Mark McMorris out of B.C. hospital after vicious crash

The big brother of Saskatchewan snowboarding star Mark McMorris said his brother’s recovery is going well.

Craig McMorris was with his brother when the serious accident happened in a backcountry area known as Rainbow Mountain near Whistler, B.C., on March 25.

The 23-year-old Olympic bronze medalist suffered severe injuries, including a broken jaw, fractured left arm, ruptured spleen, a pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed left lung, according to Canada Snowboard. He required two surgeries, both of which were successful.   

McMorris told the Green Zone’s Jamie Nye on Thursday that Mark’s condition is improving.

“He’s out of the hospital, he’s communicating really, really good,” he explained. “Obviously you don’t want to talk that much when you have a broken jaw but he’s talking quite a bit.”

McMorris said his brother is battling the discomfort, adding it’s as much of a mental battle as it is a physical battle.

Currently, there’s no exact date for when Mark will be back on a snowboard.

“The progression he’s made in the last 13 days alone has been astronomical and I don’t see any reason why he won’t be snowboarding in Australia in August or something like that,” McMorris said.

Mark was provisionally named to Canada’s Olympic team after his accident in March. The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.

Mark also suffered a serious injury in February 2016 in California. He wiped out at the Air and Style snowboarding event in Los Angeles. He fractured his right femur and had a metal rod placed in his thigh.