Injuries/Scars from Mountain Adventures

[Istoodupthere]

Anyone else have injuries or scars that will forever remind you of a certain mountain? I have a couple reminders on my left leg from my mountain excursions this past year. A 5 inch long scar on my shin from falling on a log trying to cross a seasonal run off stream during peak snow melt a few hundred yards up from the Baldwin Gulch 2wd trailhead. Freakin Cronin…A small round scar on my ankle bone from descending El Diente. The loose talus rolling into my ankle multiple times above the Wilson trail split will be a constant reminder that I should not have worn trail runners.

Not to mention the lingering hip pain from free falling 15 feet onto my hip on the descent from Granite Pk in MT. Plus the plantar fasciitis that started after a marathon day hike in the Smokies. Will I one day regret climbing mountains? Nope

[terribletigzy]

A storm started to roll in when my friend and I were near the top of Ice mountain. We opted to glissade down refrigerator couloir to try and make a rapid descent down to tree line. I didn't realize it at the time, but my pants rode up and gave me a nasty burn on the back of both of my legs. The snow/ice made my legs cold and numb, and I thought that was all it was. I spent at least two weeks sleeping on my stomach and my tattoo is still very faded in the part that essentially got grated off.

Apostle, Leg Burns.jpg (117.2 KiB) Viewed 6463 times

[zootloopz]

I've still got a sizeable scar on my right shin from when I slid into a piece of sharp talus during some rain on Vallecito Peak in the Wemi in 2021. Bandaged it up and continued on to do Jagged, Peak 6, 7, Silex, and the Guardian in the following days. Didn't really realize how bad it was until taking my first shower.

[jrbren_vt]

Horn Peak (Sangres) - Broken Fibula
Square Top Mountain (above Guenella pass) - Broken big toe
Beinn Alligin (Scotland near Torridon) - Sprained ankle, rolled it, bad enough that I could not do the next 2 planned climbs on the itinerary (Beinn Eighe & Liathach), so it's a good excuse to go back (I broke my Harry Potter pint glass I bought in Edinburgh, so I have to back anyway). It took a couple of weeks for color to return to normal, couldn't push off with that foot for a while)
Round Mountain (Adirondacks, across the street from Giant Mt.) - Sprained ankle, rolled it for no good reason

The key to not associating these hikes with the injury is to get back on them and return in one piece.
The top 2 are in the last year and half. The top 3 in the last 8 years. A strong indicator I am getting more brittle with age.
But more likely I just find many of the trails in Colorado are like hiking on ball bearings, so much of it is loose. It's often easier off trail.
That's probably why so many of the trails are getting so splayed and wide.

[Scott P]

My injuries can't really be seen, only felt and are from many mountains, not any single mountain.

Here's an x-ray showing that my tendons are so tight that they are pulling spurs out of the bones in my foot.

My knees have problems at times too. One mountain didn't do this, but it's a result of thousands of peaks ascents and putting more than 55,000 miles on foot from hiking and climbing alone.

As far as scars go, I have only emotional ones from friends that didn't make it out of the mountains alive or who were seriously injured.

Capture.JPG (516.9 KiB) Viewed 6402 times

[HikesInGeologicTime]

Most of the scars I have are mental, but not all:

1. I have a scar on my right wrist awfully close to the artery for my liking from when I tried a toe-side turn on a snowboard and did what you’re not supposed to do when you fall, which is stick your hands out. If I’d known the surgeon was going to cut that close to the artery, I probably would’ve agreed anyway, because that was when they were on the cusp of realizing that maybe they shouldn’t hand stuff like Vicodin out willy-nilly, so I was somewhere near the stratosphere when I agreed to put myself on the surgical schedule. This was almost exactly thirteen years ago, maybe exactly thirteen years ago, seeing as how the whole shebang happened shortly before Thanksgiving. I have stuck to skiing ever since.

2. You’d have to get way closer to my left eyebrow than I’d probably be comfortable with, and even then, you’d probably think it was just a zit, but it’s actually the remnants of my run-in with Handies…specifically, when my face had a run-in with a rock sticking out of a snowy slope on Handies.

3. The outer left side of my foot has a pretty noticeable scar from where I needed surgery to put my calcaneus back together after I shattered it when I failed to stick the landing after my 50’ fall off Pyramid. The x-rays from all the metal they put in to hold the heel together are pretty epic. The scar itself still feels all gross and tingly when I touch it. Fortunately, unless I have an unusual itch, it’s located in such an out-of-sight place that I generally don’t have to think about it.

Really trying to avoid adding to the collection.

[Gore Girl]

Some serious carnage here, fellow travelers! And I'd been admiring the scar on my right knee that the Gore Range bestowed on me during a long bushwhack this summer. Not quite as impressive as what many of you have experienced - but cherished none the less....

[susanjoypaul]

"Mallet finger" on my right ring finger from when I fell on it, overextended it, and waited a week to google "how to fix an overextended finger." By then, it was too late and I'd need surgery to fix it.

Also a broken ulna and broken radius from a rockfall incident that knocked me eighteen feet off the trail, where I landed with a classic FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand). The bones healed fine with a cast and no surgery, but I skipped physical therapy so the tendons are still tight, and it hurts when I twist my hand too far either way.

Nothing like these guys, though...

[alexhenes]

Now this is my kinda thread!

Please let me introduce the Merely A Flesh Wound Emergency Room https://www.merelyafleshwound.com/flesh ... ency-room/

Not all mountain injuries... but plenty of outdoor mishap gore and goodness. Not for the faint of heart

[Wentzl]

Alex. Not sure where this thread will go, but yours is gonna be the "winner"!

Hope your hand has healed well.

For my contribution, I have a pretty good couple scars from rope burn after a 90' winger. Cartwheeled in air three times, coiling the rope crotch shoulder, repeat and then spinning out like a yo-yo to have the rope peel flesh as it goes. Pitched into an overhang on the third lap, adding a black eye to the list, found myself just 15' off the deck looking at my belayer.

Not a mountain adventure per se, but the Shawangunks will always be dear to me.

DSCN3964[1].JPG (180.41 KiB) Viewed 5382 times

[alexhenes]

For my contribution, I have a pretty good couple scars from rope burn after a 90' winger. Cartwheeled in air three times, coiling the rope crotch shoulder, repeat and then spinning out like a yo-yo to have the rope peel flesh as it goes. Pitched into an overhang on the third lap, adding a black eye to the list, found myself just 15' off the deck looking at my belayer.

Yikes!

Fortunately most of these are friends and family... just a few are mine.

[justiner]

Surprisingly, I have nothing. Bicycle crashes have left me far worse off.

And let's not even mention skateboarding.