A QUESTION OF LUCK
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Jean-Yves Michellod l Verbier/Switzerland Extreme skiing down steep slopes – that was my thing. As a pas-
muscles in my thighs as well as some of the nerves could be revived
to forget the past – not draw a line under it but move on to other
sionate freerider, I especially liked to climb a peak and pick a line
because my spinal cord had not been severed, just squashed.
things. In other words, free your mind and do what you can despite
down it that looked totally impossible. I worked as a safety officer
After four or five months, I started to stand up and walk between
your disability.
at the Verbier Xtreme Snowboard Race for three or four years,
two parallel handrails. Through constant training, I was also able to
The fact that I had skied so much before really helped. I was
so I knew my way around pretty well. When the event organizer,
regain a sense of balance, so that today I am able to walk without
scared of course before my first ride on the skibob. To be able to
Nicolas Hale-Woods, decided to open up the race to skiers in
crutches. Since I could not move my feet at all, they used splints to
turn the thing, I have to pick up some speed and slide through the
2004, I asked if I could take part. He invited me to compete and I
fix them to my ankles, which is why I walk with a slight stoop.
turn. But I picked it up quickly and one day I actually skied down the
won the race first time out – I was 27 at the time. That was the be-
At the start of my rehabilitation, my goal was to be able to lift my-
pistes at Verbier again, without falling. Powder was a bit tricky with
ginning of my freeriding career. But I never wanted to be a profes-
self out of bed and into the wheelchair without any help. As I re-
the skibob as it tends to sink in – especially for my friends who had
sional sportsman, living off sponsorship entirely. I don’t have
gained some mobility in my legs, the hope grew that one day I might
to lift me out of it 30 times a day! There was only one way round the
enough of a business head for that. However, my profession as a
be able to ski normally again. But it was such a struggle to walk that
issue – go faster. Now I enjoy powder skiing just as much as I did
mountain guide gave me enough spare time to hurl myself down
I realized it just wouldn’t be possible. So I looked for a viable alter-
before the accident. I am even quicker than the able-bodied skiers
steep slopes.
native and discovered that it was possible to ski in a seated posi-
because I don’t get thigh-burn like they do – you almost have to
On March 12, 2006, everything changed. I was skiing down a
tion. I came across Dualski on the Internet, a French company that
force me to stop. I enjoy the speed: it’s like being on a kart track.
45 degree slope on Mont Fort, in Les 4 Vallées ski region, and set
manufactures ski equipment for disabled people. They made me a
I can even carve turns at full speed. Despite sitting in a seat, I feel
off an avalanche that took me with it for 300 meters and slammed
kind of skibob, and in January 2007, eight months after my acci-
totally free.
me into the rocks. I broke all my ribs and fractured my back in
dent, I started to ski again.
several places; one of these was on my 12th vertebra. I was pretty
Para-freeriding, as I call it, is very different to ordinary skiing.
So I have ended up leading the life of a professional freerider after all. I have been lucky, all my partners have stuck by me, and be-
much broken in two. They operated on me immediately and
I sit on a carbon frame that is connected by a shock absorber to the
cause I continue to do film work I am almost more well-known these
patched me together with metal plates. After a week in hospital, I
substructure; this, in turn, is mounted on two skis so that you are
days than before. I get around a bit, too. I was in Chile and Russia,
was transferred to Sion for rehabilitation.
more buoyant in powder. You can use any model of ski with the bob.
and I am on the panel of judges for the Freeride World Tour. I am no
I had always said to myself that the worst thing that could ever
I also have two small arm supports to help with balance. Apart from
happier than before my accident, but I can still ski and travel. I think
happen would be to have an accident that left me paralyzed from
these aids, the skiing itself is pretty much the same, except that
many people would gladly swap places with me – not my wheel-
the waist down. When my worst fear came true at the age of 29, I
I can’t snowplough to brake.
chair, but my life.
was in a bad mental state for a few days. But at the time, I had a
When you have skied your whole life and suddenly, from one day
I have always been passionate about skiing and it was skiing
3-month old daughter, and as a father, your priorities are different.
to the next, you cannot even stand, you feel like you are starting
that gave me something to work towards. And to work up to – on
You cannot allow yourself to think of the end. What really helped
from scratch again, especially with the skibob. The toughest part
May 7, 2009, with the active help of numerous friends, I managed
was that, in spite of everything, I noticed that I was making a little
was going back to where I always used to ski, where everyone knew
a five hour ascent on crutches from the Vallot Hut to the summit of
bit of progress. The doctors started from the premise that it would
me from before and felt sorry for me. But I got over that pretty quick
Mont Blanc. The snow conditions were perfect, so I became the
be a great achievement if I was ever able to use crutches to get from
too. It was not long before I was having fun again. I think that is
first person to skibob down the North Face of Mont Blanc.
my bed to the bathroom. I was incredibly fortunate that some of the
the important thing when you have been in an accident; you have