On the Mend: Injured Americans Make Strides Toward Recovery
The 2018 season was not a kind one for a number of men and women on the U.S. Ski Team. In all, eight athletes suffered injuries last winter that required serious time off snow. From broken bones to torn tendons, these athletes have faced an uphill battle on the road to recovery and are not out of the woods yet. Ski Racing Media was able to connect with a number of these athletes as the national team returns to snow for the first camps of the 2019 season this month. With the opening World Cups of the season fast approaching, rehab and on-snow training is in high gear as athletes aim to return to the slopes this winter.
Steve Nyman
The big man and de facto leader of the American Downhillers is ready to take on his second comeback season in a row this winter after tearing his ACL almost a year to the day after severely injuring his opposite knee prior to the 2017 World Ski Championships. Despite the additional setback, Nyman says that he is head of schedule this time around.
“My progression has been great thus far,” he says from his return to snow camp in New Zealand. “My body has adapted well to the stimulus I have put it through and it will be good to get some rest between now and the next camp in Chile, but I feel really good currently. It has been much easier than my last go around when I tore ACL, MCL, and PCL. This year was just ACL and I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was last year.”
Nyman is expected to compete in the full World Cup downhill season and looks to be in competitive form come the opening races in Lake Louise, Canada, in November.
Jacqueline Wiles
A short two weeks after capturing a third-place finish in the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and just before the 2018 PyeongChang Games, rising speed skier Jacqueline Wiles suffered a devastating left-leg injury after crashing out in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Wiles has spent the months since her crash grinding away at her rehab and dreaming of making turns once more.
“The past 6 months have been really tough mentally and physically,” she admits. “With my quad tendon graft for my ACL, it has taken awhile to get my quad firing again and I’m still trying to get the size and strength back. With two parts of my hamstring being taken for grafts for my MCL and tib-fib joint, I had to wait 4 months until I could even start engaging them again.”
Wiles earned her second career World Cup podium in Cortina, Italy, this January. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Christopher Klemen
Due to the severity of her injuries, Wiles currently has no set date for her return to snow but is optimistic that we will see her back in a World Cup starting gate in the near future
“I still have a long ways to go, but I am starting to feel more normal,” she says. “I had an optimistic goal of getting back on snow by October, but have come to realize that I’m not going to set a timeline. All I can do is work as hard as I can and take it day by day. I don’t want to risk it and will wait until I know I am strong enough. Knowing how amazing it will feel to get back on snow and racing again is what drives me every day in the gym.”
Travis Ganong
2015 World Championship downhill silver medalist Travis Ganong was sidelined after a hard fall in Bormio, Italy, which left him with a torn right ACL. After a hard spring and summer of rehab, Ganong made his return to snow this month in New Zealand and was making the transition from freeskiing to gates look easy.
“The new ski season is off to a great start and I can’t wait to get back into the start gate hopefully at Lake Louise this fall!” he shared via his Instagram account.
After missing the 2018 Olympics, you can bet the California native is eager to get back to racing.
Resi Stiegler
Free spirit and crowd favorite Resi Stiegler crashed out of the first run of the 2018 Olympic slalom and missed the rest of the season nursing an injured knee. Stiegler is currently making her return to snow in Saas Fee, Switzerland, with the rest of the women’s tech team.
“Back on snow in Saas Fee after 7 months,” she shared. “Feeling awesome. Skiing Gates. Great snow. Amazing team. Stoked to be back!”
Alice McKennis
Alice McKennis ended her World Cup season with a cherry on top, landing on the podium in the downhill at World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden, alongside teammate and race winner Lindsey Vonn. After the season ended, McKennis was a guest coach at the American Downhiller camp in Mammoth, California, and suffered a freak accident while slipping a training course. Although she does not have a set return date, McKennis is continuing her recovery.
Tommy Biesemeyer
American Downhiller and Ski Racing Media columnist Tommy Biesemeyer suffered a ruptured achilles tendon on the eve of his Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018. Although the disappointment was crushing at the time, the New York native has tackled his rehab with renewed vigor and looks forward to his eventual return to snow.
“One of my biggest struggles with injury is not being able to train the way you should to be competitive, but what I am learning through my latest injury is to be able to change your mindset to where you can be productive in a training environment,” he says. “It’s never easy, but there is something powerful about coming back from an injury, you are motivated to prove you are not finished and to remind yourself and your competitors that you will be back.”
Biesemeyer at PyeongChang 2018. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Andreas Pranter
Galena Wardle
2016 U.S. Alpine Combined Champion, Galena Wardle, suffered a heartbreaking knee injury during a return to snow camp last fall in Colorado. Wardle has not raced since the spring of 2017, but is currently in Chile making her first turns of the season in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I’ve spent almost two weeks down here focusing on basic fundamentals and drills, and am slowly building up to normal speed,” she shared from her Chile camp. “My knee feels good and I am so happy to be skiing again! I am returning from back-to-back ACL surgeries, so this was my first time really skiing in about a year and a half. It was a long time off snow and a lot of work to get back on my skis, but I’m excited to feel like a ski racer again and looking forward to being back with my team this season!”
Nick Krause
25-year-old Nick Krause suffered a broken leg while training in Austria in the spring of 2017 and cut his season short last year due to lingering pain in his leg and leftover hardware from his initial surgery. Now metal-free, Krause spent some time taking care of some schooling at Dartmouth College and made a successful return to snow in Les Deux Alpes, France, last month.
“I was pretty full of mixed emotions; excited, nervous, and a little scared,” he says of his first turns this summer. “I knew I wanted to get back on snow, but I had absolutely no idea how the leg was going to react to snow or ice after getting the rod out. After about half of a run down the glacier, I could not have had a bigger smile on my face. I remember getting to the bottom of that first run, literally screaming in excitement with few tears of joy. My technician, Gogo, was skiing right behind me, and at the bottom of that first run he gave me a big hug with a huge smile on his face. From there on, it was just rock and roll.”
Krause is currently training in New Zealand through the end of the month.
Laurenne Ross
Although Laurenne Ross remained healthy last season, the Oregonian missed the vast majority of last season’s prep period due to a traumatic knee injury suffered at the 2017 U.S. Alpine Championships. Now with a full spring and summer of training under her belt, the quintessential “Speed Unicorn” looks to return to the World Cup with a vengeance this season.
About the Author: Sean Higgins
