Ski '10

It's Winter! Well...the end of it, and being neither school nor Uni holidays it seemed the perfect time to go to Mt. Perisher for some skiing - although technically I was going Snow boarding, as I find it much more natural feeling and fun. So, myself and a number of friends - both Googlers and not - drove down one weekend with the intention of staying for the week. As it turns out, the weekend we arrived was apparently the best conditions of the season, with loads of snow falling yet clear skies during the day. The conditions were indeed great, with this view from a black-run on the second day: (somewhere off to the right is Kosciuszko)

Sadly, it clouded over on the Tuesday and things got a bit icy, with the forecast of bad weather on the Wednesday so I decided to head to the two runs up to the Perisher peak while others did lessons in the morning. On the bottom of the first run I found out how icy it was the (literal) hard way, falling near the lift and landing rather badly for what was an otherwise normal stack. I made it to the end of the run with a slightly sore arm, and had decided to wait til my arm regained full movement before slowly return to the central village. This never eventuated, and here's why:
It's hard to see, but essentially my collarbone broke right through just above the AC joint (first broken bone for me). As the X-ray guy at Perisher medical centre put it: "it looks just like what happens when you break a branch off a tree.". Thankfully two of the other guys with me on the trip were headed back that night, so I cut my trip short and made it back on Tuesday night, falling asleep sitting up in my sling. I'd already had an appointment made in Sydney early the next morning where I heard the good news: no surgery needed, the softer Periosteum layer around the bone was still in tact so bascially (to my continued amazement) I just had to wear the sling for four weeks and it'd grow back, fixing itself.

So now I have no driving for the next month, reduced mobility having to learn to do stuff left-handed but my right shoulder is getting better every day and the only permanent damage is getting a small bump on my right shoulder where the bone fuses back in an odd shape. Otherwise, all good! (stop worrying, I'm fine :)