Week 89: Matt’s {Broken Leg} Birthday!

Oh man, what a week this was.

It was Matt’s birthday week. We were originally supposed to dog-sit for some friends, but they had a change of plans. Since the loud drying machines were still running, and Matt and I have been sleeping on the couches in the family room, we decided to plan a quick ski weekend for Matt’s birthday, and to be able to sleep on an actual bed.

We decided Obertsdorf was the destination, an alpine town in the Allgäu region of Germany, only about two and a half hours from our house. The town hosts annual World Ski Jumping, Cross-Country Skiing, and Downhill Skiing competitions and we were excited to visit a new city and to ski both the Nebelhorn and the Fellhorn mountains.

Saturday morning was Matt’s birthday! We headed out and arrived in Obertsdorf by around 10:30. It was cloudy and snowing off and on, but we headed straight for the Nebelhorn, bought our lift passes and rode the lift up.

Upon getting to the top, we discovered that this was not the mountain we should be warming up on. Besides a tiny kids area, it was mostly Red and Black runs. We took a red all the way down the mountain and that was challenging enough for the first time out this year. In Obertsdorf, you can move between the different ski areas and use the same lift pass, so we packed up and drove over to the next ski area, the Fellhorn.

As the day went on, visibility was getting worse and worse; you could barely see a couple of feet in front of you. We did a couple of runs on the Fellhorn, which were fine, but decided to call it a day about an hour before closing. We saw SO MANY people getting rescued on the mountain due to the poor visibility and icy conditions. Additionally, it was really scary how cliffs’ edges were not fenced off. If you lost control, or just couldn’t see a turn in the trail, you would go over a cliff. We stopped at the mountain base for an après ski, then headed back to our hotel.

Our hotel was just the cutest. We stayed at the Gastehaus zu Farbe. I picked it because it was the only thing available at the last minute. We ended up with a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment that had been recently remodeled. The apartment even came with a parking spot, all for less than 150 euros- such a bargain. The hotel was right in the city center and we walked around the shops before picking a German restaurant for dinner. We finished the night at an Irish pub.

Sunday morning, we woke up and were surprised by the beautiful weather. It was supposed to be cloudy all weekend, but the skies were perfectly clear and sunny. We all thought back and discovered this was the first time we had seen the sun, except from an airplane window, since the beginning of January. Beautiful!

We packed up and headed back to the Fellhorn. It was packed by the time we got there already. We had to park over a mile away and ride a shuttle to the resort. Europe had very little snow the beginning part of winter. Now that there is snow, people are going crazy to catch up on time missed on the slopes.

Our plan was to ski from the German side into Switzerland. We rode the ski lift up and took in the views. You could see for miles from the top- very cool! We all took pictures at the top, except for Matt, who said he would have his picture taken later. I mentioned that this was bad luck, because the opportunity might not present itself again, but we carried on.

We started out on our first run of the day. The top of the mountain was covered in moguls, which make me super nervous. Ryan and Matt skied ahead; Brooklyn was behind them, and I brought up the rear. Ryan’s ski suit is black and chartreuse, so he is easy to spot and I usually just scan the trail ahead for him. As I came over a ridge, I saw Brooklyn stopped, and then Ryan sitting down. Where was Matt? Then I saw him laying in the snow. I skiied down and clicked out. He was obviously in a lot of pain and many other skiiers had stopped to assist. One person tried to call the ski patrol but there was no service so he took off his skiis and started running up the mountain to find help.

Later, I would get the story of what happened. Matt was cut off by another skiier on the moguls and had to redirect. The quick change caused him to lose control and go into a roll. Unfortunately, his left ski never unclicked, so once it was flat on the mountain, his body continued to roll while the left leg was stopped.

Eventually the ski patrol came and got Matt’s leg in a brace and loaded him onto a snow mobile. Luckily, we were not too far from the top so he was able to be taken up to the ski lift, instead of having to ride the snow mobile all the way down. The kids and I hiked up to the ski lift and were able to ride down to the base with Matt. There, the ambulance picked him up and took him to the Orthopedic hospital in Immenstadt, a city about thirty minutes away,

The kids and I had to wait for the shuttle back to the car. By the time we made it to the hospital, with traffic, it had been almost two hours. I was surprised that Matt had not yet been seen, this was a pretty serious skiing accident, right? I quickly realized that the hospital was full of patients with broken bones from the ski slopes. They were all being brought in with their ski boots still on, and then given plastic booties to wear around the hospital. The helicopter brought in two more patients from the ski slopes while I waited and I was glad that Matt was well enough to take the trip by ambulance.

Matt was finally X-Rayed and told he had a broken fibula and most likely more ligament damage. They advised us to find an orthopedic doctor back home. We squeezed his braced leg into the car and made the drive back to Stuttgart.