To ski or board...that is my question.

The heartbreak: tore my left acl on the first turn of my first run of the season. Didn't even make it to the trail I wanted to take. Sat in the snow and thew a fit. I had a pat. tendon autograph on the first of Feb. @ PSU Ortho. Doing my rehab as religiously as I do anything, and I'm a bit ahead of my marks there. What I'm wondering is....do I go back to skiing next year or pick up a board? When I was laying in the snow throwing my hissy (I heard the POP and KNEW what happened even if everyone else was being optomistic) a patrol guy was telling me that he switched to boarding because it's easier on the knees. Now that question is stuck in my head. My priority is sliding on the snow in the mountains. NOTHING ELSE. I just want to be there IN IT for as much time as I possibly can. IS snowboarding less risk on a bad knee? Is it worth the switch? (I'm no pro at skiing, just started the blacks last year) Any advice?

Telemark skiing is said to be the easiest on your knees.
That being said, I proclaim that LEARNING any snowsport is what hurts.
Don't turn back now! Stick to the blue runs and make sure your binding's DIN is correct.

Snowboarding will hurt you.

By next season your knee rehab will have been completed.

Since I live in Houston, Texas, a ski trip involves time away from the Clinic for me, an airplane, a hotel, and a private instructor. Considering I have a wife and kids, and the kids have signifigant others, it gets pretty expensive. Your situation and that of the other participants on this forum may not be so different.

As expensive as it is, and knowing that your knee issues were completed, I would involve myself in whatever snow sport I enjoyed most.

Fortunately, my husband manages the rental shop at our local hill, so I can ride pretty much for free there and the hook ups to try a new method would be forthcoming as well. I'm 31 years old, so I'm trying to decide what will keep me on the hill the longest and keep me from reinjuring this knee or the other one. I guess my method of injury was not typical, I just got my outside edge caught in a turn and as my body finished the turn, my outside ski did not, so my knee just pivoted until POP. I was still upright completely, but at that point just sat down out of shock I guess. It's hard to think I can prevent another knee injury when the first seems like such an unavoidable thing. I'll be happy just to be back on the snow confidently however I do it.

It seems to be a generational thing. The younger people like boarding, and us old folks like skiing.

You should do what makes you happy. Injuries occur most often in sports you have not mastered.

skiing is perhaps more risky for the knee but boarding is more of a risk for the upper extremity. So pick your poison so to speak.

My experience was that boarding was more painful on my new knee but at the same time slightly less frightening(in terms of re-injuring it). I wrench my knees a lot more snowboarding just not to the point of breaking them even with spectacular wrecks. I would just stick with what you are used to doing though.

I've had 3 arthroscopies on my knees. Two partially torn ACLs and very little cartilage left. I started snowboarding 20+ years ago after skiing for 17 before that. As of this season I do both almost equally.

In general, I've found that snowboarding hurts my knees less than skiing. I find it totally counter-intuitive that Tele would be less painful or risky - but I've only tried it once - it hurt my knees and I didn't love it so I never tried again.

The skiing vs. snowboarding thing to me mostly comes down to the fact that in boarding your knees move roughly in the same plane of motion. Whereas skiing you torque them around more. That said, the new style of skiing cuts down on that torquing a bit. If I'm skiing correctly (not in the back seat, not trying to rotate my skis by starting the rotation with my shoulders, then hips then knees/feet), I find skiing doesn't hurt any more. In the past I've found that I could board for 4-5 days straight without needing a break. But could only do 1-2 days on skis before my knees were screaming for a break.

As a side note, I lost 35lbs this year and that's probably lessened my knee issues more than anything.

My bottom line - boarding is probably easier on the knees. Try it and see. I wouldn't recommend a duck stance on a board, but I ride angles in the 50-60 degree range so I may be the wrong one to ask on that front.

I'd agree with what the others have said above. I learned snowboarding this year, and it seems easier on the knees. HOWEVER, I took my share of falls the first 4-5 days until I got more comfortable. Last week, my 8th day or so, I didn't fall once. I don't know if starting a new sport right after surgery would be the best idea, but now that I have most of the newbie falls behind me, I like it a lot.

Thanks for all the advice....it gives me a lot to think about. I just got out of my brace yesterday when I saw the doc. It's a shock to have to walk alone again! Whatever I choose to do, I know I'll be cautious...I'm laid back at everything, agressive is just not in my nature. The doc also said that it takes at least 8 months for the bloodvessels to reach the middle of the tendon graph, so if I do ride next season, I know it'll be lightly. Thanks again for all the advice and keep it coming...

I couldn't believe it either when I heard telemark is the less knee-bashing skiing, but I tried it last weekend since I'm still breaking in my knee surgery, and my friend wanted to check out a free equipment demo. After half a day [my 1st in a year+ on real skis!] I say the rumor is true – you bend your knees more but torque them less - less than turning heelside on a board.

Not that I'm any better than the jongy-est jong at telemarking and snowboarding, but I highly recommend snow sports you haven't learned yet, it puts some thrill back on the easy slopes. Boarding has distracted me from skiing where I normally would, and might possibly have a knee torquing fall. The telemarking really put me in touch with where I need to progress to get back on my alpine skis, so my advice is try all those things.