Five years ago today, a bunch of us guys went to Gstaad for a ski weekend. The first night, we just had a group dinner and stayed up into the wee hours. The next morning - a beautiful, sunny morning - we got up early and hit the slopes. The first run went fine. Then, everything changed.
To make a long story short:
Andy and I ride up the chairlift for our second run.
Our bindings get tangled up as we get off the chairlift.
My one leg goes one way, and the other leg goes the other way, and I feel a sharp pain in my right knee.
Thud!
Andy thinks a helicopter rescue may be necessary.
I shrug off the helicopter rescue and tell Andy I'm fine.
Andy and I snap these pictures of each other (yes, I was still heavy back then) on what turns out to be my last day of skiing...EVER!I end up skiing the rest of the day.
The next morning, I wake up with pain in my right knee which is now the size of a honeydew melon.
I am dropped off at the Gstaad train station for the long, solo train ride back to Basel where Mrs. TBF meets me on the train platform.
I hobble around for a few weeks (I never did go to the doctor), and make the decision to hang up my skis for good. The glass knees just can't take it.
Do I miss skiing? No. I wasn't very good at it, and I just didn't enjoy it enough to make it worth the hassle. Plus, I found skiing in Switzerland rather...intimidating. I wasn't scared, but I wasn't exactly in my comfort zone either. It's one thing skiing at Wilmot Mountain in Wilmot, Wisconsin with a vertical drop of a few hundred feet, and quite another thing skiing in Switzerland at several thousand feet, thin oxygen, potential for avalanches, etc.
Skiing at Wilmot? Maybe a broken leg.
Skiing in Switzerland? Maybe...death.
Thanks, Andy! You did me a favor by "taking me out" (that's how I always refer to it)! I think I'll celebrate my five year anniversary this Sunday by soaking in a nice hot bath with a martini in hand.
...much easier on the knees!
3 comments:
I love driving around Wisconsin with Gretchen and seeing road signs for ski resorts...when there isn't a single hill anywhere in sight. It must take about 30 seconds to ski from the peak to the base.
Was this incident before or after skiing in a blizzard with little Sam and Alie skiing figure eights around you asking you if you are ok and you looking like a commercial for 'Weebles Wobble, but they don't fall down' and bellowing "KIDS - look out! I may go down - and if I go down - I'm taking you with me!" ;)
Di - This was after the "save yourselves" incident.
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