Après-lockdown skiing is a slippery slope...

In retrospect, my decision to ski down a precipitous black run was a touch optimistic first thing in the morning. But as I stood at the top of the Tour d’Aï, admiring the views over the beautiful Swiss resort of Leysin, I felt ready to fly like a bird after two years of lockdown.

Three minutes later, my wings had been firmly clipped and I was wondering which way was up. After three somersaults on sheet ice (the melted snow had frozen overnight) my legs were stuck upright, still attached to my skis, like a giant V sign. Twenty minutes later, after a doctor had decided it was too icy to slide me down, I was flying for real – strung under a rescue helicopter in a harness, like a plump trapeze artist in my raspberry red ski suit.

My triumphant return to the ski slopes last week, vaccination pass in pocket, ended with a torn discoid meniscus (the moon-shaped cartilage in the knee joint) and more than a little mortification.

Thank goodness it wasn’t worse. While I was waiting for my X-ray, two other skiers came into the A&E. One had a shattered shoulder, the other had ruptured a ligament in their knee. They would both need operations and long-term physiotherapy, and the looks on their faces suggested the paracetamol had yet to kick in. When I left a few hours later, the private medical helicopters were circling the helipad, waiting for a landing slot, ready to disgorge more unlucky patients still wearing their brand new ski boots.

There have already been tragic deaths on the slopes this year. Last week, a five-year-old British girl was killed on a nursery slope in the resort of Flaine, in France’s eastern Haute-Savoie department. This was followed just days later by the death of French actor Gaspard Ulliel, 37, from head injuries while skiing in the same region. The mountain police service for the site of the accident said it has been organising five or six rescues per day.

“We’ve certainly been quite busy recently,” agreed the general practitioner, as she fitted me for a knee brace. She told me that she has seen a rush of inexperienced skiers coming off the slopes needing medical treatment in the last few weeks.

I’m a classic case, it turns out: a relatively able skier in the past, who has spent three years away from the slopes and gained a few lockdown pounds. So while my enthusiasm is sky high, my balance is off. That, combined with a psychological need to feel free and go faster than ever, led to my downfall. I’m also middle-aged. In fact, two-thirds of ski holiday makers are over the age of 45, according to the Ski Club of Great Britain, which makes us less bendy and generally more prone to injury.

The slopes are filling up again as families take advantage of the restrictions being lifted all over the Alps. There’s also the excitement of the forthcoming Winter Olympics. Local resident Pauline, who runs an Airbnb in Leysin, told me she could have rented out her apartment 20 times over in February. All the lockers in the local ski hire shop are booked until next year.

“More people around you means more opportunities for collisions,” explains Chris Heywood, director of Team Rehab, a private physiotherapy practice based in Corby and Kettering, which helps ordinary skiers as well as elite athletes. “It doesn’t matter how experienced you are. The bad skiers can’t stop and crash into the good skiers, or anyone who happens to get in their way.”

Some resorts have been accused of making pistes too narrow in order to fit in more runs, and placing hard black runs next to easier blue runs, increasing the chance of novice skiers ending up on slopes they can’t navigate safely.

Heywood is seeing a steady rise in the number of people needing physiotherapy after injuring themselves, particularly while snowboarding. “Many people think you can simply shift from skiing to snowboarding, but it is a very different game in terms of weight bearing and how you manoeuvre. Skiing is all about speed and getting down the slope. Snowboarders are more focused on jumps and tricks and it’s easier to get hurt,” he says.

At least, ski-related head injuries, the likes of which killed Sonny Bono in 1998 and actress Natasha Richardson in 2009, are less likely to be a problem now than in the past. According to a 2018 study published in Sports Health, their incidence has decreased with the widespread use of helmets.

There is still a debate about whether headgear should be mandatory. It’s not in Switzerland, where I was skiing with my daughter, although ski schools may insist that students wear them during lessons. Helmets are also not required on French ski slopes but are strongly recommended. And according to the Ski Club of Great Britain: “We still believe that it’s ultimately up to the individual to decide whether or not to don a helmet. We do however recommend that all children under 14 years of age wear a helmet when skiing or snowboarding.”

The good news is that, despite the recent tragedies, serious injury is relatively rare. An estimated 10,000 Britons a year are hurt skiing in a normal year, but the risk of death is less than one in a million and only about three in every 1,000 need medical attention. The injury rate fell by almost half between the 1970s to the early 1990s, mainly because of the development of ski release bindings and brakes.

In terms of preparing for your next ski holiday, after what is likely to be a break of at least two years, Heywood suggests it’s a good idea to work on your fitness levels, as well as your hips and legs.

“One good exercise is shallow squats to build strength in your quads, which are the muscles in the front of your thighs. This also helps to get your hips working and will make it less likely you will suffer a knee injury.”

Ideally, try to shed excess pounds, too. “You may have put on weight over lockdown and this can change your balance. However, lots of overweight people enjoy going on ski holidays and don’t have a problem,” he says. “The most important thing is to be aware of your abilities and don’t attempt runs beyond your level. Also, never stop in the middle of the piste, as someone can crash into you.”

Getting the correct insurance is key – it’s mandatory in Italy but not elsewhere. According to a 2016 survey by the Chartered Insurance Institute, one in four Brits goes on a winter skiing holiday without buying the right travel insurance.

I’m forever grateful I paid the top-up on my ski pass to cover medical evacuation in case of an accident. Helicopters with fully trained medical crew can cost upwards of £50 a minute.

While I am now safely home, resting my knee for now until the swelling goes down, my 15-year-old daughter, Imogen, is still in Leysin, skiing almost daily while she studies at boarding school. I know she is in good hands, under the watchful eye of local instructors. And I know she’ll stay on the pistes – helmet firmly on.