Why skiers get injured

Skiing is a phenomenally exciting and fun sport. However, the injury rate is relatively high, with more than 20,000 knee injuries sustained each year by skiers in the U.S. alone, most of which involved the ACL. The question is why and what can you do about it?

My advice on how to avoid common injuries is based on my 55 years of skiing, more than two decades of being an orthopaedic surgeon for the U.S. Ski Team, the Pro Ski tour, the Jeep Tour, 48 Straight Ski tour and other winter sports events. However it is not gospel. There are many views and disagreements on skiing safety.

Here's what I recommend:

Start in the spring: Train for skiing and all sports by developing a total body fitness program. Focus on the 10 attributes commonly associated with fitness today: strength, agility, balance, proprioception, cardiovascular-respiratory endurance, stamina, flexibility, power, coordination, and accuracy. Continue your exercise program during the ski season, working out daily.

Warm up in the morning: The hot tub and hot showers help loosen the muscles. Stretch there. Get ready to ski by maximizing your flexibility. Injuries occur to tissues that are stretched beyond their normal limit. You can decrease these injuries by increasing your flexibility every day.

Tune your gear: Ski bottoms and edges are not just for going fast, but also for carving turns. The carve controls the speed in all terrains. Today's wide skis are fortunately becoming narrower in the waist creating a better turning radius and angle to permit a return to the elegant carving technique that skiing has been based on for the last 50 years. However, poorly sharpened edges and sticky rough bases cause the skis to catch edges and throw the skier into the trees, or worse.

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Dr. Kevin R. Stone is an orthopedic surgeon at The Stone Clinic and chairman of the Stone Research Foundation in San Francisco. He pioneers advanced orthopedic surgical and rehabilitation techniques to repair, regenerate and replace damaged cartilage and ligaments. For more info, visit www.stoneclinic.com.