Freak Accident

[Ballpark]

Thought you might like to see some pictures of my ski and handle after a fall last week. I hit the six ball which caused my hand to go forward forcing the tip of the ski to go in the small V of the handle behind the cross bar. Some how the small spectra rope of the cross bar cut into the ski. Fortunately my front binding released but the back not so much because of the angle of the ski when the boat pulled it forward. My foot did come out but broke a bone in my foot and strained all of the ligaments and tendons.

 

[Rednucleus]

Wow! Went thru your ski like a cheese slicer!! Heal up soon & welcome to BOS

[vtmecheng]

Holy crap! Hope you are able to heal up quickly. I knew Spectra is strong stuff but it must have really hit the ski with some speed.

[swbca]

The D3 skis are extremely strong to manage the lengthwise and twisting forces of skiing with the desired flexibility. They are also extremely light because they aren't loaded up with thick reinforced resin near the edges. As a result the sidewalls don't withstand a high impact as well as an older much heavier composite ski. As you said it was a freak accident . . not may ways to get a high compression hit into the side of the ski while skiing.

 

I hope you have a successful recovery from your injury . . I am sure the boat yanked the ski off your foot in a direction that could never happen in an ordinary fall.

[lpskier]

I am anti- arm protector for the reason demonstrated in your photo. While the arm guard will most likely keep your head out of the V, if you get your arm in there (or apparently your ski!) it is going to be severely injured. I think (with no data to support my conclusion) that you are vastly more likely to get an arm through the V than a head.

 

@Ballpark is your handle a 12 or 13?

[dbaconaz]

wow crazy!! hope you heal up fast!!

 

[bishop8950]

I had exactly the same thing happened to me sliding around six fall. Broke my ski and flipped me up in the air but fortunately I didn’t get hurt

[jhughes]

That is completely insane. Wow.

[Deanoski]

IMG_0888.jpeg

 

 

 

[liquid d]

@Deanoski nice rope on that FM bringing up a whole new way to get effed up...

[Adam Caldwell]

The more I think through handle design/safety, the more convinced I am that spectra shouldn't be used in the handle section of any towed watersport. Its far too small and flexible and has the ability to 'wrap' and sinch much more rapidly and easily then a doubled up 16 strand rope. Coupled with the very small diameter, it will exert extremely high forces once wrapped up, and it will occur almost instantly as there is no stretch in the line.

 

I am also with @lpskier on the handle guard. There is not enough data to support. I think the safest bet if you choose to use one is to make sure it is a 'break away' type of deflector. Meaning that if you were to put an arm through it, the guard can break away prior to causing a more severe injury. The guard shouldn't be anything more then a 'deflector'. Meaning that it is not permanently attached, and if it fails to defect an object getting into the triangle, that it will separate under a high enough force.

 

In this case, it likely and very plausible that the cross-member rope in the triangle (permanently attached) caused much more damage then it likely would have without it.

 

Be cautious with your equipment and don't trust that just because a product is being sold that it is "safe". Use commons sense and think about what you are using on the water. That is true for skis, bindings, handles, etc.

[jhughes]

Everything on my arm deflector rig is designed to break away easily. The goal is to block off an area without creating a snare. Small zip ties and inner tube material. Same reason I don't wear gloves that have giant straps on them of nylon webbing, why create a situation where they could be entangled in the handle and rip my arm off.

 

I can't believe how strong that little 1/8" of spectra is! That's an absolute nightmare if an arm got caught in there. Design should be changed immediately.

[ScottScott]

There is a lot of "theory" regarding various types of handle guards that have been hashed, and re-hashed in other threads. Since there are a couple anti posts here, I feel I should balance those comments so far...

 

Yes, there's not a lot of data to support....theres also not enough data to reject. With the 100% fatal results of a head through the handle (has anyone survived that?) and the fact that pretty much ANY type of guard will prevent the head going through, that alone makes it worth while even if you did risk getting an arm stuck. But considering its a small risk that IF your hand/arm gets in, that guard MIGHT resist it coming out. Again....its all theory/speculation. I think there have been one or 2 accounts of people getting a hand in the handle with a guard of some sort? But still nothing conclusive that says that in the same situation the hand would have come out easier. In fact the guard may have prevented it from going in deeper. I will say that generally people that use the FM guard above cut off the center piece that extends up to the handle, maybe as much to prevent an obstruction in grabbing the handle, than a safety point. I use the same FM guard and feel its flexible enough that if my arm gets in, its not going to resist it coming out much (if any.) There are several other guards coming out now with similar concepts, hell ML even jumped on the band wagon finally. There is certainly choice in which type of guard you think is going to have the best combination of prevention without other risk, but I have no doubt in my mind that some type of guard is well worth any risks, and should be considered by anyone that skies.

[skierjp]

So I wonder if in these accidents the skiers head actually goes through the handle? I’m thinking that if when falling forward the chin gets far enough over the bar that when the rope tightens up it snaps the head back and breaks the neck.

[ScottScott]

@skierjp There is at least one account on a thread here of a guy (can't remember his name) that just got his chin caught (I believe while using a mesh type handle guard.) Don't know exactly what damage occurred, but he is still with us to tell his tale thankfully....tho was out of commission in a neck brace for a good bit. He has commented on other threads promoting stiffer handle guards than the more flexible mesh type, that will hopefully push the handle a little farther out so it doesn't catch the chin. Still, much theory and speculation. I would guess there have been a few of just the chin catching, can't say the results but you don't hear a lot of accounts. I'm sure there are a variety of results. I'm also sure there have been a number of accidents where the head went significantly through, not likely many results but one.

[swbca]

I put my hand through a handle once, broke my wrist. I don't think any of the guards would have prevented that since only my hand past into the danger zone.

 

Off topic, but did any of you see the women Pro Skier a year ago that pulled all the way to the 6 ball and then lost her balance and threw the slack rope into air, part of the rope came down behind her neck and some of the rope was ahead of her neck. The boat driver did a power turn to get back to her.

 

From the boat camera and the boat it looked like she had a lasso loop around her neck for a moment but she escaped with a little abrasion behind her neck. That is too scary to think about. I don't want to say what could have happened.

[skierjp]

@swbca same thing happened to Cole McCormick at the Swiss Pro last year.

[Cnewbert]

@swbca I believe that was Brooke Baldwin if we’re thinking of the same incident. Very scary.

[Sethro]

@ScottScott I recall a story on BOS of a collegiate skier (jumper I think) that ended up with her head through the handle and survived. But I don’t remember much detail.

[Deanoski]

I was the guy that had a mess guard got my chin stuck for a second

Torn mussels in neck I’m back skiing well again Have a FM now hard plastic small hole no way to get my hand through the gap it small Never miss grab due to guard

 

Had a reflex prerelease at hook up at -32

Binding set on 6.5 Aug 18 1030am remembered every clearly pitched toward the boat

 

First time I have ever had this prerelease on water

 

I Will never use a binding that can come off mechanically again

 

I believe it was a lateral sheer release over skiing a -32

 

 

I have been using hard shells since 1989 ARC was the first been on reflex for 12 years new system every two yrs

 

I know release system well both water ski and snow ski bindings

 

Use a guard saved my life

 

And it was never going to happen to me I’m to good to smart ect

 

Then you have 1 sec to make a choice

how it all goes down

as you are thinking is not going to good

 

Imo no guard =crazy

 

 

[mmosley899]

I make a lot of different style guards for different handles and different amounts of coverage so skiers can choose for their needs. All on the MOB website...

 

[LeonL]

Did any of you see the young lady at Jr. Worlds that almost got the rope around her head? She was swatting at like she had a nest full of bees attacking her.

[OldboyII]

If this string instead of ski goes to the neck - instant and painless decapitation guaranteed :)

One may say that head will not go through, but behaviour of materials in dynamics is not tha same as in statics. There are pictures of straw pierced steel in the hurricane.

[teammalibu]

That settles it, I’m not skiing in any more hurricanes!

[ski6jones]

@teammalibu unless it's SCRegionals.

[BlueSki]

@LeonL I saw it too, it was terrifying. If I recall correctly, she was holding the handle in one hand and swung her arm backwards when there was a ton of slack and the rope went behind her. I showed my kids as a reminder to be a cautious as possible with slack.

[Jody_Seal]

Where's Rube Goldberg when we need him?