I got into a Ski Accident in the French Alps

Hi Hivers! I am back. Oh well, I am here to give you some life updates before I proceed to my normal daily blogging.

Also, before I share the good things and other things that happened during our ski holiday. Here I am, got into a ski accident in the French Alps.

Honestly, our Ski Holiday Year 3 felt the most tiresome holiday week. Well, my kids got sick. One kid was sent to the emergency for oxygen. We had no choice but I needed to stay overnight in the hospital. The next day, we went back to our chalet and spent sleeping the whole day. After a day of good rest, I was able to attend the ski lesson. After the ski lesson, I got into a ski accident. When we got back home to our chalet, that was also the time another kid needed to be sent to the emergency. Okay, you can imagine how stressful the family had been through. That's just a quick summary.

It was a good day of ski lesson with blue skies

I was able to attend my ski lesson on the first day, missed the second day, and attended the third day. I met another ski teacher, he was great. I was able to improve my parallel ski. We, students, were able to follow him on different slopes. Although, I have to admit that I fell many times. The teacher noticed that I was tired so I had a little chitchat with him about what was happening. From the beginner slope to the plateau to Chattrix, to Croix du Christ, we followed the teacher. The two hours of ski lessons ended and met my family for lunch.

After lunch, I decided to go back to ski alone to the plateau slope. Later on, I felt the tiredness as I almost fell and lost control of braking. I was able to brake but fell again to the end.

I went to the debutant slope to see my husband as he was training my son all afternoon. Later on, the kids went to the restaurant with their relatives. My husband invited me to go down to Chattrix. I was hesitant but still I went.

All ski resorts will close at 5:15 in the afternoon so we had about 1 hour to do our last round of ski for the day. My husband could easily go down to Chattrix in just a few minutes while it took me almost half an hour, for sure.

Going down to Chattrix

Here is a video of my first fall going down to Chattrix in 2023. This is the blue piste but feels like the red piste for me. The green piste is the easiest level, blue is moderate, red is hard, and the black is the most difficult level.

In the last few minutes of the video above, it was the start of the moderate slope and I fell. It was difficult for me as a first-timer. This year, I was able to manage it and realized my mistake. Do the snow plow and parallel skiing. I just need to take control using my legs.

The more I go down, the slope is trickier. Also, I started to hate wearing my sunglasses because it wasn't appropriate sunglasses for skiing. I stopped in the snowy area where there was no sun so I couldn't see properly. I was in the shitty area and I could not store my sunglasses in the bag. I decided to put my sunglasses above my forehead and under my bonnet. This was a wrong move, I also felt that it wasn't a good idea. I should have thrown it somewhere instead.

This is Les Chattrix, just watching this while taking a photo already scared me as a beginner.

My husband always waited for me away for a few meters, in case something happened to me he could rescue me.

Where I fell

Looking at the original photo above, here is a cropped photo with blue and yellow markings. The blue marking is where I started to go down and fell into the yellow marking.

Since it was late afternoon, the snow was getting shitty here and there were several bumps of snow which is not really nice to ski. That means, more resistance on the legs and more control of braking or doing the parallel ski while going down.

In my case, while I went down, my shin areas were in pain already which is the reason I lost control of my legs and I wasn't able to brake properly. This time around, I wasn't prepared to fall. Sure, my head hit first on the snow, where my sunglasses were actually on my forehead. My head bounced and I felt my lips scratched on the snow. I was rolling, damn.

Since it was cold while my face was in the snow, I moved to change to a sitting position and held my head up high while my hands and arms supported my weight on the icy surface. While my legs just lay flat in the snow. My sunglasses, skis, and poles were everywhere. I started to cry like a baby and screamed calling my husband, "My head, my head!"

It was quick so my husband couldn't do anything during the fall but he saw how it happened. He quickly skied towards me and checked my head, my face, and my lips. I was in a panic.

The next thing I saw, was so much blood dripping in the snow.

As you can see, a part of the sunglasses left a dent on my forehead. It was swollen so my husband put snow in my forehead as a remedy.

My lips were swollen as well, it was difficult to move my lips for a few minutes so my husband also put snow in the swollen area.

I let myself cry because I already felt the tiredness in my body. Other skiers approached us if we needed help or if they could call a rescuer to put me on a stretcher. My husband was trying to cool me down and talked to them in French. I don't want to be on a stretcher because that means the end game of skiing.

I just wanted to stay in the snow and don't move. He let me stay there and told me to get up when I was ready. I didn't want to continue skiing. I just wanted to walk on the snow but he told me it was easier to ski. Part of me was hesitant again but I had no choice but to get up and continue, told me to slow down and do the snow plough all the time, whichever technique I found comfortable.

We took the telesiege to go back to where we came from upstairs.

We went back to our car, my husband called our family in the chalet to inform them what happened to me. While in the car, we discussed what happened.

I blamed my brown sunglasses for the dent in my forehead

This was not the first time I fell. Every time I fall, the bonnet protects me from the cold snow. Maybe I could have a little scratch on my forehead and my lips but not this worse. This could have been reasonable if I fell on a hard surface somewhere in the snow. Unfortunately, it was my sunglasses.

I was angry with my brown sunglasses. I promised not to wear it ever again. The sunglasses are not well-fit for my face. I need to buy an appropriate pair of sunglasses for everyday wear. Or better, buy a correct pair of ski goggles and a helmet for the next winter ski holiday.

I should have worn protective gear, yes or no?

The issue here is not about wearing protective gear but more about my sunglasses. Wearing protective gears or not, I saw many helicopters that day flying just to rescue skiers who were on the more elevated mountains and rescuers assisting injured skiers on the stretchers. I just pray that in the future, it won't let me in that worst situation having fractured bones and injuries. I just pray that I won't hit somebody, or a tree, or a rock that would cause a bad collision.

The next day, I was on bed rest

My legs were fine but my shoulders, neck, and head were in pain. It was difficult to move my upper body and I had that feeling I wanted a neck brace.

After lunch, I just went back to my bed sleeping like a chicken. I wanted to have a deep sleep but my kids were noisy and busy playing around. Part of me was happy to hear my kids, that means I am still alive.

Part of me was sad as I missed three days of ski lessons and when the kids got sick on those two days.

On the last day of the ski holiday

I didn't want to leave the French Alps with trauma so I requested my husband that we should ski at a different resort. I just wanted to ski on the easy slopes, the green piste. I took paracetamol to help me ease the pain and I also put ice on my swollen neck. My parents-in-law suggested that I should stay in the chalet and take more rest. But I insisted on enjoying the last day of the holiday or I would regret it.

Conclusion

I still hate my brown sunglasses. Tomorrow I want to break it and throw it in the trash. It's a cheap pair of sunglasses so I need to buy an expensive one.

It's time to finish this long self-talk and my hate of what happened.

This pair of sunglasses I need to get rid of and throw in the trash is not a nice fit to my nose. I don't have a nose bridge, you know! Grrr! Excuse me with my ugly face.

END OF RANT