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50-50 to concussion

7K views 26 replies 18 participants last post by  herzogone 
#1 ·
So I unintentionally mastered this new trick, it's pretty basic, but here goes:

1. Find a nice easy, flat, box in the park with just a little bit of height
2. Do a couple warm-up runs to get a feel
3. Lean back, fall back, tense up, and slam your head to the ground, preferably on ice

Here is an instructional video of my first success: :cheeky4:



Okay, so here's the actual explanation. I was at Killington on Saturday and things were pretty hard-packed as expected since it is virtually all man made snow that has been through countless freeze-thaw cycles at this point. I was feeling pretty good on my new board, so I checked out the park. The box looked easy and familiar enough, so I figured I'd just 50-50 it to shake the cobwebs off. I was trying to play it safe and not try anything new, so I did the same thing a few times. One too many as it turns out.

I remember starting the run, then next thing I knew it was 4 hours later and I was in the medical center being told I had a concussion. :eek: My son and his friend relayed what happened since I had no memory. Apparently, after the fall shown in the video, I got up and rode to the bottom of the lift, but then sat down next to the shack there instead of getting back in line. My son and his friend realized something was wrong since I started repeating myself so they got the attention of the lift operator who summoned ski patrol.

Luckily, aside from a headache today and an incredibly sore back, I'm okay. I was wearing my helmet, which may very well have prevented a much worse skull fracture (they are particularly good at that). The force of the impact actually caused my GoPro to detach, with the adhesive pad ripping the finish off my helmet (that is some good adhesive). Luckily, I'm paranoid about losing my camera and had a tether for it also. I know my injury isn't nearly as severe as many others on here, but I wanted to share nonetheless. Also, I highly recommend helmets, especially in the park (even more if you're a klutz like me ;) )
 
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#2 ·
yuck the vid made the snow look horrible!

this happened to me last year. but off some jacked booter... Forgot how i got to the mountain. Forgot the Ambulance ride.... Forgot how i wound up on my couch with IV holes in my arm. Diagnosed with Cerebral Fissures aka "a ripped brain." = out for last half of season.

Cool to see it on tape tho. hahah hope all goes well for the rest of your season.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, things were getting icy as it got into the afternoon and things got shaded. I should have know better. Yikes, your injury sounds much worse, glad you're okay also. :eek: One of the first things I said in recovery was "I hope I got video of that" :laugh: Thanks!

Glad you're somewhat ok, concussions suck, I've had way too many myself but I hated to hear you in that video right after the slam, sounded like you knocked the wind out pretty good too. Hope you didn't get the vomiting part of a concussion after that some of us get.
Thanks! Yeah, I definitely think it must have knocked the wind out of me pretty good (I think I even wheezed "ow, my head"). I did get lucky and didn't have any vomiting.

Happened to be but on a rainbow box. Got whiplash, I was wearing a helmet, too. Now, I never go without one. Hope you have a speedy recovery!!
Bummer, glad you recovered though. I've had an incident with a rainbow box too, but luckily mine just resulted in severe butt bruises. :) Thanks!

Ouch, good you are generally alright... take it easy. As I enter my thirties I have been more careful about my long term health instead of "shaking it off" and "pushing through things" like I used to...

I like how I can here you at the end of the video saying "no I'm good..." reminds me of the following
Haha, thanks lonerider, that vid made me laugh! :laugh: I definitely need to be cautious as well, I'm actually 35.
 
#3 ·
Glad you're somewhat ok, concussions suck, I've had way too many myself but I hated to hear you in that video right after the slam, sounded like you knocked the wind out pretty good too. Hope you didn't get the vomiting part of a concussion after that some of us get.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Ouch, good you are generally alright... take it easy. As I enter my thirties I have been more careful about my long term health instead of "shaking it off" and "pushing through things" like I used to...

I like how I can hear you at the end of the video saying "Yea I'm good... go ahead" - reminds me of the following

 
#14 ·
Thanks for the suggestion, I'm definitely going to; that was my second thought after I realized what had happened (first thought was hoping I got it on video) :laugh: Helmet shopping time!

Dammmmmnnnnnnn man, that looked RUFF, at least you have footage of it, I still laugh my ass off when I see the footage I have doing something similar, should probably send it into that MTV show rediculousness lol
Thanks, I hadn't thought of that, but I love that show! Although I know they say not to send them stuff... :dunno: I definitely laugh at myself too. :laugh:

That's EXACTLY what I did, except off a battleship box that was at least twice as high. I bruised up my back pretty good (took over a year till the pain was completely gone) but my mellon was fine.

Can someone give some tips on how to fall backwards? all I ever do is fall like a tree.
Yeah, I have no idea how I injured myself so bad from such a small fall. My avatar pic is even from a nearly identical fall off a box that was at least as high, and I didn't even have so much as a bruise from that. I seem to have lots of experience falling off of features also (I've fallen off rainbow boxes, battleship boxes, flat rails, kink rails, and rainbow rails). You name it, I can fall off it :laugh: I do try to stick to stuff that is no more than about 3 feet high though, to minimize my chance of injury. I can only guess my injury this time was caused by a combination of incredibly hard snow/ice and freakishly bad falling position (looking at my shadow in the video I think my ass landed first which probably caused my upper body and head to whip backwards). My son said he thought I even put my elbows back as I fell, which might explain why I feel like I pulled muscles in my back. In the past I think I've just dropped pretty flatly onto my back and not suffered any serious injury, but of course I'm probably the last person who should be giving advice on how to fall. :laugh:

Hope your all right. This is also a fear I have as a dad that rides with his kids.
As stated get a new helmet.
Thanks, I'm really doing quite well considering, mostly just a sore back. I do usually try to be extra conservative when I'm the only one there with the kids, but I should have been a bit more cautious this time obviously. :)

Yeah my first rainbow rail in 2002 took it at full force and did a back flip on to my board then crashing in the trees next to it. Looked cool as hell my friends said but felt like ass when I hit the tree. Get a new helmet mine was dented on the inside of the foam and not the shell.
Yikes! A rainbow box was the source of my only real previous park injury, but in my case it was nothing more than ass bruises.

that landing looks really shitty
Pfff... you should see the craters left at Mt. High by noon. People still spinning off the boxes all day long though.
I don't think the landing was actually too bad (at least not by ice-coast standards), unless you meant my landing? Then I agree completely! :laugh:

Also, just to reiterate, I am shopping for a new helmet. :)
 
#9 ·
That's EXACTLY what I did, except off a battleship box that was at least twice as high. I bruised up my back pretty good (took over a year till the pain was completely gone) but my mellon was fine.

Can someone give some tips on how to fall backwards? all I ever do is fall like a tree.
 
#11 ·
Yeah my first rainbow rail in 2002 took it at full force and did a back flip on to my board then crashing in the trees next to it. Looked cool as hell my friends said but felt like ass when I hit the tree. Get a new helmet mine was dented on the inside of the foam and not the shell.
 
#15 ·
herzogone just to throw this out there. The snowboard addiction videos helped me tremendously to ride boxes and rails This year I'm stepping up the rails a bit. There are tons of great tips/information I would never have known on my own nor found out the hard way. Being a dad of similar situation, this was a HUGE help for me to ride safer and better in the park.
You may want to check them out if you haven't already.
Not saying I haven't slammed by any means, just a lot less had I not known what to do....
 
#19 ·
Thanks, I definitely want to check those out, I just haven't gotten around to it (other than their free ones). If this weather keeps up though, I should have plenty of time to watch videos :laugh:

I think this is a great thread to share with the kid that was asking "Should I wear a helmet":D Way to make light of a bad fall Herzogone ;) :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Thanks, I'll go share this in a minute... :)

Ahh man, I have had the EXACT same fall on the same feature at my local hill. Instead of the head hitting, my tailbone took most of the blow. OUCH!

Glad to see you are doing ok though.
good share! :) glad you're ok now..
concussions can be really bad and the more you get them the worse they can get..

i don't ride rails and benches for this exact reason.
Thanks guys! I'm definitely going to go back to avoiding the park when conditions are hard/icy. I'll be taking a couple weeks off anyway the way the weather is here. I'm waiting for my home mountain to open (the way it's looking that could be even longer). :)
 
#20 ·
Ohhh man. Helmet's ftw. I'm too chicken to watch the video, but I hear you on the lack of memory portion. I took a nasty spill longboarding this summer, remember hitting my head and then everything is funny after that. I remember coming to with paramedics everywhere and just intense panic. Have a speedy recovery and buy yourself a new bucket!!
 
#26 ·
Yikes that video just confirms the notion that I refuse to do any kind of beginner park without new or soft snow until after january. lol The sounds at the end make it even more painful plus the sounds of the camera rolling on what sounds like ice lol. I'm reminded of Family Guy with you just lying there....uhhhhhh....uhhhhhh...

BTW, I think SA gives a discount if you're a snowboarding forum member. I can't remember where I saw the sticky though. But they do have great videos. I really enjoyed their buttering vid. I like the way it progresses in the video.

Glad you're ok man. :thumbsup:
 
#27 ·
Ha! Yeah, that's pretty accurate. :laugh:



Thanks, yeah, I definitely take it easier now when it's icy (last season really hampered my progression). I did end up getting the SA videos last season, I agree, they are great.
 
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