The Comeback
Following a devastating ACL blow out early into the 2010 season, we sit down with team rider Chris Moore to dish the dirt on the infamous waterfall and his rehab progress.
Rumor has it you are back on the water again? How long has it been since your injury?
Yes sir, finally strapped back in. It has been a long 10 months from my last time riding.
How did the injury happen and where?
Quinn and I got a small crew together and went on a winch trip to South Carolina. The injury came from Riley Moore Falls. We had scouted the waterfall the day before we hit it so at least we got a few hits in at another spot. Unfortunately I tore my ACL first hit off the falls. Basically landed a little straight legged and when I tried to adjust it was too late...POP!
Once it happened, did you know your knee was done?
I wasn't sure exactly what was going on at first but I knew it was not good. Felt more like it dislocated then popped back in place, plus the falls were so loud I didn’t hear the ACL pop sound most describe. I just laid back for a moment drifting down stream, I was not in a rush to move from the initial pain.
Did you really keep filming the rest of the crew hitting it after the injury?
Totally! I set up a camera to get video while I covered sequence shots up close and personal. The pain went away really quick, plus we had a half mile hike out of the woods anyways, might as well suck it up and get something out of it. We had the winch on a homemade buggy we rigged from a 70's golf caddy. Took us a little bit longer to get all our gear out compared to getting it in.
We heard the drop was ridiculously large. How big do you think it was?
Ha ha, I've heard of some stuff being done bigger but this was the largest I had hit. About 17 feet where I dropped it.
Would you go back and hit it again just to conquer it?
Honestly not sure yet, no plans to but it wouldn’t be hard to convince me. Just no more season enders pre-midseason. Watching all the guys have a great summer riding was no fun.
Would you say you are back to 100% or 90%, 80%, 70%?
That’s a hard one, I feel my knee is about 90% but I also had shoulder surgery late October. I had gotten it caught in the handle late 08' and never got the issue fixed. My left shoulder subluxated/half dislocated about 14 times or so since then and wasn't getting any better. So 2 years of babying my left arm greatly hurt my riding, figured I needed to get it all done at once. I think my shoulder is about 85%, messes with my head more than anything.
Do you think you will be hitting it as hard now as you were before the injury?
Harder! Maybe no massive drops for a while but I plan on riding twice as much as I ever have. Lots of training and building my muscle memory back. Having 2 fully functional shoulders should bring me back to a level better then when my knee went out. I tried to keep the shoulder issue on the DL for a while and let certain movements keep certain tricks out of my head...not this season!
What is your focus for this season? Winch? Boat time? Etc.
I've been saying boat for the past few months but really I'm not sure. Too many influences to pick just one; Quinn Silvernale at GRC with the System, Vinny Knapp being his "ultimate winch kid" self plus tons of boat training and events around the ATL when not traveling. All in all my biggest focus is going to be my blog, SafetyFirstWake.com. I hope to keep it pretty versatile with boat, rail parks and winching!
Photo: Hannibal Matthews www.HannibalMatthews.com
