CANMORE – When Kris Mahler was diagnosed with a broken neck, the national team skier from Canmore was told he would have to wear a cervical collar for six-to-eight weeks, 24 hours a day.
Picture being stuck in a stiff, straight neck brace and only being able to sleep on your back for two months.
“It’s about as uncomfortable as it looks. Definitely try to stay away from them as much as you can,” Mahler said with a laugh.
Mahler, a multi-time World Cup medallist, returns this week to the top circuit after missing most of last season when his C7 vertebrae, at the base of the neck, was severed during a heat last December in the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland. Among three other skiers leaping off a ski jump, it was Mahler landing in a rut, which immediately threw him head-first into the snowy ground as his body was tossed across the course.
It looked ugly. It was ugly.
Remarkably though, Mahler got up and skied down under his own power. It wasn’t until the adrenaline wore off that his neck and back seized up and he was rushed to a hospital.
Injuries – and bad ones at that – are a part of the game and Mahler knows it.
He’s needed surgery to repair torn and beaten down knees and shoulders. During those recoveries, making his way back to the World Cup was always a resounding “hell yes.”
One of Mahler’s “superpowers” as an athlete is taking the positives and moving forward.
But things were different in the aftermath of the scary neck injury. It made him view everything all from a different perspective and a different angle.
“When people see you in a neck brace it’s pretty surreal and I feel like it was really difficult on them,” said Mahler. “I felt like I was needing to be the rock for them and kind of tell them it was going to be OK and I was coming back to racing.
“It was the secure spot because that was the thing I knew and that meant I was going to be healthy. ... I guess I never dealt with the emotional component on a personal level from what it meant for me.”
By any measure, Mahler walked away with a best case scenario for such a serious injury. Surgery wasn’t required and he was greenlit for light activities by doctors. Mahler was often seen breaking a sweat at CrossFit Canmore doing limited workouts and the powder hound was actually back skiing for fun by March.
“I was lucky with the outcomes that occurred. I could have been paralyzed or worse,” he said.
However, a big question remained though if he would continue or not as a professional athlete.
Over the summer, Mahler cleared his head and travelled around western Europe taking in the cultures of Portugal, Spain and France. He hit the reset button and was trying to figure out what his next steps were while addressing mental health needs.
Unlike his knee and shoulder injuries, Mahler had a big learning curve this time that he hadn’t gone through with the others on the mental and emotional aspects of healing.
“This is what made me focus on the mental side so much more … and being able to ask for help. I think that’s the biggest thing too, right,” said Mahler.
“As soon as you start taking those steps it’s so much easier and you realize what you have been missing out on for so long.”
In his own words, the 29-year-old is getting toward the end of his competitive ski career. He’s a two-time World Cup gold medallist and a junior world championship bronze medallist.
Yet one carrot at the end of the stick he’s chasing still remains.
“So far, I still want to do it and the answer today is I’m still going for that Olympic team, that Olympic medal, and I’m enjoying it,” said Mahler.
Return to World Cup, Arosa
One year after the crash, Mahler is set to compete at the World Cup again Thursday and Friday (Dec. 12-13) in Val Thorens, France, to start the season.
One promise that Mahler had made to himself in ski cross was if he got injured, he wouldn’t go back to racing unless he felt fully confident.
“Probably my mom and dad have a different opinion about it,” said Mahler with a laugh. “When I’m back in the start gate I have full confidence.”
Just a few days after the French races, the World Cup returns to Arosa on Dec. 17, which is the Swiss course where Mahler broke his neck.
After spending months getting more in-tune with how he’s feeling mentally and emotionally, Mahler said if he gets to a point where his confidence is shot then he won’t lace up at Arosa.
Although he does think an incredible opportunity has been given to race again.
“I think it would be a pretty cool story to go back and try to do well there,” said Mahler. “They took out the turn I fell on this year, so I won’t have to worry about that so it’s a new course and new opportunity. I’m feeling good about it.”