I’m dealing with a little adversity right now. I cut my finger badly on the first day in the mountains and after five days of skiing under sunny skies, my wound is still throbbing and bleeding. Therefore, I decided to fly out solo today to have it looked at, cleaned, bandaged and given a rest for a few days. Lame, I know…but necessary.
It doesn’t look like much, but it’s deep and tough to protect when you are
taking skins and gloves on and off multiple times everyday.
It’s an expensive flight to say the least when you are flying alone, and unfortunately a cut finger doesn’t really qualify as an emergency evacuation, and therefore is not covered by insurance. But, I need to deal with this for a little while, so I can enjoy the rest of my trip skiing in New Zealand. The skiing has been good though, but most of the higher elevation lines and steeper terrain seem to be quite icy and sketchy…so we have been skiing more moderate terrain. Due to my injury, some of my original pans will have to change, but I still hope to attempt Mount Aspiring later in the month.
So far the trip has been really quite amazing. I have seen some great sunsets from up at the alpine huts and met some really friendly and interesting people. Including a dude that claimed to be the fourth richest person in New Zealand. For some reason…I believe him. Needless to say, the trip has so far proven that it is truly a small world we live in. One person that I met that is worth mentioning is Whitney Thurlow. Whit used to live in Jackson Hole, but now lives in New Zealand and owns Aspiring Guides. I met him while at that Centennial Hut and we shared some good stories about mutual acquaintances. A fun guy to say the least and if anyone out there knows Whit, know that he is doing well and still…quite a fun hog.
I’m hanging out in the town of Franz Joseph for the time being…a cool little place and worth a visit if you are in the area. Ciao for now!
thats suxs mate, let me know if you end up over this side of the hills. Might eb a good time to get out anyway looking a the weather forecast?
HAha, 4th richest in NZ, that would not take much……..
He was probably in the top 3 until you turned up with all your american dollars Steve!
You really need to quit chewing your nails.
funny grant. needless to say he was an ex-pat from the US.
yeah…the radio was saying thunder for tomorrow, but maybe clearing on sunday. might head back up then.
i hear you matt, but fingernails are low in calorie and help me keep my girlish figure.
its always better to get that stuff taken care of before you get blood poisoning or something!! good luck with the snow conditions, although there probably way better than here.
Steve,
Being a nine fingered guy i would say cut it off! Bummer. I think that ice is often the case with anything steep in NZ. Crampons and Ice axes are a must for any ski tour. Heal quick.
Wise move Steve.
Steve,
Sorry to hear about the cut finger. Sounds like you made the right decision. Maybe I missed something in your post, but wasn’t there a first-aid kit on location with antibiotic ointment, bandages, etc?
Certainly glad the cut hasn’t affected your ability to type. Really look forward to reading the updates on your blog. Hope the remainder of the trip goes well.
tri
Good move Steve you could have endangered your self and the rest of the crew had it gotten worse. Did you try the super glue trick; I never head out with out it. On a recent trip to the winds I had a 40’ tree fall on my leg and it was tough to pull the plug when so much money and time went into planning the trip but some times you just have to do it. Hopefully your good judgment will be rewarded. How did you cut it anyways?
PS You should have had the 4th richest person in NZ pay for your flight out. LOL
You probably made the right decision to not risk a staff infection or worse but why did you let it get so bad? Aren’t you or someone else on the trip at least a Wilderness First Responder? On trick for next time-honey. Honey is as good if not better than antibiotic ointment at preventing infection. Anyway get well soon and get some wilderness medical training 🙂
Looks terrible Steve, but hopefully nothing you can’t get over in a few days. Rest up and enjoy the rest of your trip! We missed you on the Source of the Snake. But looks like you’ve got a good trip on your hands…!
super glue good, derma bond best… (more flexible so it doesn’t break and peel off) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/874047-overview
thanks for the kind works everyone. i was really expecting more to the likes of wus, sissy and girlie-man to tell you the truth.
we had some first aid stuff, but it’s hard tio fit a big bandaged finger in gloves, so as soon as it looked scabbed over…i was going with out it being covered. yesterday, i banged it on my ice axe and it started bleeding again.
one of the dude i was with cut it by accident as we were modifying the roof water-tank system…to actually collect melt water. i should have seen it coming…but we were fired up to be in the hills and it happened so quick. i used to be a WFR…so i have some me training, but it only goes so far when you are using you hands and fingers all the time.
i think i will give it a few days of recovery down in town, its raining now…so not missing much, and then head back up using the super glue trick on sunday or monday, as high pressure appears to be coming back in then.
man that shower felt good though! 🙂
Bummer, but at least it seems you got a few good days in before the Wx turned.
I always feel a wee bit for ski-mountaineers I run into here in NZ, expecting to ski in snow rather than on ice!
totally mac. luckily the views are so good that it makes up for it. looks like another high pressure system may be coming in on sun or monday…which gives my finger some time to heal. gonna visit with the heli services tomorrow to see if i can jump in with another crew headed that way.
How did you do it? Looks bad. Hope it’s not infected and heals. At least it only a finger.
jim…see above comment.