Yesterday, I just heard that my friend John Evans ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon while cat-skiing in Vail. From what he told me, the heel binding didn’t release, and when I asked him which ski boot he was using, he said a Surefoot Lange model. Interesting isn’t it? Now, that makes two of us sustaining an ATR in one of those shells. My sense is that under severe deceleration the upper cuff-tongue assembly has nothing to hold on to and comes crashing onto the lower shell (full elastic collapse,) allowing an extreme flex angle that will rupture the tendon. Achilles’ tendon rupture (ATR) while skiing is a rather rare occurrence and it would be interesting to see what would happen, under the same circumstances, with another boot design, say a three-piece shell like a Flexon or DalBello Krypton design? Quite intuitively, I’d say that the hinged spring-tongue would absorb the load, nothing would give and that the binding heel-unit could release as long as it hasn’t been set at an unreasonable level.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Another ski-related ATR
Yesterday, I just heard that my friend John Evans ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon while cat-skiing in Vail. From what he told me, the heel binding didn’t release, and when I asked him which ski boot he was using, he said a Surefoot Lange model. Interesting isn’t it? Now, that makes two of us sustaining an ATR in one of those shells. My sense is that under severe deceleration the upper cuff-tongue assembly has nothing to hold on to and comes crashing onto the lower shell (full elastic collapse,) allowing an extreme flex angle that will rupture the tendon. Achilles’ tendon rupture (ATR) while skiing is a rather rare occurrence and it would be interesting to see what would happen, under the same circumstances, with another boot design, say a three-piece shell like a Flexon or DalBello Krypton design? Quite intuitively, I’d say that the hinged spring-tongue would absorb the load, nothing would give and that the binding heel-unit could release as long as it hasn’t been set at an unreasonable level.
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2 comments:
I'm not buying that. Have several friends who have ruptured that tendon, and I don't think it's the boot. Bending the boot doesn't cause it - stretching the leg seems to be the culprit.
I ruptures my achilles in a flexon boot. this time last year. seems to me that a flexable boot adds to the rupture potential. my heal piece releaced just after the rupture.
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