Man injures big toe in Serre Chevalier

Serre Chevalier Toe Injury

In response to Fergus’s (Ferguses) post about his horrific ski injury, I’d like to clarify my situation. The photo shows a reenactment of the moments before my injury – I had been proceeding from the downstairs toilet back to the sofa past the extra wide bottom stair in my house. My wife thinks I uttered the words “I wish I hadn’t done that” – personally I believe it may have been a bit stronger.

Following the incident I had a decision to make: should I go and get it X-rayed (about 50€) or have a glass of rouge and forget about it? The decision was a no brainer, I drank plenty of Merlot (from ED) and went to bed in reasonable comfort.

Over the weekend the pain got worse and by Monday I was hobbling like a bastard. I had to dig out the pair of crutches -  (cannes anglaises the french call them for some reason) that I keep behind the washing machine -  and resort to being one of SerreChevalier.ORGs damaged team.

However today the sun was shining which meant only one thing: I had a gig at the Cafe Soleil. Bugger! Having managed to squeeze my swollen foot into some shoes I realised I could drive and it was indeed a damn site easier than walking. Unfortunately the only place to park in Chantemerle was the far far end of the patinoire car park, but by 11-45am I was entertaining the troops (literally). A mixture of standing on freezing cold ice, Ibuprofen and Pelforth Lager meant that the whole experience wasn’t too painful.

Here is a little note for anyone going up the mountain on crutches, do take the cable car and not the chairlift like I did – unless of course you are in a hurry when the laws of haste and maladroitiness come into play.