EXCLUSIVE: World surf champ breaks arm snowboarding in Niseko

EXCLUSIVE: World surf champ breaks arm snowboarding in Niseko

NEWLY crowned world surfing champ Mick Fanning has fractured his wrist snowboarding in Niseko – the powder snow capital of the world on Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido.

While 26-year-old Fanning tames the world’s most deadly waves with relative ease, took a tumble on an intermediate-grade slope on the first run of his Japanese holiday.

Fanning’s mother Liz said it was a very minor fracture in the side of his thumb and it would not affect his preparations for the start of this year's world tour, the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on February 23.

However sources associated with the Fanning camp in Japan told Niseko’s Powderlife magazine the world champ had fractured his scaphoid - one of the carpal bones in the wrist.

Niseko Physio physiotherapist Bevan Colless, a specialist in snow sport injuries, said if it was indeed the scaphoid, it was a potentially serious injury.

“It’s one of the fractures hand surgeons hate to see walk through the door,” Colless said.

“It’s only got one artery that supplies blood to it and often that’s damaged at the time of injury.

“If the artery is damaged the bone doesn’t have blood supply.

“He may have to have it fixated with pins when he gets back to Australia.”

After officially claiming his maiden world title in November, Fanning arrived in Niseko on December 30 for a holiday with fiancé Karissa Dalton and a group of friends, and will stay for another week.

Fanning has been snowboarding for about five years but before the accident told Powderlife he was tentative about swapping boards.

“I love snowboarding, it’s so much fun – it’s like surfing but it does hurt more,” he said.

“I’ve been doing one week snowboarding holidays every year since 2003 – California, Whistler, Colorado and Australia.

”I’ve had all conditions but I think the best day was when Red Bull sent me heli-boarding in Whistler. It was insane – like surfing down a hill.”

Fanning said he booked his trip after hearing tales of the quality of Niseko’s powder, and after the injury took a day or two off before continuing to ride with a bandage.

Published every two weeks with a distribution of 3000 per issue, Powderlife is Niseko’s first periodical English-language media publication.

As well as being the only printed source of up-to-date English news and information on Niseko, it acts at a guidebook for the planeloads of English-speaking tourists feeling their way around this ever-so-quirky but oh-so-cool Japanese ski resort.