30 Years Ago Today -- February 26, 1989

[Dan Druff]

It seemed fun.

My temple took a bus trip to Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, CA, a local ski resort. Took about 2.5 hours to get there and even longer back (due to traffic), but I still wanted to go.

I was almost 17. I had been skiing since age 8. I was very good, but wasn't quite at the "expert" level yet.

It was a really warm day. Felt like 60 degrees up there at one point.

The snow was slushy, the slopes were full of moguls, but I was in the zone. I was skiing fast, going in between the moguls like they were nothing, and was one of the best skiers on any run I ventured to, even the advanced ones (which pale in difficulty to those in the bigger resorts like Mammoth, but still).

I mainly focused upon "Side Chute" and "The Wall" -- two advanced runs which had always scared me as a younger kid. I zoomed down them with ease.

I finally made it. I had bridged the gap between advanced and expert. I was skiing like I never had in my life.



At about 2pm, I went down Side Chute again. Easily drifting between moguls. Then, I misjudged one, and went flying in the air.

Oh no!



I slammed down on the ground.

Then I started sliding. Down, down the hill I went, wondering if I would slam into something and get badly hurt. I slid all the way down the hill, with a big plume of snow following me.

I finally came to a stop. I didn't hit anything!

I fell right under the chairlift, so a lot of people saw it.

Some rushed down to help, because the slide looked so bad. In reality, the slide didn't hurt me at all. It just looked bad.

A guy approached. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine", I said.

But then I surveyed how I felt again. "Well, my left arm hurts a little."

Then I noticed I was having trouble moving my left arm well.

That was the arm I fell on.

They called the ski patrol.

The ski patrol asked me if my arm was broken. I said I didn't know what that felt like.

They asked me if it has a "grinding" feeling in it. Well, actually it did. It felt like pins and needles moving throughout my wrist.

They tried to take my jacket off to take a look at it, but my wrist hurt too much to remove it. They wanted to cut the jacket open, but the cheap Jew in me refused. I told them we'd get the jacket off at the bottom of the hill.

They took me down in a stretcher sled, and I watched all the curious onlookers wondering how bad I really was hurt (including many who didn't see the fall).

They put it in a temporary splint. We were able to get the jacket off without cutting it. It was hurting tremendously by this point. I knew it was broken.

Since it was near the end of the ski day anyway, I had to wait until 4pm for the kids to come back to the bus, and ride it home. Traffic was brutal. The kids were super noisy. Normally this wouldn't have bothered me, but I was in such pain, the last thing I wanted to hear was teenagers screaming in the bus.

At one point, I forced myself up in the moving bus, went to the back, and yelled at everyone.

"Do you know how much fucking pain I'm in here? Do you think I like hearing this?? Can you guys finally shut the fuck up???"

I was actually ready to fight people. Broken arm and all. That's what a rage I was in. I knew I was looking crazy, but I didn't care at the time.

Despite my belligerent attitude on the bus ride home, two of the hottest girls in the temple were suddenly really interested in me. They kept coming over to check on how I was, were finding excuses to talk to me, etc. Maybe it was the Florence Nightengale Effect. I didn't know. I was in too much pain to give a shit. I just wanted to be left alone.

My dad picked me up and drove me to the hospital. My brother was with him, as he was very concerned and wanted to come along. He was probably more concerned than anyone, and that part actually felt nice. My dad told me that I shouldn't jump to conclusions about it being broken.

"Oh, it's broken. I know it is," I replied.

I was right. My wrist was broken.

A few days later, I went to an orthopedist. He told me the bone was broken AND bent out of place. He had to bend it back in place.

He tried to give me shots to numb the pain, but was shocked that, no matter how much he gave, it had no effect.

"I don't understand. This usually numbs people. You're so sensitive there now that it isn't helping. I can't give you any more. This might hurt a little bit."

Understatement of the century. Worst 15 seconds of pain I felt in my life. It felt like 15 minutes.

When the nurse came in with the cast materials, I was thankful. Nobody would be touching the area anymore.

I needed to wear the cast for 6 weeks. I had to cover it when I showered with a rubber bag-like thing they gave me which resembled a giant condom. It became very itchy from not being washed for all that time, and I would stick a pencil in there to scratch it.

I had my 17th birthday with a cast on.

My comeback to the school track team was over. I had to quit.

In mid-March, I was on a multi-line BBS and was talking with a girl from distant Simi Valley.

I hadn't talked to her before, but it was so hard to type with the damn cast on.

"Look, I want to keep talking to you, and I'm not usually this forward, but I have a cast on, and it's really hard to type. If you want to keep talking, can you give me your phone number?"

She gave it. I probably wouldn't have ever asked for it if it weren't for the cast thing, especially because she wasn't all that interesting in chat.

On the phone, she was different, and I enjoyed talking to her.

After a weird 5 months which I'll describe some other time, she ended up being the one to whom I lost my virginity.

All because of Side Chute.

[gut]

"From the side chute to the poop chute: How a boy became a man."

[limitles]

I'm involved in a venture that may turn the skiing world on it's head and it's in response
to the loss of some greats like Sonny Bono and close calls endured by certain W.S.O.P bracelet
winners.

It's called uphill skiing.
Far less dangerous
Does use some fossil fuels but no on really cares
Not going to screw my patent but you can only fall so far
going uphill

[cleatus]

Henry Box Brown
(1815 - February 26, 1889)

Henry Brown was born into slavery in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1815. When he was 15 years old he was sold to a plantation owner in Richmond. He later recalled that his parents were left on the plantation but he was taken

to Richmond to work in a tobacco factory owned by his old master's son William. Brown met another slave named Nancy who he wanted to marry. Brown went to Nancy's master for permission to marry; he was promised she

would never be sold and his master promised he would never be sold either. Over the next few years Nancy gave birth to three children. In 1848 Nancy and her three children were sold to a slave trader who sent them to

North Carolina. Brown later recalled: "I had not been many hours at my work, when I was informed that my wife and children were taken from their home, sent to the auction mart and sold, and then lay in prison ready to start

away the next day for North Carolina with the man who had purchased them. I cannot express, in language, what were my feelings on this occasion. I received a message, that if I wished to see my wife and children, and bid

them the last farewell, I could do so, by taking my stand on the street where they were all to pass on their way for North Carolina. I quickly availed myself of this information, and placed myself by the side of a street, and

soon had the melancholy satisfaction of witnessing the approach of a gang of slaves, amounting to three hundred and fifty in number, marching under the direction of a Methodist minister, by whom they were purchased, and

amongst which slaves were my wife and children." The following year Brown, with the help of Samuel Smith, a store-keeper in Richmond, attempted to escape. The two men devised a plan where Brown would be shipped to a

free state by Adams Express Company. Brown paid $86 to Smith, who contacted the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, who agreed to receive the box. Smith sent the box to Philadelphia on March 23, 1849. According to one

account, Brown's box traveled by wagon, railroad, steamboat, wagon again, railroad, ferry, railroad, and finally delivery wagon. Several times during the 27-hour journey, carriers placed the box upside-down or handled it

roughly, but Brown was able to remain still enough to avoid detection. Brown became a well-known speaker for the Anti-Slavery Society. He was bestowed the nickname of "Box" at a Boston antislavery convention in May 1849

and thereafter used the name Henry Box Brown. He published two versions of his autobiography, "Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown" first in Boston in 1849 and the second in Manchester, England, in 1851. Brown

exhibited a moving panorama titled "Mirror of Slavery" in the northeastern United States until he was forced to move to England after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Brown toured Britain with his antislavery

panorama for the next 10 years, performing several hundred times a year and visiting virtually every town and city over that period. Brown stayed on the British show circuit for twenty-five years, until 1875. In the 1860s, he

began performing as a mesmerizer, and some time after that as a conjuror, under the show names Prof. H. Box Brown and the African Prince. Leaving his first wife and children in slavery (though he had the means to purchase

their freedom), he married a second time, to a white British woman and began a new family. In 1875, he returned to the United States with a family magic act.

[JohnCommode]

And to think that I actually felt sorry for you over all the medical incidents in your life.

[khalwat]

Nice cover story, Druff. But we know this isn't actually how you broke your wrist...

[Jayjami]

No one wore a helmet skiing back then, unless your were some sort of pussy, so the pics are not convincing.

[MumblesBadly]

"From the side chute to the poop chute: How a boy became a man."

For those of us who enjoy reading such personal tales from yesteryear, such as myself, it’s a good thing that Druff is so anal with details.

[Baron Von Strucker]

broke my leg skiing 27 years ago at the top of whistler 6,000 ft up the mountain. skied into frozen groomer track. i was given demerol injected and heli evac to whistler hospital and ambulance to vancouver and immediately into surgery, spent 3 days in hospital after being released i received a total bill for the incident about $75 not sure what for but not a bad price. blackcomb interviewed me and asked if i was going to sue them. lol till that time i had not even considered to, I let them know i had no intention to do so, they ended up refunding the $900 for my seasons pass as the season was done at that point for me. and comped my skiing for three years afterward.

my leg was pretty badly broken and needed a plate on the surface from my ankle to knee and 12 screws to secure it. It is still there but i can't feel it and luckily it doesn't hamper most activities i get up to nowadays.

all the best Carven Marvin the skiing wonder.

[GrenadaRoger]

ho-hum...another story reminding us what a player Druff WAS lonnnggg aaagggoooo

Dude, try reading something like this

[lol wow]

Wait so was todge the villain in every 80s ski movie

[Baron Von Strucker]

i think this was filmed in lake taho ca squaw valley

[big dick]

jewski

[AhoosierA]

I broke my femur back in 2004 and they had to set it while I was still conscience. Worst pain I’ve ever been in in my life.

[RS_]

I broke my thumb in fifth grade while playing football (finished practice, I ain't no pansy....at least back then I wasn't). Thumb got bent all the way back where my thumbnail was touching my wrist, but I kinda snapped it back into its proper position (eg: not dangling) after that. Had to wait 4-5 days before getting a cast put on because apparently they don't put on casts Friday-Sunday. Had a cast for 4 weeks, that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I'm grateful for my experience because now I can crack my thumb over and over again repeatedly. Only downside is sometimes if it's really cold, it kinda hurts.

[Salty_Aus]

I used to box when I was younger. I was 16 was sparring with a guy and we didn't like each other very much. Hands weren't wrapped and it was supposed to be light sparring session.
Well of course it got a little out of control and we're both trying to hurt each other. I hit him with a good combo and throw a heavy left hook, he lifts his right arm and I catch him on the point of his elbow. Snap, compound fracture to my left wrist. Bones pierced my skin and I could see my tendons moving.
Three operations later and an external fixation for three months. My index finger is still a little numb on the inside edges thirty years later, and can't quite make a proper fist as my index finger sticks out a bit.
Just a flesh wound

[MumblesBadly]

Here’s one of my favorite sports injury stories....

In college, the dorm I lived in had a simple but thoroughly enjoyable pinball machine that for a time would routinely give free games with the right amount of jiggling as long as it showed at least one credit remaining. With enough skill at making it cough up free games, one could play for hours for only a quarter or two. And one Friday night-into-Saturday morning, a buddy of mine and I did just that. We started playing around 10pm and finished at about 7am.

Well, one of us did so— me — as my buddy quit at about 2am. But not me. Out of Druff-like pride in getting maximum value of a situation, I wasn’t about to let go of free play on that machine. We’d run of quarters by about midnight, having only spent about $2.00 by that point, but the machine just giving beaucoup free games with barely a giggle. I kept going until it finally stopped giving them out 5 hours later.

So, why is this a “sports injury” story? Because of the repeated and near continuous pressure on the inside of my palms from their position on the corners of the machine near the flipper buttons, the nerves in that part of my hand were damaged enough to cause severe numbness in my pinky fingers and outer edge of my hands for weeks. And for several years later, those portions of my hands would easily go numb with only a moderate amount of pressure to the inner curve of my palms. And that made riding a motorcycle, which was my primary transportation over the next few years, including twice driving cross-country, a little tricky if I rested my hands on the handlebars too long.

[gauchojake]

I skied down every single one of those runs today and did not break any bones. Miraculous I know.

[Dan Druff]

I skied down every single one of those runs today and did not break any bones. Miraculous I know.

Were the conditions any good?

How was the surface?

[gauchojake]

I skied down every single one of those runs today and did not break any bones. Miraculous I know.

Were the conditions any good?

How was the surface?

Pretty decent - they got snow on Friday but it was sunny today so it got kind of mushy in some spots and icy in others. The runs off of the 6/7/10 lifts were the best. There's a ton of snow in Big Bear still. They say that the resorts are going to stay open until Easter.