed £150,000, been paying since January 1983 without a claim.

Should being the operative word.

They have processed 2 small bills & taken my £2000 excess, however, those 2 bills have not been paid to date. They have however paid the Scan I had in Malta, although they originally tried to claim it was not covered when it is. Normal nonsense from a UK insurer, I had to initiate the complaint process.....

Well, I'm glad to hear you're on the mend FMF. Keep up the good work, but don't overdo it. Best wishes for a full recovery which sees you back on the slopes next ski season.

I left hospital 3 months ago today! Recovery is slower than I had hoped, I have had a few surprises, I can't balance walking on sand & was unable to swim when I first tried. After a week trying I can now swim just 5 lengths, I used to swim 50 lengths of the same pool. I was unable to roll over in bed so went to see a friend who specialises in sports injuries. She taught me to press my foot flat into the mattress & start the move from there! Now I can roll over!

As for insurance, my €49.95 French ski insurance is refunding me €3028.02 cash in addition to the €2806.50 Helicopter rescue they have already paid. The cash covers my BUPA excess, Ambulance, medicine & nursing costs. BUPA on the other hand have 2 invoices totalling €19774.63 outstanding.

Now why would you want to roll over in bed, you being a fairly newly married chap ......

I recall lots of similar issues - not being able to lie on my side for a long time was one, and getting out of bed required some considerable effort and technique. It still does, to be honest, but after 10+ years I don't think about it any more.

As I think I said at the time, this accident will be life-changing, and some of its effects permanent. You're already beginning to accept that some things will never be the same again, it seems, and there will be more to come. Be realistic, take it slow, and focus on those things needed for skiing. As long as you can ski, the rest doesn't really matter, after all, does it?

Not sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time & waking in pain, as the brain now knows how to move during sleep I have been sleeping much longer.

Us newly married folks like to be able to change positions

And there i was thinking it was to get up and pee


I did very similar to you back in the late eighties, i still "feel" my back when the weather gets humid.


I had a plaster cast on me for 8 weeks, which was very inconvenient, being fairly newly married, i had to get the carpenter to saw 1.8 cm off the kitchen table legs

Having just looked at the binding settings I think I know why the accident happened, one of the rear bindings was set to 6.5 when it should have been 8.0 & this is how the first ski released so easily.

For my age, weight, ability & boot size the chart does say 6.00 but that is totally unrealistic. if I was 49 it would say 7.00

Who set the bindings?

Originally they were set by the shop who fitted the bindings, however I would have checked them. I have looked at 5 other sets & all are set to 8 at the back & either 7/7.5/8 at the front which is what I would expect as I increased the back ones after coming out unexpectedly from both skis about 5 years ago. In the following 250 ski days I never lost both skis until I had the accident. I often ski in relatively steep terrain & the last thing you want is to lose a ski.

If I test a set of skis I always tell them to set it to 8, so there is no misunderstanding.

The Police & the ski instructor did keep my skies & had definitely been playing with them as both heels were in the closed position & should have been in the open position. My fall was straight forward with no twisting. The forward pressure is definitely correctly set, often people reduce this as it's easier to get into the binding with snow on your boots.

I normally have mine set on 9, and I do recall having some unexpected falls a few years ago that I eventually worked out were caused by my Fritschis going out of adjustment and down as low as 6 on one ski. I confirmed later that they would consistently creep down over time. One reason that I later went for more solid bindings like the Marker Dukes on dual purpose skis.

Even then I do now regularly check the settings are still as I set them, on all of my skis.

Bindings are Look SPX 12 so should be way more solid than Fritischi's.

http://www.look-bindings.com/en-us/p...20-black-white

It’s exactly a year since my accident. My biggest problem has been chronic sleep deprivation as I have not been able to roll over in my asleep, wakening roughly every hour. In January I had a deep tissue massage where the girl managed to separate the scar tissue from my spine, & also worked on the nerves. Since then I have been able to roll move in my sleep, sleeping for 3-4 hours at a time.

My first attempt at skiing was in mid December. Like with swimming my body did not know what to do. For the first 3 weeks I managed a couple of hours every other day. By my 4th attempt I was able to manage comparatively easy pistes in good conditions. On New Years eve my wife booked me a private instructor whom I have known for 20 years. After a warm up run he decided I was ready to venture off piste! This was successful, however skiing at an intermediate level. Interestingly skiing off piste was less stressful to my body than piste skiing. Week 6 I hiked up for 15 minutes, for some fresh tracks, the weight of the skies was probably too much, but it was worth it. I still get very tired, very quickly as fitness & core strength is still poor, realistically I have made a 50% recovery to date.

I am the hunchback in the photo!

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