Is skiing bad for your knees?

Question

Is skiing bad for your knees?

Answer 1

It's pretty bad for your knees, it's just really hard on them. If you generally have knee problems and you go skiing you will feel it at the end of the day. Telemark skiing is way worse for them though.

Answer 2

You can really kill your knees if you ski the bumps but generally no, skiing isn't too bad. My dad was a ski patroller for years and still skis all he can. He has really bad knees but he doesn't really have too much trouble skiing.

There's not actually that much stress on your keens. It's mostly just down-force. What really tends to s***w your knees is either constant jerking (avoided if you avoid the bumps) and twisting, which there's almost none of in skiing unless you have a bad fall.

Answer 3

not enless you do many mogles and you are not committing

Answer 4

Generally any exercise that has movement of the knee joint will help strengthen it, over time the body ages and the joints will deteriorate slightly.  An injury can damage any body part or joint, as can over exertion. Proper conditioning and reasonable care of your body and using that rare thing, common sense when skiing will lessen the chances of injury.  Read  Willie D's reply, it's much more involved and his are usually good.

Answer 5

It depends on how old you  are. if your young you should be fine. but if you ski all your life eventualy your knees will be pretty bad.

Answer 6

That's up for debate.

In most cases, the casual skier who likes to cruise the groomers will encounter few knee problems from skiing. That doesn't mean you can't catch an edge on a Blue-Square and tear your knee apart...I've seen that happen. In a case like this, the damage is done due to falling, not due to skiing.

On the other hand....aggressive skiing on challenging terrain can lead to knee problems. ex-mogul skiers like myself experienced a lot of shock while going through the bumps and there is considerable amounts of force placed on the knees (and body) when landing after a jump. Similarly, jump-turning on steep slopes can also lead to excessive stress on the knees.

Telemark skiing may look like it is hard on the knees, but in actuality isn't (for the most part). I notice much more lateral torque in my knees when I ski alpine vs. when I free the heel. After blowing my ACL (a long story) I noted to my orthopedist that it was less painful to tele. A tele skier himself, he confirmed that there is less impact and during the turn, the muscles are looser than when one is performing an alpine turn. My chiropractor/kinesiologist (also a tele skier) also gave me some valuable insight to the stresses imposed on the knees in both disciplines of skiing.

Coincidentally, two days ago I was reading an article from 2006 about leg fractures from telemarking vs. alpine. Interesting was the notion that femur related injuries can be less severe with Telemark skiers due to the placement of the skis while turning, while ACL, MCL, and other knee injuries from telemarking are much higher due to the non-releasable bindings.

In general, knee-related injuries have soared since the advent of shaped skis and higher boots. At a PSIA clinic a few years ago they showed a graph of how knee injuries have risen and how lower leg and ankle injuries have fallen off. Likewise, I was also reading some articles in a ski patrol journal in regards to the increased number of knee, wrist, collarbone, and neck & back injuries over the past few years incurred by skiers in terrain parks. I can say that the majority of the calls our ski patrol responds to are park related injuries, but usually upper body injuries.

Proper weight training and conditioning can help strengthen the knee muscles and increase flexibility. This will help prevent the knees from going out on their own, but once a fall takes place, all cards are off the table as to what can happen next. A caught tip, a binding that doesn’t release, or (in my case) an encounter with an obstacle can all lead to a serious knee injury.