On 6th February I went on a short holiday with my wife to the 3 Valiieys. My wife has skied since she was 4 years old so is clearly an advanced skier. We took a guide as I wanted to explore the off piste that was not obvious from lifts so we intended to hike up before going downhill.

We skied some steep couloirs with no incidents, however at the end of the day on a fairly mundane flattish section 200 vertical meters from the chalet I pre released from my skies. There were no rocks or tree stumps so why I summersaulted out of my skies is a mystery. The first thing to touch the ground was my head, followed by my back, there was a huge unmistakable noise of breaking my spine, The T handle part of my avalanche shovel is what I landed on, which is why the injury was so serious. I also broke 7 ribs. The snow was very hard as it had rained at that level previously, had it been steeper I would have slid & probable been OK.

I had done 2 mountain first aid courses so knew that my lungs were likely to be bleeding from rib damage, however as both my legs were working well as well both my arms, I knew instinctively that potentially drowning in my own blood was preferable to being paralysed. I would not let the guide put me in the recovery position & knew that I must stay conscious at all times.

The Police rescue helicopter took about 30 minutes to arrive & it was a further 20 minutes before they moved me onto a stretcher & flew me to Chambery hospital. I was immediately put in the scanner, they realised that my injuries needed to be treated by a neurosurgeon in Grenoble, however there were no beds available. I insisted my clothes were cut off rather than removed.

The following day I was placed on a solid board where I had to wait 2 hours before being transported to Grenoble, on arrival I was immediately prepared for an operation that lasted almost 4 hours.

I came round fixed to a machine that was moving my legs & arms, I knew I had no brains damage as all I wanted to know the current price of BITCOIN, as it was just below 6k when I set off for skiing.

I spent 2 days in intensive care being given water via a syringe & being fed yogurt.

I was then placed in a normal ward where I was expected to feed myself, although I still was connected to a morphine pump amongst other things.

On 14th Feb pain medication was increased & I was made to get out of bed & walk unaided for about 50 steps, I then slept solidly for 2 hours.

15th Feb I was up & about, easily able to walk 200m to get a coffee or a can of coke from a vending machine.

16th February left hospital, but in an ambulance, unfortunately 2 hours & 45 minutes of being bounced about in a glorified Transit van was bad news & my ribs were hurting like hell until today.

I can't fly for a further 2 weeks, drive for 5 weeks or work for 3 months.

I can categorically say I will totally recover & will be skiing again next season, this is the longest post I have ever written & apologies for any spelling mistakes.

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Oh dear, get well soon!

feck!! lets start a kick ass friday thread for FMF!!

All the best

ETA - change your avatar now

Is this a poor excuse for all the fluff you will be posting for the next weeks/months ?

















PS: Just kidding. Get well soon.

Ouch, and even more ouch seeing the photos.

Hope you make a full recovery.

So sorry to hear that FMF.

Glück im unglück as they say - could have been far worse, and wish you a speedy recovery

In short, FMF is screwed!

Tom

(P.S. You posted all this on FB weeks ago! Do you work for the local?)

I was wondering where you were last few weeks. Terrible incident.

Glad to hear you will make full recovery. Gute Besserung.

Your recovery is nothing short of amazing, glad you're still here to tell the tale.
Take care of yourself and let your body properly heal before you do any more eejit things

Sorry to hear this. Get well soon!

Wow...I wish you a speedy recovery! It sounds like your actions really helped the outcome - could have been quite different if you just let the guide / doctors work in their usual way? All the best for you

Modern medicine is a miracle which all too often we take for granted. Glad to hear you recovered.

Ouch!

Speedy recovery FMF.

They always want to put you in the recovery position - I had a friend who broke his back paragliding and some passing mountain guides wanted to do just that.
He managed to persuade them not to.

Your account of the accident, and the photos looked horrific!
Hope you have a speedy recovery without too much pain.

Not sure that logically follows, but wish you a good recovery!

Who's a daft pudding eh? At least we know you inside out now
Get well soon and hope your wife has got over the shock.

A question: did you wear one of those back/spine protector thingys? If not, do you think it would have helped and will you wear one in the future?

At the very least he'll pack his avalanche shovel on the outside of his rucksack.

Before we all start cracking jokes (I'm pondering some wordplay ones on Brokeback Mountain) @FMF, Are your ribs healed well enough that laughing isn't life threatening?

Ge we’ll soon fmf! I wonder if your accident has affected the performance of Fundsmith?

Wishing you a speedy speedy recovery then do what I do and take the greens and blues!