'I love skiing again': RAF alpine skier overcomes injury to return to Inter Services
Royal Air Force alpine skier Flight Lieutenant Abby Christen has said that it is "nice to enjoy the sport again" after coming back from a serious leg injury.
Flt Lt Christen spoke to BFBS Forces News at her first-ever Inter Services Snow Sports Championships in Meribel, almost three years after she suffered from a spiral fracture in her left leg while competing in a Giant Slalom race at the 2022 RAF Championships.
Her spiral fracture, which occurs when a twisting force is applied to a bone, required an operation to repair the fracture before making a full recovery.
Speaking to BFBS Forces News, Flt Lt Christen recalled that recovering mentally from the injury was more difficult than the physical side of her recovery, and how the RAF played an instrumental part in her journey back onto the slopes.
She said: "I personally found the physical [recovery] the easiest part because you get amazing rehab with the RAF, I went to [DMRC] Stanford Hall, and it was incredible.
"I really struggled with the mental side this year, which I didn't expect because I felt fine straight after my injury, I made jokes about it, and it didn't seem to bother me at the time, and I've skied since I broke it.
"But just coming back into the race environment was a really hard mental block for me."
After not being able to compete at the Inter Services Championships following her injury, competing in this year's edition of the championships in Meribel has helped her to find a way past her mental blocks and to find her "love" for skiing again.
She said: "I crashed into a gate [in 2022] so I didn't like going near the gates and obviously a lot of the liners get close to the gate underneath.
"So my line was very bubbly to begin with and trying to get myself to push past that and get closer to the gate, it's just a mental block that has lifted and I love skiing again.
"It's nice to enjoy the sport because it is so stressful that you kind of have to love it.
"It's been a really fun and a really emotional rollercoaster of a week."
Click here to read all the stories from the 2025 Inter Services Snow Sports Championships.
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