Aaron Tipping
 
British Alpine Ski Team 2008/9 
 

10 June 2008 - Blackmore Heath Sponsorship

Insurance brokers Blackmore Heath announced that they will be sponsoring Aaron for the fourth consecutive season with £500 towards his training costs.

Blackmore Heath are an insurance brokers who specialise in arranging insurance portfolios for businesses and quality personal insurances such as household and motor for individuals, and have been doing so for over 15 yrs. The cornerstone of the business is professionalism and high quality of service. Further information can be found on their website www.bhl-insurance.co.uk

17 May 2008 - STGB GRANT

Aaron heard today that the Skiers Trust of Great Britain have given him a training grant and would like to say a big thank you to the Trust for their support. The Skiers Trust of Great Britain is the only charity for able bodied skiers.

Originally founded in 1966, the aims of the trust are to support skiing to a broad spectrum of young people who are currently at school or within the education system and also to assist research into ski safety and the impact of skiing on the environment.

It has been quite hard raising funds for Aaron to complete his rehabilitation. We hope that now Aaron is back to full training others will follow the lead of the Skiers Trust and support Aaron.

15 May 2008 - Chalet Chovettaz sponsor Aaron

A very big thank you to Chris and Fiona the proprietors of Chalet Chovettaz who have for the third year running helped Aaron out with a contribution to Aaron's living expenses in the mountains.

10 May 2008 - British Team Selection

Great news for Aaron today he received an email from SnowSport GB informing him of his selection to the British Alpine Ski Team for the 2008/9 season.

20 November 2007 - First Time back on Skis

Today 364 days after his horrific accident Aaron has skis on again.

This was just a short visit to Xscape Milton Keynes to get some video and feedback for the doctors at the Olympic Medical Institute. With Mike Barker helping with feedback and video Aaron did about ten runs in the indoor centre.

Following the accident and 3 subsequent operations Aaron still has restricted dorsi-flexion of his ankle, the doctors and physios wanted this tested whilst Aaron was skiing. It will be a while until he is back on snow properly but it is encouraging to see him on see again.

Aaron's surgeons are amazed at his progress as they thought that he would be doing really well just to be walking properly right now.

Today Aaron had his third operation since breaking his leg. This time the screws that held the bones to the metal pin were removed (the pin will stay for life); and also some work was done to "release" some tendons that prevented Aaron from straightening his toes properly.

Now the physios can get to work to increase the movement in Aaron's toes which will help with his balance and general rehab.

Today Aaron had some great news and a real financial boost. An anonymous donation was made to Aaron's fund with the Skiers Trust of Great Britain.

A very big thank you to whoever made the donation.

Another day another doctor!!

Just had a really positive day at the Olympic Medical Institute where I saw my old friend Dr Anita Biswas a top Sports Physician. Anita looked after me at Crystal Palace when I had knee and back problems.

It appears that my leg is doing really well but needs some intensive rehab and physio to correct some of the imbalances that have developed over the last few months mostly due to me not having feeling in my foot and some movement problems with my ankle and big toe.

My first week of intensive rehab starts Monday 16th July - so I had better prepare for more pain !!

The programme for me then is to be at the OMI for a week each month until its closer to the time for me to ski and then it will be for a longer period to ensure I am totally prepared to get back on skis.

As I am on the British Team the physios etc at the OMI are all paid for via the Olympic passport scheme, I will still have to pay for food and lodging at the Institute - all offers of help appreciated.

Aaron got a real boost today when he received an email from SnowSport GB with news of his selection to the 2007-8 British Junior Alpine Ski Team.
As Aaron is currently on injury status his selection is conditional on him returning to full fitness and skiing performance. 

By Aarons Dad.
I went to London with Aaron on Monday and the news is good but not that good. There is still a chunk of bone missing which may be that way for ever now, in view of this Aaron was told that the metal rod inside the bone may now have to stay there and is unlikely to be removed as we were originally told in Austria. The screws should be able to come out later this year as you can feel them quite easily and it would be uncomfortable to leave them them in especially when squeezing into hard and tight race boots. With all that said the doc was really pleased and somewhat surprised with how much progress the bone had made so there were some positives to be had here. Aaron is still not allowed to run or jump (in fact not allowed to do any impact work at all) this will be reviewed again at his next check up in three months time. Quite a while to wait but with travel costs added each visit is now working out to £362 we are glad the visits to London are not more frequent.

A cautionary tale here - check the cover your insurance gives for outpatient visits - our insurance was great for the emergency in Austria and for in-patient work in the UK but only covered £1000 of outpatient care including Physio. Now we are lucky that Aaron is sponsored by his Physio but as you can see at £362 a visit to London, a thousand pounds for outpatient care does not go very far.

With regard to the nerve graft -  its growing slightly quicker than normal but we just have to be patient - nerves take a long time to grow. The Professor does not want Aaron back on skis until the nerve has grown more and Aaron has learned to cope with whatever the deficit of feeling that he is left with. Again we were told - we can not rush these things. Quite hard to hear from Aaron's perspective as all he wants to do is get his exams over with and get on skis. The prospect of missing all the summer and autumn training and the start of the season did not sit well with him.

We did ask about getting back on skis and were told in no uncertain terms - "this was an horrendous accident" and that on first sight Mr Haddad (the bone specialist) had thought to himself that it would take at least 12 months (from the accident) for Aaron to be anywhere near "normal". Aaron is healing quickly (although it doesn't seem like it) so we keep our fingers crossed that Aaron will prove the Doctors wrong and return sooner than expected.

On the fitness training some good, some not so good news. The message was push ahead with all fitness work  but with the caveat of  no impact work. . Just ordered some rollers for Aarons road bike, he can pedal the miles indoors watching films on his laptop and wont have to worry about the traffic or weather !! So its lots of bike work, weights, core work, swimming and cross trainer, flexibility - almost anything except running and jumping.

Jake - thank you for mentioning to Jai on MySnowSports about the Exogen machine, we asked the doctors about Aarons situation. The doctors said it would help  - but they did say there were not too worried about the speed of things as we are waiting for the nerve to grow anyway. Still we thought it would be good to do anything that helps so we are trying to blag one like you did
 

19 February 2007 - Walking again

 Aaron saw both specialists (bone and nerve) again today with some more mixed news.

The fibula has now fused and is healing well, however where so much bone was missing (shattered and then cleaned out) from the Tibia there is still a gap to be bridged. After 5 weeks of being able to walk with crutches and putting 50% pressure on the leg, Aaron has now been allowed to put full weight on the broken leg. With a substantial amount of bone still missing Aaron is not allowed to run or jump (impact activities) but is allowed to be more active than before - he is now looking forward to putting in the miles on his bike, and other lovely activities that we are sure his physio will line up for him. Aaron was hoping to be able to put his skis on and have a slide towards the end of the season but his next check up is not till after Meribel so it looks like no skiing now until the summer at the earliest.

The good news is Aaron has now started physiotherapy and was able to swim this weekend even though he could not tell what his left foot was doing. The bad news from his perspective is that he has had to go back to school and sit his mock GCSE's. Also Aaron can still only put 50% weight on the broken leg as the bone still has a lot of mending to do.

 Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 
 

On Thursday, Aaron went to Crystal Palace and saw an English Institute of Sport Doctor who promptly referred Aaron to see an Orthopaedic Specialist in London.
Although he said the Austrian doctors had done a really good job, he said the break was nasty and needed a specialist to take care of things.

Friday - attended fracture clinic at local NHS - scars healing well and the staples removed - again doctor said the Austrians had done a good job

Saturday - Dr Haddad at the Wellington in London. It was really good to see a specialist. Aaron has a bit of a problem with his calf and Achilles which is going to be monitored over the next couple of weeks together with some possible nerve damage as Aaron currently has no feeling in the bottom of his foot.
Physio has been ruled out at present due to the pain and extent of trauma that had been experienced. Aaron is currently resting as much as possible  -  Oh and watching the cricket when he can't sleep !!

Post Op Xray

6 November - Update

We have just heard that Aaron should be flying home on Monday. He was hoping to be home on Saturday but the swelling around the injury had not reduced enough and his repatriation was delayed, It is still not clear how long he will be in hospital.

As Aarons leg is now held together with metal he is able to put a little weight on the leg and can manage a few steps with the aid of crutches.
 

X - ray before surgery - 

21 November 2006 - Big Crash - Broken Leg

This morning Aaron had a big crash and was taken to hospital via helicopter. The doctors are operating this afternoon to pin his tibia and fibula as he has suffered an open fracture. The doctor said he would probably have to spend the next week in hospital and would not be on skis "for some time".

12 September 2006 - Frontier Ski Sponsorship

Frontier Ski will be sponsoring Aaron for the 3rd year running. They will be helping with the costs of Aaron's training with the England Team. Many thanks to Sandra Potter and the Frontier Ski team for their continuing support
 

"PhysioActive Ltd Sports & Spinal Practice is based in Mottingham, London SE9. Originally established in 1986 by Chartered Physiotherapist Chris Boynes, our expertise is in the treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries and all musculoskeletal conditions.

Our client base is varied, ranging from international athletes to patients recovering from non-sports related post-operative conditions. At all times we pride ourselves on excellent patient care.

Our practitioners include eight chartered physiotherapists, two sports massage therapists, an acupuncturist, podiatrist, strength and conditioning coach and Pilates instructor."

09 June 2006 - British Youth Team

Aaron received news today advising him of his selection to the British Youth ski Team for the coming season.

May 2006 - England Alpine Ski Team

Aaron was pleased to hear that he had been selected to the England Alpine Ski Team coming season 2006/7. Congratulations to everyone else that got selected also.

GIANT SLALOM
After the disappointment of not finishing in the downhill earlier in the week today Aaron won his first trophy in a F.I.S race. He won the Gordon Skiers Cup for the best placed Under 18 British skier (he is only 15). After a safe but not stunning first run, Aaron skied really well on the more technical second run to beat many of the older competitors.
In a race where he was the 5th best British skier overall, he was particularly pleased on the second run to be just 2.13 secs Noel Baxter - the winner.

After a hectic four days visiting family and friends over the Christmas break Aaron travelled out to the British ski academy today. He will join up with coach Andrea Marchand, TJ Baldwin, Jai Geyer and others and will be training and racing in and around the Chamonix area.
Apart from trying to reduce F.I.S points, Aaron knows that with Ross Green looking after some very strong up and coming CH 2 racers - they will be hot on his heels so there will be plenty of incentive to train and race hard this season..

Well its nice to be home for Christmas and to warmer weather, its been 25-30 below freezing for much of the time in Canada. A big thank you to all the sponsors that made the trip possible.
 With the cold temperatures Aaron was pleased to be using his England team uniform supplied by five seasons - excellent stuff for the cold weather.
 The four week camp with coach Andrea Marchand and training partner TJ Baldwin culminated in 2 GS and 2 slalom races in the resort of panorama. Some of the Ontario team that Aaron and TJ trained with last year were there so the boys knew the races would be tough.
  Aaron finished both GS races but lost a lot of time on the flats so his points were not great. The first slalom was going really well until Aaron crashed out near the end of the second run so no points scored there. The second slalom was a little better and Aaron was quite pleased to get a medal for the best performance by a non seeded skier, finishing 33rd from a start position of 112.
 

Frontier ski will be sponsoring Aaron again this season making it possible for him to travel to Canada for some early season training and races.
 Travelling with his training partner TJ Baldwin, Aaron will be meeting up with their coach Andrea Marchand (ex-world cup skier).
 Aaron said "frontier kindly sponsored this trip last year and it was this training that really set me and TJ up to have a successful season"

25 May 2005 - Aaron stays with Blizzard

Aaron has chosen to ski on blizzard skis for a 5th season, moving into F.I.S races this season Aaron was keen to stay with brand that he knows and with suppliers that are always willing to help .
 A big thank you The Ski Warehouse who sponsor Aaron, supplying blizzard skis, marker bindings and a few other goodies.

15 June 2005 - SOLDA sponsor Aaron

Aaron is proud to announce that Solda ski wax will be sponsoring him in his first season of F.I.S racing.
 
 "Solda are a young and dynamic company, located in Valdagno (Italy), which has its roots in the Olympic games of lake placid  (USA) in 1992, where the athlete Gino Solda started the engineering of ski waxes and skis preparation." - quoted from the solda web site.