EGRV 27 | Risk

【The reason you won’t get a cast is because you still want to compete, isn’t it? You’re insane.】

Just like usual, Chi Yu raised his hand at the top of the slope and shouted, “Dropping in!” His voice was definitely clear and loud, and at that moment, no one had answered.

So, just like the five times before, he accelerated, leaned forward, carved an arc, initiated, rotated, and took off—

He sensed something was wrong while he was in mid-air. The wall of the large-sized feature was definitely as tall as a person. When dropping in from the top of the slope, it was impossible to see if anyone on the other side had cleared out. That’s why the “dropping in” rule existed.

But this time, there was clearly another person on the other side of the feature! It was another snowboarder who hadn’t cleared the landing in time after his jump, nor had he called out when Chi Yu dropped in. He looked up and saw Chi Yu in the air. Besides letting out a scream, there was nothing he could do.

Shit.

Before Chi Yu’s brain could process it, his body had already reacted. He delayed opening up his body to fly farther and avoid a collision as much as possible. As he’d hoped, his board just barely missed the person on the ground, but as he extended his body to land, his right elbow clipped the edge of the other person’s board.

Liang Muyie was standing to the side and witnessed the entire accident. He even heard the dull thud of Chi Yu’s arm hitting the other snowboard.

Chi Yu had opened up too late and too passively. He hadn’t actively prepared for the landing and had fallen while still tucked. As a result, he couldn’t stop upon landing and rolled twice before coming to a stop, face down and motionless.

Liang Muyie’s heart leaped into his throat. He quickly skied over to check on him. Chi Yu propped himself up with his left hand, then reached up to pat his helmet and brush the snow off his shoulders. Liang Muyie remembered that this gesture meant, I’m okay.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Before he could say anything, Chi Yu was already on his feet, laying into the other guy. “Did you hear me when I called ‘dropping in’? If you heard me, why didn’t you clear out or answer? You have to follow the rules when you’re in the park. What you did was life-threatening!”

The other guy was scared stiff, unable to even stand up, nearly kneeling in the snow to apologize. After listening to him for a bit, Chi Yu understood what had happened. The guy had fallen and sat down after a jump. Fearing he had broken his camera, he had been so distraught that he’d wanted to take it out and check it right then and there. He was also wearing in-ear headphones and listening to music, so he hadn’t heard Chi Yu’s call at all.

Whether you’re using features in a terrain park or sharing a climbing wall at a gym, it’s like driving on the road. Everyone relies on following the rules and trusting strangers to avoid accidents, but you never know when there’s a clueless idiot behind the wheel. Just like in today’s situation. Never mind the people involved; even Liang Muyie, watching from the sidelines, was fuming. He could finally empathize with how Chi Yu must have felt sitting in his passenger seat after the avalanche rescue.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, patting Chi Yu’s shoulder.

“Should be fine,” Chi Yu said, but his right arm was abnormally stiff.

Liang Muyie reached out to touch his elbow.

Beneath the double protection of his goggles and face mask, he couldn’t see the other’s expression, but Chi Yu’s reaction said it all. His body instinctively recoiled.

“Wait a minute,” Liang Muyie said, seeing him about to ski away. He knew he couldn’t possibly catch up, so he shouted, “Chi Yu, wait!”

Only then did Chi Yu stop.

“Can you bend and straighten your right arm naturally?” he asked, demonstrating with his own arm.

Chi Yu followed his movement but stopped just before his arm was fully straight.

Liang Muyie took off his goggles and looked at him, his expression serious.

At that moment, Chi Yu knew. It was over.

---

This was just the beginning of his competition season. A month later was the first stop of the Freeride World Tour qualifier, right there in Whistler. After that, he had to go to the US to compete. The schedule was tight. He needed a whole, healthy body.

Not doing his full tricks during practice earlier had been a form of self-preservation. But now, all his efforts were down the drain. He had actually gotten himself injured the night before a major competition, on a terrain park feature, not even in the backcountry, during his very last practice run.

It really proved the saying: the last run is the most dangerous one.

Liang Muyie advised him, “Let’s go to the first aid station and get it X-rayed.” He had often had to deal with various emergency injuries while hiking or climbing in the outdoors and had accumulated a lot of experience over the years. From the impact he’d seen, it could be anything from a soft tissue contusion to a fracture.

Chi Yu didn’t say a word, just skied ahead with his head down. Liang Muyie was about to try persuading him again, but then he took a closer look. The route they were taking down the mountain wasn’t towards Lot 8, but towards the first aid station. It seemed Chi Yu was taking his advice after all. He held his breath, employed the open stance Chi Yu had taught him a few days ago, locked his thighs and shoulders, and barely managed to keep up with the red jacket in front of him.

When they arrived at the first aid station, Chi Yu didn’t wait for him at all. He had already propped his board against the outer wall and gone inside to register. By the time Liang Muyie got there, he was already being seen by the triage nurse.

The nurse was a woman in her forties or fifties with a gentle demeanor. She even called him by his first name and asked what had happened this time.

Chi Yu fumbled in his pockets for his health card, only to realize he and Liang Muyie had swapped jackets. He turned around and started patting down Liang Muyie’s pockets. After checking about four or five, he finally found the card in an inner pocket and started filling out the forms. The nurse then led him inside to wait for an X-ray.

After he went in, the nurse smiled kindly at Liang Muyie and asked, “Are you here with your boyfriend?”

He wanted to deny it, but after assessing the situation, he gave a curt nod. Sure enough, once she knew he was a partner, the nurse led him into the examination room to wait with Chi Yu.

When Chi Yu saw him walk into the room, he looked like he wanted to say something but swallowed it back down.

Liang Muyie didn’t know whether to be amazed by the efficiency of Canada’s universal healthcare at that moment or to praise Whistler’s seamless ski-to-orthopedics service. Chi Yu got his X-ray right after going in, and the films came out shortly after.

The doctor, upon seeing him, took off his own glasses. After a moment, he joked, “You walked in on your own, so it’s probably nothing serious, right?”

Chi Yu could only manage a forced, stiff smile in response. He had taken off his jacket and mid-layer, leaving just the black Nike compression shirt underneath. He could only pull off one sleeve, revealing his entire arm and half of his bare chest and abdomen.

The X-ray showed no fracture, but a radial head crack in his right elbow joint. Fortunately, the crack was minor and the swelling wasn’t significant. A cast and a sling to keep the injured area elevated would be enough, and it should heal on its own in three to four weeks.

Chi Yu let out a long, visible sigh of relief.

The doctor explained all this with a smile and then asked him to wait a moment.

Chi Yu suddenly cleared his throat and said he would come back for the cast tomorrow. He said he was in a hurry to get home but promised to keep his arm elevated overnight and would definitely be back the next day.

The doctor was momentarily taken aback but agreed, reminding him that he absolutely had to come back tomorrow. The risk of displacement with a radial head crack was low; a cast was just a conservative measure. Immobilizing it without a cast was also an option.

Throughout the entire process, Liang Muyie sat next to him. He didn’t play on his phone or do anything else, truly playing the role of the “boyfriend,” listening attentively to the doctor, his expression serious the whole time.

On the way out, even Chi Yu couldn’t stand the solemn atmosphere and took the initiative to speak. “It’s better than I thought. Looks like my bones are tougher than a Rossignol board.”

Liang Muyie just grunted an “mhm,” not taking the bait.

Chi Yu tried again. “Thanks for bringing my jacket. That… that’s my lucky jacket. And the color is more visible.”

He was beginning to understand that Chi Yu only talked a lot when he was nervous.

Liang Muyie opened the trunk. Instead of getting Chi Yu’s jacket, he reached for his snowboard.

Surprised, Chi Yu clutched his own board tightly with his left hand, not letting go.

“I drove,” he said. “Just give me the jacket.”

Only then did Liang Muyie speak. “You’re going to drive this mountain road with one hand? In the dark? Are you insane?”

“I…”

He looked down at Chi Yu. “Don’t tell me you’re fine. Your right hand can’t even hold your board. How are you going to grip a steering wheel?”

Chi Yu was right-handed, but he was indeed holding his board with his left. He was quite observant.

Liang Muyie pressed his advantage. “The reason you won’t get a cast is because you still want to compete, isn’t it? You’re insane.”

Chi Yu’s emotions flared. He cut him off, arguing hastily, “I told you, I’ve calculated the risk, and I know how my body feels. If I really thought it was nothing, I wouldn’t have gone to the clinic. Conversely, if it really hurt and would affect my performance tomorrow, I wouldn’t insist.”

He said this, but the grip on his board loosened, allowing Liang Muyie to load it into the trunk of his SUV.

Liang Muyie didn’t reply, but to Chi Yu’s surprise, he knelt down on one knee on the parking lot ground, bent over, and loosened the laces on Chi Yu’s snowboard boots. Just like how Chi Yu had tied his laces for him in the gondola.

Freestyle has extremely high demands on the stiffness and fit of boots, boards, and bindings. The rider’s shins should be pressed firmly against the boot tongue from start to finish to maintain maximum control over the board. Because of his practice runs during the day, his boots were tied very tightly, making them uncomfortable to walk in. It was just that, under the double assault of his arm pain and the other man’s gaze, he had forgotten the discomfort. Until this very moment.

After undoing one boot, Liang Muyie patted his knee, signaling for him to extend his other leg.

The realization hit Chi Yu a moment too late. He jumped back half a step. “No, it’s fine. I can do it.”

In the end, he only allowed the other man to help him take off his jacket before getting into the passenger seat. The seat heater was on, and the warm air was blowing, but it felt like there was a dense, impenetrable wall between the driver and passenger seats. The atmosphere had plummeted to freezing. He didn’t even dare to look in that direction.

The car silently merged into the river of red taillights on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, heading back to the city.