Is it easier for big guys to get hurt skiing?

[Endlessseason]

Not sure if they get hurt easier, but it is harder for them to get up after a fall. Right Endless?

Right. Jeez. You've got a good memory, Release. I think you're referring to that ancient (and now lost) thread from Powmag, "Help I've fallen and I can't get up!"

[Samwich]

,The one injury I have battled for years though is the front shin bag. I know every gets it, but I always attributed it to my boots being lower on my tib/fib than all the short guys. Longer lever arm, less support, backseat huck landing.....OUCH.

http://www.bootfitters.com/booster.htm

Seriously. Completely eliminated shinbang for me. If you run a finger down my shin, you can feel two major dents from where I've had shinbang so many times. Ever since I got a pair of Booster straps, no problemo at all.

[iceman]

Minute Bol

Work with me.

[BobMc]

Work with me.

Hourace Grant?

BobMc

[Samwich]

I think I need to hit the gym in a serious way this summer, and also get into yoga or some sort of intensive stretching program. I took some pretty good diggers while living in Whistler. I stacked a lincoln off a 25 footer (I did my signature 'oh shit i meant to do a lincoln but instead I did a rodeo 5 and this is gonna huuuuuuurrrrrt... CRUNCH') and walked away with nothing more than wounded pride, cause i did it under a lift. Conversely, I tried to do a butter 3 off a 15-20 foot cornice, caught an edge after I popped to hit the second part of the rotation, and landed squarely on my head. I've seen a lot of people do this off HUGE cliffs and walk away (Rob Holmes, anyone? No? How about Jamie Pierre?). I thought I'd broken my back. It wasn't a bad injury, but I had to take a couple days off skiing, and then take it easy for about a week. There were other falls that left me busted up that I feel shouldn't have. I guess I have my answer though: it isn't because I am a big guy, it's because I don't hit the gym nearly enough.

[powderhound]

[freshie247]

Bigger dogs tend to have more injuries & die sooner.

[runethechamp]

[Tuco]I like big fat men like you. When they fall they make more noise.[/Tuco]

[ak_powder_monkey]

F=MA

^ ^^
F MA
O AC
R SC
C SE
E L
L
E
R
A
T
I
o
N

Therefor bigger guys feel more force, there fore they must be equally proportionally stronger to not get hurt

[bad_roo]

Therefor bigger guys feel more force, there fore they must be equally proportionally stronger to not get hurt

A case in point.

[Samwich]

I took high school physics, guys. I'm never going to forget that forceleration equals massl multiplied by acce, as you so eloquently put it AKPM. Bigger guys definitely impact the ground harder. I also understand that you have to be proportionally stronger. I was just wondering if it was possible to be as strong, proportionally, as a little guy. Are my bones, ligaments, tendons, etc stronger because I'm bigger? I know my muscles have the capacity to be.

[shmerham]

I'm sure this has been talked about on epic more than a few times. ...and I'm sure there's a nice 4 paragraph answer from PhysicsMan.

[bad_roo]

I'm sure this has been talked about on epic more than a few times. ...and I'm sure there's a nice 4 paragraph answer from PhysicsMan.

The massl and acce are strong with this one.

[13]

I think I need to hit the gym in a serious way this summer, and also get into yoga or some sort of intensive stretching program.

Yoga is for chiks. If I recall correctly, Sage practices yoga and it definitely seems to benefit him as far as injury prevention & health maintenace.

Look into practicing Tai Chi as another possibility -- many of the health benefits you get from practicing will cross over to skiing. One of the main philosophies of Tai Chi involves absorbing strikes/blows. As a matter of fact, I think the foremost teacher of the Yang style resides in the Seattle area.

[bad_roo]

As a matter of fact, I think the foremost teacher of the Yang style resides in the Seattle area.

"Can you feel the Yang?"

[shmerham]

Mr. Miyagi was the pioneer of unnatural spins.

[bad_roo]

He looks like the sort of guy who'd ski with a couple of litres of Jesus Juice in his Camelbak.

[hev]

it's definately a trade off, but it's worth pointing out that bigger guys have more "suspension" with longer legs and arms, so I think it mostly comes down to fitness. I am 6' 3" almost 200# and while I have sustained my share of injuries I have also walked away some pretty spectacular wrecks.

[gonzo]

i'm big, sometimes i get hurt and sometimes i don't.

i think pro huckers are small because they can do more flippy-spins easier. pro racers are all sizes, but generally beasts - strength matters more than size. all are jacked/lean since they are professional athletes and do stuff all day that doesn't involve computers and cubicles.

this adds very little to whatever discussion exists at this point...

[biggins]

But, come one, these guys are freaks.

True. I was just pointing to an extreme example of height and the fact that everyone that size breaks down more quickly than a person of normal height. Besides, Muresan may be a freak, but he was so awesome.

The knee formula holds up though- more weight=more stress over time. Still I think Arty's point about the relative strength of tendons and joints in accrodance with more muscle mass, larger bone structure is probably sound- bigger body, relatively stronger small parts. Makes sense to me.

I still heart G. Muresan. He was funny. Disregard 'My Giant.'

[glademaster]

I'm pretty tiny myself at about 5'8'' +/- an inch and between 130 and 145 lbs. When ski season rolls around after 3 or 4 months of strength training I'm much closer to the 145lb mark than say, in June. I also think that being small and pretty light saved me from very serious injury in Whistler 2 years ago.

I dropped about 25 feet(according to my own estimates and those of 4 people who saw me do it) onto a pancake flat, hardpacked cat-track. This wasn't like a drop where I slowly tumbled off the edge onto it, but I popped off a buried boulder with some serious speed before plummeting onto the cat track, since I didn't know it was there. Anyway, I hit and despite the fact that the cat track was east coast ice consistency, I left an 18 or so inch crater where my feet hit. Despite this, the only injury I sustained was a badly bruised heel and a small headache that lasted maybe 45 minutes. I don't know why I didn't bust a leg, back, neck, or any ligaments in the fall since I hit hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I'm fairly certain that a bigger guy would have gotten far more crushed by it than me.

Being tiny does have its advantages sometimes.

[biggins]

I don't have anything to add to this topic but that's funny as shit.

Manute. Again my haphazard spelling draws the jeers of the gallery.

Gosh, sorry [/N.Dynamite]

The English teacher who can't spell (or google), dddhheeerrrr.

[truth]

Hourace Grant?

BobMc

Whorace...sheesh!

[Core Shot]

Allright, as "big guy" let me add my two cents.

In summer sports, I usually wear a cup if there's going to be potential for a big crash.
But in winter, I don't worry about it as much.
With all my nordic heritage, I'm more of a "grow-er" than a "show-er"
Usually on the ski slopes, there is enough shrinkage that injury is not usually an issue.

Hope this was helpful.

[biggins]

So I guess I'm gonna recind my MANUTE Bol notion, and spill this anecdote about large people's ability to withstand impacts. I still think height/weight can have an impact on straining knees and other supportive body parts, but...

I was in an 80mph head-on collision a few years back. I should have been cut in half (and essentially was to some degree- ruptured diaphram, spleen, pancreas; broken femur and hip, collapsed lungs, and all ribs broken), however I survived. Doctors were surprised, but suggested my body size (6'3", 235lbs) and the relative size of my lungs, heart, and circulatory system helped me survive. Larger lungs- more air capacity even when collapsed. Larger heart/circulatory system- better regulation of blood flow and absorption of fluid (should have died from all the ruptured organs). While this is only one case and therefore proves nothing, I do think were I smaller I might have had a better chance of suffocating/bleeding to death.

Speaking of Whore-ass Grant, I think I need to break out the 12 year old rec-specs this coming season.