By far the most common injury for snowboarders is wrist injuries. Last season, Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee admitted over 500 patients to their Emergency Room (ER) for wrist injuries.

"It was almost like an epidemic," says Dr. Michael MacQuarrie, the hospital’s Director of Emergency Services.

Tahoe Forest Hospital sees more broken bones than any other facility in the United States. Located just down the hill from a number of Sierra Nevada ski areas, the modest, regional hospital works on an average of 100 patients per day during winter months. Last December 27 (2004), Tahoe Forest treated 140 patients, recorded 27 fractured wrists, administered 280 milligrams of morphine (average person is given 5 to 10 milligrams of morphine), and used 75 feet of 3-inch splinting material.

Staff members took on the battlefield conditions with imagination and a sense of humor. ER nurses designed a more efficient traction device using climbing equipment. They also introduced a Wrist Fracture Wall of Fame--a place where patients with wrist injuries sign their name, leave messages, and occasionally hang their pictures.

"It entertains people, gets their minds off their injuries, and gives them a sense of brotherhood," explains ER nurse, Colleen Wilford, who originated the idea.

The graffiti-laden wall not only offers comic relief to an emergency room visit, but also demonstrates that the injury is no occasional occurrence.

"We had one fellow sign the wall with a pen in his mouth. He’d broken both wrists," says Wilford, a lifelong skier and 10-year veteran of the ER. The signing read: "Wrist guards were in my pack."