USST's Kevin Francis and Pam Warman recovering from injuries{mosimage}Kevin Francis, the C Team downhiller out of Bend, Oregon, is recovering from the knee injury he received in the national championship downhill last week in Alyeska, Alaska. Francis tore at least three ligaments in his right knee.

The mechanism of Francis's injury was unusually gruesome. He had crashed and lost both skis and was sliding to a stop when his boot caught on the snow; Francis slid over his own right leg, folding it underneath him and tearing ligaments. 'Everyone winces when I describe it' said Francis, who may take some courses at Dartmouth College while he recovers. He said early exams showed that everything but the LCL was damaged, partly or completely.

Meanwhile Pam Warman, the technician in charge of tuning skis for Francis and his teammates on the U.S. Ski Team's C Team, broke her ankle at U.S. Nationals. It was a slightly less dramatic fall. 'It was after the slalom' said Warman. 'I was helping the boys unload skis, standing on some ice, and I slipped.'

Warman says the break is low on her ankle. It became black-and-blue quickly. Warman had committed to helping tune Head skis during this month's magazine equipment reviews in Beaver Creek, but because she is unable to bear weight for the next six weeks, Dave Peszek from Holmenkol and Uvex is filling in for her.