“Valgus” – The 4 Letter Word of the Ski & Snowboard Industry

Posted March 12, 2026

Valgus isn’t a word you’ll hear underneath the chair lifts or in the maze awaiting the gondola.

But when you see it happen in a ski or snowboard crash, you’ll know by the unsettling visceral response your body shutters.

Someone’s day just went valgus.

What is Valgus and why is it a 4 letter word?

Valgus is a medical term to say that something (like a limb) is angled away from midline.

This term is frequently used when describing the mechanism of a knee injury. An overwhelming number of ski crashes resulting in a torn ACL, have a component of valgus added to the mixture of forces being applied to the leg (54%) [1].

Example 2 : Called the ‘phantom foot’ mechanism[2] which occurs as the skier falls backward in between their skis as the inside edge of the downhill ski catches the snow’s surface sliding the ski across midline of the body(Valgus force on knee with lower leg rotating inwards)

How to avoid things going VALGUS

To reduce the amount of valgus subjected to the knee, two critical factors need to be addressed. The strength to correct the valgus problem and the awareness (proprioception) to detect when valgus is happening.

Strength: Endurance and Power are both key. The stabilizing muscles must be able to create power at a moment’s notice to protect the knee. They also have to be able to last for the entire day of riding.

The joint of the knee should bend forwards and back (flexion and extension) . For the knee to collapse into a valgus angle the thigh and shin rotate towards the midlines of the body. If your hip/core is strong enough to stop the thigh from rotating inwards and the ankle/foot is strong enough to stop the shin from rotating inwards the knee has no choice but to continue happily bending forwards and back.

Strong hips alone will not stop the knee from collapsing into valgus[4]. It is important to have the kinesthetic awareness to ensure the stabilizing muscles correctly fire in a time of need.

To improve your ski and snowboarding agility it is wise to train quick and awkward movements that you may be exposed to when riding within a safe controlled environment (dry land training). There is no need to be strong if your body doesn’t know when it is at risk of valgus loading and must protect the knee.

References

[1] Shea KG, Archibald-Seiffer N, Murdock E, et al. Knee injuries in downhill skiers: a 6-year survey study. The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014;2:2325967113519741.

[2] Ettlinger CF, Johnson RJ, Shealy JE. A method to help reduce the risk of serious knee sprains incurred in alpine skiing. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1995;23:531-537

[3] Sachtleben TR: Snowboarding injuries. Current Sports Medicine Reports. 2011;10(6):340-344.

[4] Thijis Y, Van Tiggelen D, Willems T, De Clercq D, Witvrouw E. Relationship between hip strength and frontal plane posture on the knee during a forward lunge. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2007 Nov;41(11):723-7

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