New skis :D

OK, dates could be difficult but would love to sort something out. WIll see how the next month or so pans out, the end of May would have been ideal but I have now committed to a trip to Vigo.

(p.s, the pics in your blog from Glencoe are ace!)

The blog is devoid of my last 4 slidings, can't find the time!! Whilst the rest of the UK was in chaos at New Year, Scotlands West Coast was stunning!!

Hi All,

I'm John Springer-Miller, Chairman of KneeBinding. I thought I would jump in and try to provide some information regarding knee injuries.

Most ACL injuries on skis (70% - 75%) occur when a skier's hips and knees are both bent and their ski is pulled directly sideways. Your leg can't bend that way, and the knee takes the hit. This is often the result of simply catching an inside edge, or getting caught up in a pile of crud. It is easy to simulate this - simply take a seat (hips and knees bent) and pull your pant cuff directly sideways to the outside. You can generally feel it right away.

The ordinary "toe-twist" release mechanism of your bindings works well when the force on the ski is a twisting one - for example when the tip of the ski is pulled to the side. But when the lateral force is in the area of the heel of your boot (even slightly in front or behind it) the toepiece of the binding does not detect any force at all - so it does not release.

The only proven way to mitigate this injury is to have the heel of the binding release directly sideways, with no other release occurring. Note that the Tyrolia "Diagonal" binding does NOT do this. In oder for the heel to release sideways, it must first release upward. Since most knee injuries happen when you are rear-weighted (i.e. hips and knees bent) the Tyrolia doesn't help.

Also - don't confuse this with the traditional kind of "turntable" bidnings. These have a rotating plate under the heel. These, also, are designed to help facilitate the toe-twist" release. Turntable bindings have side lugs/bars along the heel of the boot that absolutely prevent any lateral heel release whatsoever.

Kneebindings were created because knee ligament tears and ruptures now account for 1/3 of all reported ski injuries. This includes 70,000 ACL injuries on skis every year, worldwide. KneeBindings have a third dimension of release - a "PureLateral" heel release that can let go of the boot just before the force is great enough to injure your knee - all without pre-release issues.

By the way - women ARE even more at risk of the injury than men are - and there are five or six very interesting reasons for this!

I would be happy to provide any information about this topic that you all want - either through this forum or through emails.

Thanks for giving me space to share this information!

A couple of questions for JSM.

It seems to me that when someone is in the position (that all the articles and videos show) of being at risk of acl injury (falling back to one side), that the only release that would be truly effective, would be a vertical toe release. Is that possible ?

I also wonder if wider skis have had any impact on the incidence of acl injury. It's easy to actually feel the extra stress that wide skis put on the mcl (pcl). That being the case, is the effect the same with a typical acl injury fall ?

Would appreciate your views this

My friend - who skis since she was 6 - had the most horrendous knee injury, after which she needed an operation (probably another one as well) and could get back into skiing so she's learning the board now. And it happened after the most innocent of falls, which would normally leave only your ego bruised. She was going almost straight downohill at the end of a big slope turn and hit a litte dimple. She fell straight forward on her face, but her binding didn't release as she wanted to set it tighter earlier in the shop - we went for the long mogul run where you can't afford to lose your ski.

Trencher - the position you mention is the classic "Phantom Foot" position - often described as a rearward-twisting fall (mostly to distinguish it from a forward-twisting fall). But the fact that you are "falling" backwards doesn't hurt you. Nor does the twisting. These simply put you at risk. It is the abduction that causes the damage.

Think about it as simply catching an edge in such a way that the ski/boot system is pulled directly sideways to the outside. This happens all the time when you are skiing, and that's ok. If you are standing, your foot can move sideways - away from the other foot. But if it happens when your hips and knees are bent ("falling backwards") your leg can't bend that way, and if the force is great enough, it will injure your knee. If you are twisting INTO the abduction ("counter rotation"), the lateral abduction force required is even less, and you are at greater risk of a knee injury.

Once again - try this: sit down (hips and knees bent), face forward, and pull your right foot straight sideways to the outside (to your right) until you feel the pressure. Then, twist your upper body to the right, and pull your foot the same way. You'll feel it in your knee even sooner.

Upward toe releases have never been shown to affect knee injury rates. After all, think about being back in that sitting position. Your hips and knees are bent, but there isn't any "upward" force on your toe!

I have never seen a study that compared knee injury rates based on the width of the skis. However, people often make the mistake of thinking that SHORTER skis reduce the knee injury rate. We do not see any evidence of this. If anything, the opposite may be true.

John Springer-Miller

Thanks for the detailed replies John.

You're welcome. I'm pleased to provide any information I can. I have great respect and appreciation for sites like this, and am happy to help!

John Springer-Miller