The light was flat. The snow was wet and heavy.
Not ideal skiing conditions for most people but great for downhill skier Robbie Dixon to test himself in his first time on snow since suffering a concussion six months ago.
“It didn’t matter what the conditions were, I was stoked to be up there,” Dixon said Thursday soon taking a few runs on the glacier at Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler, B.C.
“It was perfect for testing the old noggin’ to see how it feels with the flat light and soft conditions. I was able to bring it back to basics. I did some simple drills. Worked on the balance, worked on getting the feet back into the boots.”
The 26-year-old resident of Whistler, B.C., missed the last half of the 2010-11 World Cup season after suffering a concussion in a crash during a race in Bormio, Italy, in December.
He received medical clearance to resume full training in May. That gave Dixon the chance to build his strength back but he was anxious to test his reactions on snow.
“It was just getting a feeling on the snow again, seeing how the head reacted,” said Dixon, who has 10 career top-10 finishes in World Cup races since 2008. “I wanted to see if there were any lingering symptoms that might have been sparked out there on the hill.
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“To be honest, everything felt good. It was just a matter of getting out and skiing again.”
While Dixon’s head felt fine after the morning exercise, he had some other pains.
“My feet feel a little sore from being in the boots,” he laughed. “That’s pretty normal.”
At the time of the crash, Dixon had hoped to return before the end of the season. But lingering concussion symptoms forced him to be patient.
“Once (returning) wasn’t a possibility I had more time to rest up and get the head going again,” he said. “I kind of looked forward to getting back into the gym and getting my strength back.
“For the first few months I kind of lost everything. It’s been a long wait. It’s good to get back in the rhythm of the normal me.”
The six months without skiing is the longest stretch for Dixon to be off snow in the last 15 years. It wasn’t an easy time for someone used to travelling and being active.
“For a few months it was pretty depressing,” said the normally fun-loving Dixon. “With an injury like a concussion . . . you don’t do anything.
“You can’t read a book. You can’t go on the computer, you can’t watch TV, you can’t exercise. You become pretty useless. You have to chill and keep yourself amused somehow.”
Dixon used his time to think about how he can improve his skiing.
“I was thinking about the future and how I can better prepare myself for training in terms of strength and other things,” he said. “I was trying to make the head as rested as it could possibly be.”
As long as Dixon remains symptom-free, he plans to join the rest of the Canadian speed team at a summer training camp in Zebra, Switzerland, later this month.
Also expected at the camp are John Kucera of Calgary and Louis-Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que.
Kucera, the 2009 world downhill champion, re-injured his left tibia in February forerunning at a race in Colorado. That’s the same leg he originally fractured in November 2009 after a crash at Lake Louise, Alta.
Helie hurt his leg in Bormio in December 2010.
Not expected in Switzerland is Manuel Osborne-Paradis who tore up his knee and broke his fibula in a fall at a downhill race in Chamonix, France, in January.
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