BOZEMAN — “I mostly just jump off cliffs and hope I land it,” said Kameron Conklin.
The Minnesota native has been snowboarding since he was young, but as he got older, he dreamed of trading the Midwest hills for the mountains out west.
“Moved out here almost 10 years ago and snowboard every winter,” Conklin said.
He spends his winters hitting the slopes at Big Sky, Bridger Bowl—really, anywhere he can ride. For Conklin, snowboarding is more than a passion.
“I had a couple first-place finishes and then a couple other podium finishes,” he said.
This Montana snowboarder went from torn ACL to back on the slopes in just 6 months
Competing in the Freeride World Tour qualifiers, he’s tackled intense terrain across the Rockies. But back at Big Sky, he faced every snowboarder’s worst fear.
“So I was hiking the ridge and doing a very technical line. Got to the bottom no problem, so all the cares kind of just slipped away,” Conklin recalled.
It was the end of the 2024 season—his first run of the day.
“Went into the trees and was going a little too fast and got caught up in them. I was on the ground and I couldn’t move. I knew something was wrong,” he said.
Conklin had torn his ACL. He thought he’d be sidelined from his favorite sport for a long time—until he met Dr. Brandon Beamer.
“A lot of skiing injuries come off of Bridger and Big Sky. So we do a ton of ACLs here at Bridger Orthopedic,” Beamer said.
Beamer has been with Bridger Orthopedic for two years, but his medical experience dates back to 2012. He studied sports medicine at Harvard and Stanford, making him an expert in ACL treatment.
“The historical treatment for ACL injuries is to reconstruct the ACL. Basically, you remove the torn ACL and then put something else in that will turn into an ACL again someday,” Beamer explained.
It’s a procedure that typically requires a year of recovery, with nine to 12 months of physical therapy.
That’s why Beamer was eager to try a new approach—the BEAR implant, which stands for Bridge Enhanced ACL Restoration.
“We’re actually sewing the ACL back together, but then providing it with an environment with this BEAR implant,” he said.
The BEAR implant, which resembles a marshmallow, insulates the injury and allows the ACL to repair itself. Beamer first learned the procedure at Harvard and became the first doctor to perform it in Montana, with Conklin as his first patient.
“Have you felt confident in how your knee is working?” Beamer asked Conklin.
“Yeah, I think the first month I took it easy, but that all went out the window,” Conklin replied.
Six months after tearing his ACL, Conklin was back on the slopes.
“His recovery was remarkable. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen—he didn’t atrophy, had very minimal pain and swelling, and got back really quickly. He’s just given me a lot of confidence in this procedure,” Beamer said.
Since Conklin’s surgery, Beamer has performed about 13 BEAR implant procedures. While it may not be possible for every ACL injury, he believes it will change lives for those who qualify.
For Conklin, it already has.
“I was able to get back quicker, get back stronger—most of my friends told me I look stronger now than I did before the injury,” he said.
With his second season since surgery just ahead, his mindset is simple.
“I feel great. Where’s the snow?”
