Protection gear.

im going to use a mouth gourd for park this season

guard* wow

This past season I started wearing Asterisk knee braces. They attach directly to your boot so that when you have a twisting fall, all of the force is transmitted past your knee to your femur (which is obviously much harder to fuck up).

Funny, I've been contemplating writing a thread on the importance of wearing a helmet. Currently on my mind because I'm literally laid up after my third reconstructive surgery. Long story short I was out without a helmet and landed hard on my face off a small jump. That was two and a half years ago. I'm on my last "big surgery" which I had Monday. From this last surgery alone I have 4 plates and 27 screws holding my face together. I can assure you that it is zero fun. Hopefully I will be healed sufficiently enough when the season gets into full swing but I'll never be 100% again. So now I've been a bit of a big pusher for full face helmets kind of like mtb downhill style for hard skiing. The docs say had I been wearing a regular helmet I would've only suffered 50% of the damage I experienced but with a full face I would have been fine. My main point is that if your serious about protection look into using a full face, even if your not going "huge". My injury occurred on a normal day on a really small jump. I was maybe 4' high before landing on my grill. That's nothing compared to what an average park skier is throwin these days and I had hit this teeny jump a bazillion times before. So it could happen anywhere at any time. It does make me feel better knowing some of you take this stuff seriously and are looking into ways to better protect yourselves. Good luck.

what did you do off the jump..?

That's a good question. I really don't know. I can only remember heading toward it then I remember nothing till 4 hours later "coming to" in the hospital. My buddy was behind me but not close enough to see what happened. I was real big on flips around then so I probably tried to throw a back. It was a baby step down that I used to do whatever off of. My buddy wishes he got vid of it though....haha

Helmet, mouth guard, and knee brace/pads. My knee braces were a bit expensive but have soft padding in them as well... kinda like snowboard or skate pads, but more knee brace action. I haven't messed up my knees yet and anything I can do to help keep from that happening is worth it to me... cause I know that it will eventually happen.

Noone use some type of a protection thingy for the back ?

I've used a back protector regularly for the past 2-3 years. It takes a little getting used to and can get a bit clammy on warmer days, but I'd certainly recomment using one if you are progressing or trying something new. I've got a 5-6 year old dainese, so I'm sure they have improved the ventilation in newer models. Unfortunatly it's also the item I forgot the most when going to the hill.

if you are self concious about it, thats fine, no pressure. but would you mind sharing a road to recovery style set of pictures. ie before->just after->after surgery #1...

i dont know why but i am always fascinated by those.