Slippery Slopes

Recovery do's and don'ts.

The number-one rule of safe skiing: only ski as fast as you can stop. We’ve all stretched past our limits; some days the risk is worth the reward, and others, the risk reaps the reward for itself. Whether you consider yourself to be a Sluicebox slicer or an Easy Money banker, injuries are inevitable. It’s not a matter of if you get hurt, it’s a matter of when. And when you do, you need to recovery properly, lest you worsen your injury or extend your convalescence.

While laid up:

Don’t
Load up on junk food—it slows the healing process and chances are you won’t be active enough to keep in shape.
Do
Keep your diet clean, so you can return to that lean, green, fighting machine you were before the wreck.

Don’t
Mope around. We’ve all been there and people will get tired of your complaints.
Do
Find a new hobby—this is downtime, which you don’t always get, so find something for that moxy of yours!

Don't
Replay the crash in your mind, it's easy to scare yourself out of ever wanting to hit the slopes again.
Do
Visualize your perfect turns, your rosy cheeks with a grin on your face—be hungry and be excited to get back to it!

Once you're feeling better:

Don't 
Milk it; it's easy to find excuses to stay lazy.
Do
Push yourself with small daily tasks—try taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Don’t
Think that time alone heals all wounds.
Do
Your exercises! Your therapist doesn’t give them to you for the thrill of it—they really do help.

Don’t
Be a hero—no hiking the Ridge or hucking cliffs your first day back. Respect the send and live to ski another day.
Do
Listen to your body—learn what kind of pain to push through and what to rest on.

After tearing her hip labrum, Jessica McMurtry continued ski-racing, which worsened the injury and lengthened her healing time. She would have you do what she did not: follow these guidelines and learn the easy way.