December 04, 2014 (Vail, CO) – USST skier Noah Hoffman, 25, is heading into surgery today following his horrific crash on Sunday in the men’s 15km CL race at the 2014/15 FIS World Cup #1 season opener in Ruka, Finland. “The Hoff” crashed into a fence on an icy corner near the end of the race and broke his fibula also tearing one of the ligaments that connects the fibula to the tibia. He is slated to have surgery today in Vail, CO. It’s a tough break for the rising star who recently recovered from a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery two years ago.

Rescue after crash in Ruka. ©courtesy of Noah Hoffman

With the help of US team staff, teammates and his support crew back in the USA, the Hoff hopes to be back racing at the Nordic Worlds in Falun, Sweden (Feb. 18-Mar. 1). Here’s a brief recap of what happened with help from Hoffman’s popular and detailed blog (links are below).

The Crash as Hoffman describes it on his blog:
“The corner that I crashed on is definitely challenging. It’s a sharp right hand bend at the bottom of a straight fast downhill. It’s blind so you can’t see where you’re going, and it gets really icy with lots of traffic; yesterday was no exception. All that being said, I’ve skied the corner dozens of times in the years I’ve been skiing in Kuusamo. It doesn’t scare me and it should not be that challenging for me. When I went down the hill on my third lap yesterday there wasn’t anybody around me. I wasn’t trying to be super aggressive; in fact, I maybe should have tried to carry more speed through it.

I’m not sure exactly what happened. I slid on the ice, went into the snowy berm, lost control and slammed into the fence. The fence was made of alpine netting, but the bottom half of it was covered with some sort of solid paper or plastic. One of my skis snapped in half when it hit the fence and the other punched a hole in the solid material and went through the fence. I believe that my right ski was the one that snapped and my left ski was the one that went through the fence. I hurt my left knee and ankle as I kept sliding and my leg got torqued from the ski that was caught in the fence.”

Apparently, Canada’s Alex Harvey came through the same corner soon after and almost hit a snowmobile that was part of the rescue team transporting Hoffman off the course on a stretcher… Harvey described the corner as “super icy”.

Hoffman's X-Ray from Ruka. ©Noah Hoffman

After X-rays and a diagnosis in Ruka it was quickly decided that Hoffman fly back to the USA for medical treatment, but there were problems rebooking his ticket that was through Munich. As a B-team member of the US squad he has to pay for his flights and through a bit of a fluke, he found a rewards ticket option from Lulea, Sweden leaving the next morning.

We contacted US Coach Matt Whitcomb who told us, “As a B Team member Noah is responsible for his flights. This includes ticket changes. We are supported by Global Rescue, an entity that assists our team in case of a medical emergency in a foreign country. For GR to cover his flight, he needed to spend a night in a hospital. Noah was fortunate in that he found a business class ticket for 50 bucks and 70,000 miles. We spent a couple hours on several phones and computers with flickering internet last night making these arrangements.”

Hoffman at the Ruka Clinic ©Noah Hoffman

Teammates pitched in to help pack his gear etc. and fortuitously, team wax technicians JP Laurin and Oleg Ragilo were already driving the cargo van to Lulea; they quickly made room for Hoffman. Not only did everything fall together like magic, but Hoffman also benefited from the luxury of a business-class Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Denver.

“The route Noah took to get home was based on safety and comfort as well as speed.  With the world cup in town everything from nearby airports were booked. He was fortunate to be able to find a cozy business class ticket on only 70k miles – a ticket that otherwise runs thousands of dollars. It was an unlikely discovery that got him back to Denver just 30 hours after his accident,” added Whitcomb.

Hoffman managed to book a Biz Class flight back home on points. ©Noah Hoffman

But it was not all smooth sailing. “At the airport I went to check in and the Scandinavian Airlines computer system didn’t have my ticket number. I had to spend half an hour on the phone with United to get it figured out. I almost missed the flight,” wrote Hoffman in his blog.

Back home the Hoff’s network kicked in again. “When I arrived I was met by a very charismatic wheelchair driver. She took me through customs, helped me collect my bags and pushed me all the way to the car that was waiting for me. The car was parked at the airport for me by my girlfriend Emilia Wint’s incredible family. Not only did they do me the huge favor of driving Emilia’s car down from Breckenridge so I could take it back up, they also left a “Get Well” goody basket for me. I was well fed and hydrated on the drive to Breckenridge!”

Noah Hoffman, Sylvan Ellefson, Tad Elliott ©Noah Hoffman

He hooked with his pals Tad Elliott and Sylvan Ellefson while waiting to see Dr. Thomas Clanton, the director of Foot and Ankle Sports Medicine at The Steadman Clinic.

“This morning I drove over Vail pass to go to the world-renowned Steadman Clinic. Before going to the hospital, I went out to breakfast with my former teammate and good friend Tad Elliott. Tad just got back from competing in the opening U.S. Super Tour races in West Yellowstone, Montana. He’s returning to racing after a year of battling mononucleosis, and he skied to an impressive fifth place finish in the distance race. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and it was really fun to catch up.”

Teammate Caitlin Gregg signed Hoffman's cast. © Noah Hoffman

The decision came quick from Dr. Clanton… “Dr. Clanton looked at my MRI and X-rays. He saw two good reasons to do surgery. First, the part of my fibula that’s broken is displaced by 4 millimeters. He doesn’t like to let any displacement over 2 millimeters heal naturally because there is an increased risk of arthritis and other issues. He’ll set the broken bone with a plate and screws. Also, the MRI showed that I completely tore one of the ligaments that connects the fibula to the tibia. It needs to be surgically repaired. So, there are two reasons to do surgery. It’s a no-brainer.

Incredibly, Dr. Clanton will operate on me tomorrow (Dec 4). I am checking in at 6 a.m.

Read more on Hoffman’s blog:
Dec 1 – Broken Fibula
Dec 2 – No News Yet
Dec 3 – Surgery Tomorrow

SkiTrax joins the XC ski community in wishing the Hoff a speedy recovery in time for Falun 2015.