P.A. Rousseau's Crash Not Just Painful To Watch

Moguls skier Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau knew life was getting better when he could start chewing solid foods again.

The reason he couldn’t was because of a crash in the final World Cup of the season. It’s painful to watch – see below – so you can imagine what it was like for Rousseau, or “P.A.” as he’s known.

The former world champion said he went through the "worst three months of my life" after the accident last March, but is now back on track for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He leaves today for a training camp in Argentina.

The bad crash in La Plagne, France, broke his shoulder blade, a rib and knocked most of his teeth loose. He found himself in rougher shape than the time he broke his neck and missed the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

“Because of my jaw, I had to eat mushy stuff for a while," said Rousseau this week. I couldn’t hold a two-litre of milk. I needed two hands to do that for two months. It was much more brutal to come back from than my neck injury. It was hell.”

Rousseau, who was part of two Canadian podium sweeps last year with a second- and third-place finish, was disappointed after finishing 17th at the world championships and was pushing hard in La Plagne. He was too far forward going off an icy bumpy and ended up crashing hard on his shoulder.

“It was boom, boom, boom,” he said. “It was the first time I crashed hard when I was going 100 percent and on my game.”

Rousseau returned to training in Whistler one month ago and trained on snow for 20 days. He was able to build himself back to the point where he was able to do all his jumps again.

“I was weak in the beginning, but my physical background is long so I came back right away. “Now, I’m better than ever. I could compete tomorrow.”

That's a good thing considering he's battling for an Olympic berth on a powerhouse men's moguls team.