Member of the Month

abjectwoe
May, 2025

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Skiing with out an ACL??

profile picture
willysworld
Posts: 2116 - Karma: 5,485
I gave just blown my ACL and dont have private insurance or 11g to pay for the opperation I need. Now im on the waiting list for the public system here in Australia but i can't get an operation untill may next year. Going a whole northern winter without snow will literally kill my soul so im curious if any one knows if you can ski at a high level with out an ACL with the aid of a really good knee brace? Any positive information would be very much appreciated.. examples of people doing this .. the risks ect. Im really up shit creek with no paddle and im looking for light at the end of the tunnel thanks heaps
10 years ago
34 5
profile picture
arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
if you ski without an acl you are very likely to tear other things or worse.
unless you are skiing easy groomers that are never icey I wouldn't recommend it

does it really cost 11 grand for an acl reconstruction??
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
willysworld
Posts: 2116 - Karma: 5,485
Yeah in Australia 11200 is what ive been quoted. I can get it for free but I then have to wait till may next year.. so that means no skiing till October next year.
10 years ago
1 0
profile picture
Sklar
Posts: 8865 - Karma: 31,618
See: Tom Wallisch, Russ Henshaw, PK Hunder
and many more


https://vimeo.com/85217548
10 years ago
7 0
profile picture
270on420out
Posts: 7524 - Karma: 51,324
Wallisch did it. But I do not recommend it because, as stated above, you could tear other ligaments. Take it easy this winter. Work out alot, and come back strong.
10 years ago
3 0
profile picture
yungsteeze
Posts: 673 - Karma: 1,969
damn public system probs
10 years ago
3 0
profile picture
arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
is there a way you could get a surgery quicker in another city? when I blew my knee I got an MRI in 2 weeks at the hospital in the town 30minutes away but it would be a 6 week wait in my town. surgery is different than mris but its worth looking into
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
There are some athletes who can ski or play sports with no ACL. The main issue is when landing forwards your tibia and femur will translate often, which would be extremely painful. You could, strengthen the muscles and wear a knee brace but there will still be a good chance you won;t move correctly.

Without an ACL you might start to compensate movements, risking other knee injuries or develop osteoarthritis
10 years ago
5 0
profile picture
Dieter1080
Posts: 244 - Karma: 66
Skiing without an acl is possible but indeed not recomended. For the reasons stated previously. If you are going to ski without acl, it is very importand to have well trained quadriceps becouse they can add stability to your knee.
Good luck
10 years ago
2 0
profile picture
galardogod
Posts: 1716 - Karma: 5,336
tOM wALLISCH, Simon Dumont, Russ Henshaw (he had neither if I remember), pk Hunder and many others have done it. I guess it ultimately comes down to how bad you want it and if your willing to not count the cost. Yeah you put yourself at risk for a little more cartladge damage but fuck it your skiing and I assume you aint skiing as hard as wallisch. Invest nin a solid brace and go rip it up!
10 years ago
0 4
profile picture
epapageorges
Posts: 188 - Karma: 163
Didn't know I had a blown ACL, skied on it all season (was misdiagnosed as a sprain by my main doctor, saw a specialist after the season and he knew right away). You don't notice it until your knee pops out of place (femur slides further forward than it should, or to the inside)... Which it will, mine did between 5-10 times this season and it resulted in some cartilage damage and meniscus damage which will most likely lead to knee problems for me 10 years down the road so in short yes you can ski without and ACL and even progress. I was hitting the Kings crown line in park city no problem and it only shifts around when you land awkwardly or crash but is it worth risking damage that will lead to long term problems? I guess that's a decision you have to make for yourself. If I knew beforehand that I had a torn ACL I would not have skied hard on it in order to try and protect the other structures in my knee.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Noddard
Posts: 2661 - Karma: 3,876
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/778153/DeJuan-Blair-s-Big-Banghttps://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/778153/DeJuan-Blair-s-Big-BangThis man has no ACL's and played in the NBA that way. Some encouragement hopefully that it is possible, but very hard and you would have to do enough leg work to compensate for the loss of the support.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
taylor_gang
Posts: 309 - Karma: 260
My mom just fowned out she tore her ACL 35+ years ago and has been living her entire life without one. Granted, no crazy action sport phenom.. skis, runs, works out quite hard and does just fine. Only reason she found out is because she tore her meniscus and the charts showed an ACL with 35 years of scar tissue.
Give it some time and scar tissue acts more or less like muscle the longer you wait. But please, get surgery and don't be like my mom! I'm sure you rip harder, anyway.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
shell out the $800+ for a top notch cutsom knee brace and shred all winter!

the main risk is to the meniscus once you blow your ACL because of the over loose fornt-back play in your knee. More ligament damage is unlikely, but cartilage damage is possible/likely if you try to shread just as hard as before... but you wont. you will feel your knee moving around a littl(even with a brace), see the swelling after everytime you ski, and feel the soreness at night.

If you do blow up something else in your knee, what happens? you just tack that on to the surgery you already were to get and add on another few weeks of recovery.

You absolutely can get away with it, and it sounds like you should certainly try to in your situation.

Absolutley crush your leg training and PT for the next 4 months and you should be as good as you can be to ski. Good luck!
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Mingg
Posts: 14047 - Karma: 50,912
I've been doing just fine. I don't ski at a high level per say but I ski as hard as I can usually.
My biggest issue has been instability. Working out helps a lot with this and over the years it's gotten less noticeable/prevalent. If you can get some kind of PT, definitely do it. Wear a brace and you'll be better off.
Landing backseat is fucking awful. I don't know if it's just me but when I sit back, I almost never can get back up and need to bail. Skiing on it for me, isn't that bad tbh. Just gotta be careful.
10 years ago
2 0
profile picture
Jamartini
Posts: 408 - Karma: 1,663
I skied this past season without an ACL. I tore it November 24th, didn't get surgery immediately. My surgeon prescribed me a custom knee brace for skiing, then for a month or so i went to the gym and physical therapy to get my legs as strong as possible. After my physical therapist gave me the okay I skied till the day before my date of surgery (February 25t).

It took some time to get used to, wasn't able to hit any rails just because I was scared so I spent a lot of time behind a camera but I skied pow, moguls, trees, east coast ice, small cliffs, etc and the only thing that happened is it just fatigued more quickly.

If skiing means as much to you as it means to me, and you are willing to put in the effort to strengthen your legs, go for it.
10 years ago
1 0
profile picture
arnie_grape
Posts: 3459 - Karma: 11,912
Noddardhttps://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/778153/DeJuan-Blair-s-Big-Banghttps://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/778153/DeJuan-Blair-s-Big-BangThis man has no ACL's and played in the NBA that way. Some encouragement hopefully that it is possible, but very hard and you would have to do enough leg work to compensate for the loss of the support.


my buddy was playing basketball one day at the gym and in another group of guys playing ball there was this big strong lookin guy guy who had torn his acl 2-3 years before, and he landed funny after jumping and his bone went through the back of his fucking knee.

if you are going to be playing high impact sports with missing knee ligaments you better make sure you keep your muscles strong as can be
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Caucasian_Asian
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 1,665
I blew my ACL 10 days before a 4-day all-expenses paid cat skiing trip. Non refundable.
I kept skiing. I went on the trip. I had to adjust my stance a bit to compensate, amd had to be careful not to get too far back, but I skied just fine.

Lots of ice and ibuprofen though.
10 years ago
1 0
profile picture
charcharbinks
Posts: 515 - Karma: 734
I tore my ACL 3 months ago and I've skied 4 days on Mt. Hood this summer since then. Skiing on groomers was fine and I could even hit a few rails but I was in a decent amount of pain the whole time. Hitting bigger rails/any jumps hurt really bad so I tried to avoid them completely. (landing hurts when you have meniscus damage haha) My knee would swell up at the end of each day and walking would hurt for a few hours after but nothing too serious, and yes I was wearing a knee brace. It's definitely possible to ski without an ACL but it's not very fun riding behind your homies all day watching them shred while you debate whether or not you should slide that 12 foot flat tube and risk injuring yourself even more. I'm getting surgery on August 18'th so hopefully I'll be skiing again by the end of February. If you do decide to risk it, get your leg as strong as possible to compensate for the torn ligament, get a good knee brace, avoid hitting park if possible, and whatever you do.. DON'T FALL AGAIN! Good luck man! #fuckknees
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,018
MinggI've been doing just fine. I don't ski at a high level per say but I ski as hard as I can usually.
My biggest issue has been instability. Working out helps a lot with this and over the years it's gotten less noticeable/prevalent. If you can get some kind of PT, definitely do it. Wear a brace and you'll be better off.
Landing backseat is fucking awful. I don't know if it's just me but when I sit back, I almost never can get back up and need to bail. Skiing on it for me, isn't that bad tbh. Just gotta be careful.


why wouldn't you just get surgery? you're putting the rest of your knee under insane stress, and are just going to make your life a lot harder in 10-15 years
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,018
Peter.why wouldn't you just get surgery? you're putting the rest of your knee under insane stress, and are just going to make your life a lot harder in 10-15 years


moral of the story: if you can get surgery, do it. if you want to ski until you get surgery, take it slow and wear a brace. a few extra days of skiing is not worth blowing more stuff in your knee.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Mingg
Posts: 14047 - Karma: 50,912
Peter.why wouldn't you just get surgery? you're putting the rest of your knee under insane stress, and are just going to make your life a lot harder in 10-15 years


I did the first time I tore it. Then like 18 months after I tore it again. I was advised against having surgery a second time so I didn't. I don't know why. It was 6 years ago but its been fine since then. Is it really that bad?
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
MinggI did the first time I tore it. Then like 18 months after I tore it again. I was advised against having surgery a second time so I didn't. I don't know why. It was 6 years ago but its been fine since then. Is it really that bad?


You just described it as being the opposite of fine...
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Lemuel
Posts: 14544 - Karma: 11,157
I would advise against it. I wanted to so bad the first time I tore mine, it felt so stable and as if I hadn't done anything at all after about 6 weeks of prehab before surgery. But I didn't. I probably could have skied down some runs without doing anything aggressive, but I think the wise choice was to not do it.

And yes, I know Wallisch, Henshaw, and Hunder (I think?) have all done it and been more or less ok.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
TACO-DOG.exe
Posts: 11990 - Karma: 12,272
i rode half the season without an acl and basically i was limited to 50% of the stuff i could do. honestly man its really not worth it.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
AceleTerrie
Posts: 257 - Karma: 36
Tom Wallisch almost made the Olympic Team with a torn ACL. If you do physical therapy and take care of it you can still have a fairly solid season. It will still hurt and you won't feel 100% but can definitely still have a good time. You need to be careful though because you can fuck it up even more because your knee will be very vulnerable.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Azapcon
Posts: 88 - Karma: 155
Your knee will be at a bigger risk for meniscus damage and what not, I tore my meniscus in spring skiing and that was plain awful. It hurts so bad and trust me, you do not want to add that to an acl. I dont know much about acl tears, but i would imagine its quite painful and a meniscus tear or any other ligament damage would probably make your life miserable until surgery.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,018
MinggI did the first time I tore it. Then like 18 months after I tore it again. I was advised against having surgery a second time so I didn't. I don't know why. It was 6 years ago but its been fine since then. Is it really that bad?



i would have gotten a second opinion after your doc told you not to get it repaired again. the lifestyle you live (skiing) is not conducive to only having one ACL. you're also young so recovery is not nearly as bad as it will be in 15-20 years
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Mingg
Posts: 14047 - Karma: 50,912
Peter.i would have gotten a second opinion after your doc told you not to get it repaired again. the lifestyle you live (skiing) is not conducive to only having one ACL. you're also young so recovery is not nearly as bad as it will be in 15-20 years


Yeah that's true. At the time I wasn't skiing like I am now or anything. Is 6 years later too late to have the surgery?
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
OregonDead
Posts: 7073 - Karma: 26,618
MinggYeah that's true. At the time I wasn't skiing like I am now or anything. Is 6 years later too late to have the surgery?


John Elway played his entire career in the NFL without an ACL in his left knee but then he got a knee replacement a few years after he retired from football. Says his knee is as good as new now but when he was at the top of his career he didn't have an ACL and he was still in better shape and able to perform better than an average person and a lot of pro athletes. Seems like every situation is different.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Peter.
Posts: 23796 - Karma: 13,018
MinggYeah that's true. At the time I wasn't skiing like I am now or anything. Is 6 years later too late to have the surgery?


not at all. i am sure if you go to any orthopedic surgeon and explain to them your situation and the lifestyle you want to have, they will say let's get the surgery. if you time it right, you can miss minimal ski time. when i had my initial appointment for my surgery, the doc told me i didn't have to get surgery if i planned on stopping skiing / basketball, so it obviously made sense for me to go through with it

OregonDeadJohn Elway played his entire career in the NFL without an ACL in his left knee but then he got a knee replacement a few years after he retired from football. Says his knee is as good as new now but when he was at the top of his career he didn't have an ACL and he was still in better shape and able to perform better than an average person and a lot of pro athletes. Seems like every situation is different.


pro athletes are not average people though. it is literally their job to rehab a knee and build up muscle around it, making the lack of an ACL not as crucial as in an average person. comparing yourself to a pro athlete is not smart in this sort of situation
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
Mingg
Posts: 14047 - Karma: 50,912
Peter.not at all. i am sure if you go to any orthopedic surgeon and explain to them your situation and the lifestyle you want to have, they will say let's get the surgery. if you time it right, you can miss minimal ski time. when i had my initial appointment for my surgery, the doc told me i didn't have to get surgery if i planned on stopping skiing / basketball, so it obviously made sense for me to go through with it


Ohhh. Okay, that makes a fuck ton of sense now. When I tore my ACL the second time I was basically done with gymnastics because of other injuries and that was like the end of it. So I think thats why I never went through with surgery. But cool, thanks! I think thats definitely something I should consider.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
jca
Posts: 4180 - Karma: 6,366
ive been skiing pretty damn hard without both of my ACLs for 3 seasons. i work really hard in the gym to make it happen but it is definitely possible if you have enough strength.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
david-alex
Posts: 26 - Karma: 173
I kinda know what you mean by that. I mean, I have no intent of going pro and even if I wanted i couldn't. But I'd do anything to get better. Even tho im training really hard to get better and I , most of the time, ski alone and train alone (I'm a ski teacher so when I'm working and I don't have classes I hit the park alone) I'm having a lot of fun. I'm trying to push to be able to do relatively good in compétitions and that's what I find fun in skiing, being with friends is not a must but it's surely more fun. Although I find that I learn a lot more when skiing alone, idk why.
10 years ago
0 0
profile picture
david-alex
Posts: 26 - Karma: 173
david-alexI kinda know what you mean by that. I mean, I have no intent of going pro and even if I wanted i couldn't. But I'd do anything to get better. Even tho im training really hard to get better and I , most of the time, ski alone and train alone (I'm a ski teacher so when I'm working and I don't have classes I hit the park alone) I'm having a lot of fun. I'm trying to push to be able to do relatively good in compétitions and that's what I find fun in skiing, being with friends is not a must but it's surely more fun. Although I find that I learn a lot more when skiing alone, idk why.


woups wrong thread sorrey
10 years ago
0 0
All times are Eastern (-4); Currently it's 9:47AM