First season after ACL repair

[eldereldo]

Yeh, I know, Gimp Central. But that is full of people recovering, once you are back on skis, no one looks in there. And what I want to know is how many people, coming back from ACL surgery, changed their ski setup for the first season back.

I am thinking I might just use my shorter, lighter touring outfit for the first year. My normal setup is Dukes, 196 Lhasas and Nordica the Beast boots, so stiff and long. My touring is Bro 179, Dynafit and Radiums, a lot shorter, lighter and softer. I figure that this should mean less stress on my knee when I eventually crash. I could also use Bro 179 Fats with the Nordicas which would be shorter, but then I am still in a stiff boot.

What say you?

[Caucasian Asian]

I'm just planning on turning the toes of my 916s down to 10

[SeatownSlackey]

I'm just planning on turning the toes of my 916s down to 10

My right ACL is 5 1/2 months old and i had just planned on dropping the din on my right toe by 2-3 din points for peace of mind. dunno how truly useful it will be.

[ticketchecker]

As a three time ACL survivor my advice would be just start out mellow. Ski both of your 179 BRO choices. The dynafiddle rig might be good 'cuz you don't need to be hitting mach looney right away and it'll be light with a comfy boot. The fatties sound good 'cuz they have a real binding, ski 'em both and see how it feels. I think you might like being in your AT boots in the beginning just to be able to use the walk mode in the lodge.

I don't think you'll need to shy away from the Lhasa's all year, you might need to sweet talk your wife out of the 186's for a day or two though.

15 some odd years later after my last one I find hard snow conditions to be what makes me hurt.

You're body will tell you what to do once you get out there, if you've done your homework in the gym it won't be long before you're jammin' again.

[Long duc dong]

Like others have said, I would start out mellow.

How many months are you out of surgery? Did you attack rehab like a madman? Are the muscles in your leg as strong as ever?

If you answered yes to all of those, and your at least 7-8 months out then start slowly. I would really keep it pretty mellow until mid-season.

In my case, I blew my ACL during my last year living in the mountains. I got the surgery in mid-March. My first year out of the mountains I was in grad school, and did not have a good ski lease agreement. I only got a few days in that year, but I was fine. My second year I was a lot more regular, about 30 days, most at Mammoth.

It worked out well for me to stay mellow my first bit back. Having said that, If your legs are strong you should be fine. Just take it easy.

[Sigmund]

On piste, drop back one level of run difficulty, or the equivalent BC. Don't ski in poor vis. Make sure your rehab has given you thighs of steel.

[Stymie]

For me... it was all mental. I was very, very tentative- expecting my knee to buckle at any moment. Of course when you ski like a puss... bad things happen. Took about 2-3 days to fully realize my knee was going to be fine. So... dial back for first day expectations and work on regaining confidence.

Oh... and dial back your DIN as others have suggested. It takes about 1 year for the healing to be 100% with the new "ligament"...

[Trainwreck]

Did you get a brace? I got a Donjoy custom fitted brace, it helped a lot knowing it would be almost impossible to tear that acl again as long as I wasn't stupid.

[eldereldo]

I had surgery on August 05, I am in the gym a lot, working on my conditioning and legs, always had pretty good leg muscles since pretty much everything I do involves walking, pedalling etc. And I wasn't off the leg very long, I dumped the crutches a couple of weeks after surgery. I do have a brace, but I understand it doesn't protect your knee against reinjurying it if you do the same thing, it really only helps with stabilizing it, and mentally. I will get back on snow 5 months out and take it easy, 6 months out I am flying into Golden Alpine for a week of backcountry, so a lot of my gym work is on the 'ski' machine for conditioning. Think I'll start on the AT gear, since it will make me go slower, move to the fats later on. Maybe by spring back on the Lhasa's, I can probably swipe the 186's if the wife isn't going out as well

[IskiEC]

I had to modify my stance and technique a bit to accomodate the knee brace. I found myself with one foot slightly in front of the other most of the time in an effort to keep my legs/feet closer together. Lots of "scissor" motions making turns. Didn't feel the need to change skis tho...

[Woodlandclown]

i was hesitant for a few days, but realized I felt fine. Last year (my first year after surg) I actually skied fatter, longer skis and freeride bindings for the first time. My main problem was a bit of kneee pain at the beginning of the season after a few hours and also not being able to last all day--I was pooped after4 hours because my legs were a lot weaker than they had always been even though i was working out and doing lots o rehab. as far as brace--I word it everytime for maybe 2 months and then realized it was really just a pain.

[rockcreek]

echoing what others have said, shorter skis at first are good. expect pain in your knee. if you rehabbed well, and are continuing to cross train (ride bike, building muscle around knee, which it sounds like you do, youll be just fine. Oh, and i would avoid big hucks for a couple of months.

[montanaskier]

I'm not wearing a brace.....except the stretchy one I got the day I tore my knee. Been taking it nice and slow and trying to regain form and confidence. I did turn my DINs down.

Don't expect bell to bell days, my quad still isn't as strong as the other one, so I've just been using the WROD days to help get back in shape...along with continued gym work.

[BestofShow]

You're rehab and strength training is the most important factor to the question. Keep it up, even during the season. Icing and stretching (especially hamstring) should be your best friends. As stated above, listen to your body. When your knee/leg gets tired, and you start to show sloppy form...call it a day.

[Shepherd Wong]

I wouldn't change too much, I set both my bindings down 2 notches and the first day 3rd run or so found myself nuking into a mogul field with only one ski on, on my bad leg!
I would just ski what you normally do, but slightly less aggressive. Too much change and you might find yourself in awkward situations.
Anyway, you also seem to always hear about the people who have problems. I started skiing 7 months after my surgery and it was damn near 100% good right away. I haven't had any problems since and it feels great.