Two athletes work to recover from serious injuries suffered in Telemark and Snowboard Competitions

Photo courtesy of Berengere Moroc Berengere Moroc is recovering from injuries suffered during the The North Face Masters held April 2-5 at Alyeska Resort. She is currently undergoing rehabilitation at Alaska Regional Hospital. Moroc sits next to lead surgeon Mark Kimmens.

Andy Morrison/Turnagain Times Telemark freeskier, Ben Johnson, on the road to recovery, enjoys his first beer since his skiing accident on March 29 that left him with a broken neck and ankle.

By Andy Morrison
Special to the Turnagain Times

Talented freeskiers and freeriders from around the world converged on Mt. Alyeska this winter in the culmination of several world class competitions. The mountain was charged with an energy that was undeniable. The evolution of big mountain skiing and riding had come to The Last Frontier.
However, the recent competition held on the slopes of Alyeska revealed the high risk of extreme skiing. Two athletes, telemarker Ben Johnson and snowboarder Bérangère Moroc were left seriously injured. Extreme skier, John Nicoletta, paid the ultimate price when he died in a fall during the 2008 Subaru Freeskiing World Championships.
The loss of Nicolleta, of Aspen, CO, was felt by many, but especially by the two competitors who narrowly survived, Bérengère Moroc and Ben Johnson. Both suffered life-threatening injuries and both are on their way to recovery.
French snowboarder Bérangère Moroc has lived in Verbier, Switzerland for two years. She started off as the last rider qualified to the Freeride World Qualifying Series early this winter.
Moroc had been somewhat of an unknown in the freeride circles. Once on the first ever Freeride World Tour, she placed third at Mammoth, CA, first at Tignes, France; and second in Verbier, Switzerland.
In March Moroc said “I am so happy to be here (Verbier). It’s just amazing. I am one of the few riders without any big sponsorships, I work day and night here in Verbier as a ski teacher and a pizza deliverer. My dad and lots of friends from France are coming to see me tomorrow. It is really touching. It is just great.”
An unquestionably talented snowboarder Moroc placed second overall in the Freeride World Tour. It was a highlight of her season.
During The North Face Masters held April 2-5 at Alyeska Resort she took a unique line down Alyeska’s North Face. After making several turns and taking a jump she hit a “shark”. The hidden rock tumbled her approximately 800 vertical feet down the mountain.
The 28-year-old champion was glad to be wearing a sturdy helmet and extra thick lens Bollé goggles. Her injuries consist of a broken face, shattered arm, internal bruising and a broken back.
Despite the set backs Moroc is optimistic.
“They saved my arm and they saved my body,” she said.
Moroc was especially thankful for the response and care she received.
“Thanks for all the support from the people of Girdwood, and everyone at Alaska Regional Hospital, all the nurses (Selka , Joe Seelig) and doctors (Steve Brecht, Mark Kimmens, Carl Rosen),” she said. “They have been great.”
Moroc also expressed thanks to the Paul and Barbara Crews family of Girdwood for hosting her for part of her recovery here in Alaska. Doctors have ordered her not to fly for about a month.
“I feel really good, really enjoying Alaska people because they are really nice to me,” she said. “I am not upset being far from home because everyone is so nice to me.”
And she especially enjoyed Alyeska Ski Resort, “It is a great resort,” she said.
Telemark freeskier Ben Johnson expects to be released from Providence Hospital on April 22. He broke his neck and left ankle and leg during Telepalooza.
“I am feeling super lucky to not be quad, and relieved to survive despite not knowing how much movement I will have,” he said.
Johnson has a definable injury, central cord syndrome, which leaves him strong from the pectorals down and week from the chest up. There is no response from the shoulder region on his left side. His left shoulder is essentially paralyzed, but all the other muscle groups are slowly responding to therapy.
Johnson has another three weeks before his ankle can bare weight. He has a spiral fracture of the fibula and he tore the deltoid ligaments. One metal plate and six screws hold it all together.
“They might remove them depending on how it eventually fits into a ski boot or a hockey skate,” he said. “It makes recovery hard to do everything on one foot. The hardest parts are tying shoes, brushing teeth, washing hands, it’s exhausting, so difficult. I have to fire up every morning because everything takes so much energy. I went from being in the best condition of my life to having it be hard to get a tennis shoe on.”
Johnson’s passions are skiing and boating (whitewater rafting and kayaking).
“I used to make my livelihood as a remote river guide here in Alaska,” he said. “It’s scary and its hard (lack of arm movement), it’s a big loss not being able to push ores, it’s a big loss. I plan on skiing again, I will be skiing again, I may be a no pole’er, but I will be skiing again and playing hockey.”
Johnson said he accepts the high-risk sport of freeskiing, and the consequences that come with skiing difficult and sometimes dangerous terrain.
“I feel like when you are in high risk sports you have to identify the consequences of your actions, it is interesting to be dealing with them, taking them (consequences) on from the risks I took,” he said. “It’s a fight now, it’s my battle, I’m squaring up to it, I want the use of my arms back”
The death of John Nicoletta has also weighed heavily on Johnson.
“It turned the volume up on how lucky I was,” he said. “ I tumbled 200 feet with a broken neck and lived. I’m fighting for Nicolleta now too, I got my life so I am fighting for him. I got lucky, that could have been me too.”
Johnson wants to thank “Jesse Weeks and Chugach Powder Guides for getting that heli up to the mountain, Alyeska Ski Patrol, and the doctors on the scene.
“I have been bombarded by support: friends, skiers, even people I do not know, it’s wild,” he said.
When Johnson leaves Providence he will be heading to the University of Utah - Rehabilitation Center to spend the summer.
“It’s supposed to be one of the best in the country, I’ll make a full recovery happen there,” he said, and expects to back in Alaska in August. “This is where I want to be, not in Utah, in Alaska.”
Admittedly, Johnson may find a place with running water instead of the cabin he currently lives in part-time between Cantwell and Denali. He also has nothing but good things to say about the first ever World Telemark Freeskiing Championships.
“Telepalooza was super cool,” he said. “It was a really cool venue and I think it should go on, such a cool competition, maybe I can be a judge next year.”