New Setback! Feller Postpones Ski Comeback

Manuel Feller has to cope with a setback on his way back to the ski slopes.

The ÖSV star provided an update on his health status via Instagram after his disc surgery. The 33-year-old's rehabilitation has been significantly more difficult than hoped.

"The rehab hasn't gone as one would wish," Feller explains. Finding the right training load has been particularly difficult.

"It was very, very difficult to increase the training step by step without triggering a negative reaction."

Another Disc Herniation

Around eight weeks ago, the Fieberbrunn native suffered another setback. Feller sustained another disc herniation.

"Unfortunately, I had another disc herniation. While I managed to avoid a second operation and am generally on a good path, it has cost me a lot of time and nerves," reports the Tyrolean.

Therefore, a normal training build-up is currently out of the question. Feller considers himself significantly behind his original schedule.

"Regarding training, I'm at least a month behind, and I'm still not 100 percent pain-free," says the 33-year-old.

Rehab at Home Instead of Chile

The consequence: Feller will not travel overseas for season preparation as originally planned, "but will stay at home and work hard to get my body back in shape," explains the ÖSV star.

This also means that the on-snow preparation in Chile, originally planned for late August or early September, is cancelled. In July, Feller had stated that he expected some setbacks there, but was confident of being back at 100 percent for the season's first slalom.

Now the Tyrolean is consciously taking a different path. "It would have been the wrong decision to make a hasty move and go to Chile," Feller clarifies.

"It Has To Be Fun"

The Kitzbühel winner doesn't want to force anything in his comeback. Feller makes it clear that being pain-free again is paramount for him.

"I want to remain in the sport for another year or two, but the condition is that it has to be fun, and that's only the case when you're pain-free."

His return to the ski slopes thus remains open for now. However, one thing is certain for Feller: he wants to continue working on his comeback and give his body the necessary time.

However, his fans won't have to go without insights into his daily life until then. Feller announces that after his return, there will be "a few more spectacular videos" of him. Until then, however, they will have to make do with "a few holiday and fish photos."