respect her

black & blue
Originally uploaded by Pochagrrl.

Years ago, I fell skiing and hurt my knee. I find out yesterday for a fact that I completely tore my acl. I also have torn cartilage on both the left and right side at the back of the knee. I've had surgery on my right shoulder from dislocations which also happened while playing on Mt. Hood.

Yesterday, Davey went up to snowboard with his friend, Robby and as I sat at my desk in little cube-land, I was happy for them as it was one of those perfect ski-days. No wind, blue-bird skys and not a cloud to be seen and the fact it was a week-day meant that they had wide open runs and no long lines. I worried in the evening as I watched the hours go by and tried to push aside those "worse case scenario" thoughts that popped in my head. Were they in a car accident? Did life-flight have to whisk them off and I did not know because I was not watching the news but a light-hearted episode of "everybody loves raymond"? Did he fall and snap a bone or worse, his neck? Was he OK? He phoned as they neared our home and I was relieved. I felt fine until I met him in the driveway. He was missing his snowboard but brought home a big puffy black eye. As I sat down on his jacket which he had laid in my chair I realized everything he had was soaking wet. Whaaat happened?!?! He learned a valuable lesson on the mountain that day. The eye was a separate injury that occurred when he playing in the terrain park. Not a big deal, he tried riding a rail and ended up coming down on it, face first. Ouch! The rest of the story had me wide-eyed and nervously pacing around the room.

To write the whole encounter would take forever to read (and write) so I will do my best to give the short version. After the eye-incident, he and robby decided to head up to the top and ride down the far right side of cascade. They both like to go very fast…so fast davey said he did not realize he had gone past the orange tape until he was well on the other side in a group of trees. After riding down a ways, he hoped to hike back up to the ridge and ride back down in the designated ski area. He hiked and hiked, only to find himself deep in the forest. He was suddenly lost. Very lost. He could not possibly ride through the trees so he stumbled and hiked while grabbing on the strongest looking branches and carrying the snowboard over his shoulders or using it as a crutch to balance down the extreme, steep grade of the mountain. His knee had gone out a few times and was no longer strong enough to hold him up. Far above a river, he slipped on a log and he lost his board and watched as it slid down the hill into that river and watched it carry his board away. Like his board, he fell, slid, rolled down the hill and found himself pulling himself out of the water, completely drenched.

I don't know exactly what happened but he stumbled and slid down that mountain for hours, considering how he would spend the night should it suddenly get dark. He feared for his life as he knew it was not possible for anyone to get where he was on skis, snowmobile and no helicopter would see him through the thick trees. He could not even see the sun so he had no idea which direction he was facing. He seriously considered digging out a place where he could safely sleep for the night but kept on moving. He slid and stumbled and eventually fell out of the trees onto the highway right where the big sign read "Mt Hood Meadows 8 miles". He staggered off the street and the first car he saw, stuck out his thumb and then clasped his hands together in prayer. As the lady took him back up to the lodge, he realized he had hiked about 10 miles down from the lodge itself. He lost his board but gained respect. When I asked him what he learned from this,(hoping to hear, never ever ever go near that orange tape) he said "respect the mountain, respect her". She can mess you up if you aren't careful.