McMorris puts serious crash behind him
It is not the first crash or broken bone and it may not be the last. But snowboarder Mark McMorris hopes it was the worst.
Because the 23-year-old phenom doesn’t want to go through anything like it ever again. The pain. The trauma. The mental struggle. The intense, wholebody physical rehab.
“Nobody should go through anything like that,” he said Tuesday.
While filming a video in the Whistler back country March 25, McMorris lost control off a jump and slammed into a tree. He broke his pelvis, jaw, left arm and some ribs, ruptured his spleen and punctured a lung, and was knocked unconscious.
He was broken and battered, top to bottom.
“I went through a gnarly trauma ... but the fact that I was given another opportunity, I can wake up every day and know that it can be so, so, so much worse.”
He’s back on his board now, focused only on riding and shooting video for the documentary. He was leaving for Australia Tuesday and he’ll ride in Switzerland in October. He has targeted the Dew Tour stop in Breckenridge, Colo., in mid-December for a return to competition.
He feels no need to rush into competition sooner, in part because his spot on Canada’s team for the PyeongChang Games has been secured.
“I’ve got my spot on the Olympic team so I’m really stoked. I just need to ride and start feeling comfortable again.”
Most of his injuries have healed completely, but there is a lingering issue with his left arm, where he shattered his humerus. Mentally, he seems to be whole again.
“I don’t feel that my mindset on risk-taking has really changed,” he said. “I just think I want to be careful and I want to appreciate every day that I get to snowboard.”