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worst crashes you've seen?

21K views 99 replies 53 participants last post by  corneilli 
#1 ·
the other day at Attitash while on a lift i saw a skiier fall right at the beginning of a run, loose both skiis and poles, then slide headfirst down the entire section of the run (which was a black--long and steep). he was perfectly fine, though.
so what are the worst (or funniest) crashes you've seen?
 
#3 ·
On Seymour last weekend, skier was trying the flat-down box. Skis slipped off both sides so he was straddling it, then one ski tip caught under the box. He fell forward on the box, lost both skis, and basically did a skeleton sled (without the sled) the rest of the way down the box. He wasn't hurt, but obviously embarrassed. I had bird's-eye from the lift. Just howled. :laugh:
 
#11 ·
went for a day in the park today and thought i'd add a friend's fall to the list-she caught an edge hitting a big jump and flew off it horizontally flying squirrel-style, then faceplanted and ate the worst shit i've seen in awhile. i've been beating myself up about not getting it on tape
 
#14 ·
I thought I was witnessing a death or a VERY injured person last month at Sunshine...

We were heading up one of the lifts, and there were three runs parallel to the lift. One on the right about the height of the chairs, the run under the lift, and the one on the left about 20 vertical feet down from there.

Well out of the corner of my eye I see this guy on skis drop off the side of the run on the right, cross under the lift at 90 degrees, and launch off a lip on the side of the middle run! He was right around the tree tops for the lower run, we see him fall behind some trees, and the next thing you know he comes carving hard down the run on the left.

We were all looking at each other like WTF just happened! As we got up closer we saw his launch point, and saw his landing about 50' down the slope where it met with the lower run. There was a pocket of about a foot of powder and I guess he scouted it out to cushion his landing. But holy F* I've been on the slopes for 24 years and never seen anything like that!!! I was sure he was going to hit a tree top and come crashing hard back to earth...
 
#15 ·
2 seasons ago while going up a tow rope and there was about a 10 year old in front of me going up with only one binding strapped in. Sounds fine right? No. The kid accidentally flipped over the rope(riding goofy-the rope was on his back side)and this is when the rope got caught in between his legs and his board. The rope pulled him upside down and slammed him really hard into the shack at the top. To top if off he basically fell head first from the shack that had plywood sitting under it after hanging upside down for a few seconds.

Me and my friend thought we saw him die or at least break his neck. Luckily he had a helmet:cheeky4:
 
#16 · (Edited)
About a month ago at Belleayre I was on the lift and noticed two skiers bombing a black about 10 yards from either other. I looked away for a split second and I think one of them stopped hard and the other guy plowed into him at full speed. It sounded absolutely bone crunching and ended up being a true definition of a yard sale. Shit was all over the slopes (helmets, gloves, skies, poles, etc). The guy that had stopped pinwheeled down the slope on his back obviously KTFO. The hitter looked less hurt but he didn't start to move until I was out of sight.

About 20 minutes later I was on the same lift and saw the ski patrol loading the now concious dude onto the sled.
 
#17 ·
At park city, last jump on the 3 kings jump line like 40 ish feet, skier lands the first 3 jumps clean then for some reason speedchecks so much before last jump. Knew it was gunna be shitty when I saw him leave the jump. Landed flat nowhere close to the landing skis fly off he just slams his head into the snow at like 50 mph. Do not know how messed up he got but i imagine it was pretty bad
 
#18 ·
I was sitting near the end of a run with a long flat section to get back to the lift so you need to carry as much speed as possible.Saw a kid come around the corner on to the last steep bit before the run out flatbasing it as fast as he could. Just as the slope started to mellow his board pivoted and he did a scorpion at about 30 mph. Stopped him dead and he was out cold. When I unstrapped to go see if he was ok his buddies arrived at the same time and I saw they were the group on the chair ahead of me burning massive bowls on the way up. He blew his face up pretty good. Guy sure paid for his momentary lapse in attention.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Was riding with my friend and his girlfriend. Shes a biginner, we came up to KP and I told her she could clear one of the jumps. So she decided to point it strait at the little thing then just before she hits the lip she heelside speed checks sending her into a backflip! She completed the full rotation and did it with sumo style, hands grabbing the knees. She landed on her toe edge and slid on her gut. She was ok but definitely got props for the first flip of the day. Haha
 
#20 ·
Saw a skier get pretty messed up in Whistler a couple months ago. I witnessed this from the chairlift, the guy was trying to do a small but steep run that was extremely icy. He lost an edge and slammed his face into the ground hard, as the chair got over where he was I yelled to him asking if he needed help. He couldn't really talk, he was very out of it. His face was bloody and was trying to stand and grab his gear that was strewn about. He was falling over as he tried to stand. At the top of the lift I told the lifty what happened and where he fell and they sent patrol in to get him. He wasn't wearing a helmet but I am not sure if one would have helped anyway.
 
#22 ·
This just reminded me of two bad falls I had when I was still a skier (under 10)... one of them I wiped out and my ski hit the side of my head above my ear. Left a 2" gash but no need for stitches as the skull is right there.

The other one was in the spring in Ontario riding on corn snow, I wiped out and my face hit the snow and it just tore it to shit. Blood everywhere, my dad took it in stride but my mom was freaking when I got home. I still snowboard with my dad 25 years later! :D
 
#23 ·
I wish i knew more people/had family i could go with. I dont mind boarding alone, but some company for the drive would be nice lol. Ive had 2 bad falls so far (bad as in i actually thought something might be damaged, ive fallen a lot haha).

First one was my second day snowboarding, one of the first runs of the morning we go up the vista express lift at Mt. Hood Meadows and go down the far right of the trails. I didnt realize there was a fairly steep decsent (for a beginner snowboarder, now it would be no problem) and was carrying too mu8ch speed through a flat, hit the hill and caught my heel edge while my toe edge was facing up the hill and whipped my head into the ground. I slid down the hill while my goggles and beanie stayed there. All because of this i wear a helmet, thought for sure i had a concussion.

Second crash was my first run after buying my own board. The board i learned on was rocker and i bought a cambered board (slight rocker in nose/tail) and after the first run right as i was nearing the lift, i stood up and stretched, caught my toe edge and went down hard. My arm was stretched out and i hit with my left shoulder overextending my rotator cuff. Boarded the rest of the day then went to Urgent Care and got some pain meds and a sling :).
 
#25 ·
Was riding with a group of guys under the chairlift and two of the guys smacked into each other, sending one guy into a lift-pole where he basically sideways T-Boned the thing and snapped the tip of his board. Thankfully he didn't get any injuries, but it was intense to watch.
 
#31 ·
Never had a kidney stone thank god (knock on wood)

I've seen a ton of bad slams but one I'll never forget from years ago, even though technically I didn't see the impact. My friend Tyler and I are at the bottom of a run and we hear (or at least I heard) a long SNAP. Was late in the evening and dark out, small resort here in Ohio and open till 9pm. Finally saw where the sound came from, some kid must have had come hauling ass down the run out of control. He crashed through one of those old wooden slat fences like this...



We had these kind of fences off the sides of the run at about a 45 degree angle to the end of the slope, blocking a stream that runs around the front of the slopes. Normally there would be no way to hit it but the kid managed. I thought the kid was dead, impaled or something, he was totally motionless. I don't remember if he broke the fence or just dislodged the end of it but he went between the top and bottom slats and the middle slat was out of the post. Didn't take long to run over to him and realized the kid was unconscious. Kid woke up while we were with him and didn't have any idea what happened. He wanted to get up and leave but we kept him there till the lift op made the call and ski patrol arrived. Even though he was somewhat ok still makes me feel uneasy to think about.
 
#32 ·
I hesitated on the the first big jump I ever hit. It was like a thirty footer, but had a funky lip on it. I was in the backseat before I even got in the air. Honestly, it must have looked like I was trying to do some sort of rodeo. I just remember being flat in the air, looking up at the sky, and coming down on the back of by head. I popped right back up, no injuries, just a severely bruised ego. As I rode off I heard this dude on the lift ask his buddy if I had tried to do that.:laugh:
 
#34 ·
I think the worst crash I've "seen", since I don't get to get on snow a lot, is probably my own when i was like 9 or something.

I was still pretty new to skiing, as I had just learned it for the first time ever the season before. I decided to go down the Cut at Grouse instead of a bunny hill and I couldn't stop myself. I ended up straightlining/bombing all half way down the run at pretty damn incredible speeds. I only knew the "pizza" stop which obviously didn't suffice at such speeds and I ended up breaking the fence at the end of the run and tumbling over it. What's even worse was that I was super dizzy after I crashed and the people who "helped me" were just throwing me my yard saled-gear and laughing while doing it. I know it might've looked funny, the way I crashed, but it god damned hurt like a bitch. Plus my helmet was too big so it ended up bonking me in the head and then choking me while I was tumbling ):

:p and that's how I came back onto snow 3 years later and started snowboarding haha
 
#35 ·
I was at Mt. High last week and saw a first time skier go off the run and fall and summersault over the rocks and other crap that wasn't covered by snow anymore. After that she just slid a little in the mud until she came to a stop. She was okay but scary to think what would have happened if someone would have been in here way.
 
#36 ·
In my third year snowboarding, I was racing a couple buddies down a set of moguls that intersected at a ninety-degree angle with a nearly flat green, then continued into another set of moguls like a t-intersection. There was a train of baby skiers shuffling along the green at a crawl, so we naturally stopped to give them the right-of way. Myself, being in first place at the time, halted at the bottom of the slope and waited for the others to follow.

And by "halted," I mean "hit the edge of a mogul wrong and slid down the last few yards on my face," and by "waited for the others to follow," I mean "got up to find all my friends and an entire class of baby skiers laughing at me."

Not the worst crash I've been in, but definitely the most embarassing.
 
#37 ·
so ive only had 2 seasons recently but ive seen and been involved in a couple of super excellent shit eating experiences..

me:
first time at hunter, went to the peak, coming around the backside of hellsgate (i think its called) and its just a solid sheet of ice. had never ridden my kass before, or any full rockered board, completely lost control, caught my heel edge and flew backyards about 10 feet head first into ice. skidded another 20 feet, puked a little bit, and bought a helmet.
that was season 1

early january at mt.creek this year, come bombing down a semi-steep right a hard bank to the right, and then another lip/bank to turn you around to the left and set up for a little hit... well, i came flying down the right hand bank hard on my toes, and for some reason rather than bank back around, i decided i was going to just throw a little frontside 180 off the lip.. i pop, turn, and see a little 7 yeard old asian on skis slowly making his way behind the lip right into my landing area..tried to redirect when i landed by digging my toes in (i was goofy now) and tanked it HARD onto my right collarbone: break # 1

so after about 4 weeks, im out riding again, feeling good..get like 5 nice days under my belt again, and then we go to boulder for the last day of the season there, and they have all their snow pushed into basically one run, with a cliff-drop type jump and then a set of left and right bank turns directly below them..i come off the drop, speed check so i dont launch over the back of the lip, and instead get ready to throw another little frontside 180 off the end of the bank..so i load up on the back foot, get ready to pop, and realize the end of the bank is straight clumpy powder, turn my board at the same exact time to initiate the 180, and end up catching my toes in like 12" of powder. tank it on my right shoulder again and slide on it this time for about 30 feet. shoulder hurt, but not like the first time, and it was only the second or 3rd run..so i rode the rest of the day. went back to the orthopedist later that week. break #2:


now my collarbone is a mangled mess of regrown bone and stuff, here's a weird picture where you can see how fucked it looks:

this is just one weird view, its basically a massive bump and then it drops down about 1 1/2" and is all bone. its disgusting actually lol.

so besides me, i had the pleasure of watching a bunch of skiers bombing down a black run with a few medium sized hits on it.. theyre cruising, and im at the end of the run looking up..the run ends with some fencing and an exit so as to keep people out..well, this skiier pulls off a nice little move on the last hit, get all stoked, doesnt get in position for the exit, and flies directly into the fence. skis stop at the fence, body gets launched over, slides like 10 feet, gets up and goes "where the fuckin hell did that fence come from?" his friends laughed for like 10 minutes

also, once on the lift at boulder, im watching a kid come bombing down in love park trying to gap theyre 2 bigger kickers..he hits a 45 footer or so and throws a backflip and tries to clear a 20 feet gap to the 35 footer next to it...ends up smashing into the side of the 35 upside down and sliding down it lol.

one last lift story..im at creek for a teaching day with a bunch of friends, and we're all having a blast. we're on the sugar slope and i see this lady clearly out of control on her skis..basically standing straight up, poles in the air, screaming and FLYING down the hill... no stopping involved. i see one of my buddies is down standing at the lift line, and she's headed straight for him. he takes a step to the left, she flies right past the lift line, out of the snow, hits the dirt landscaping and launches 10 feet in the air, sans skis. they laid there for awhile but i think ultimately they were okay.
 
#41 ·
was going down "fall-line" on a relatively flat hill with a decent amount of speed at a local ski club, some ~15-16 year-old comes traversing from behind and runs right into me, elbows me in the ribs. He immediately gets up and says "don't worry about it, nobody is hurt" like it's my fault and just rides away. I couldn't even cuss at him because I was so winded lol. Laid there for a few minutes and went away after.
 
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