BEAVER CREEK, Colorado (AP) – World Cup overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal may need additional surgery after breaking facial bones and suffering a deep wound in his buttocks and groin during a frightening crash on Tuesday.

The Norwegian needed four hours of surgery to repair broken bones in his face. During that operation, he also had “minor abdominal surgery”, the Vail Valley Medical Center said.

Svindal lost his balance on the lower section of a course and crashed as he headed into a dip that followed a jump. He landed on his back and neck, with his skis in front of him. He then slid over the dangerously sharp edges of his skis, which cut him as he careened into the safety netting.

Svindal was removed from the course on a sled and taken to the hospital.

U.S. Team doctor Bill Sterett, who as part of the host delegation closely monitored Svindal’s condition, told the Austrian news agency APA on Thursday that a six-inch laceration caused by his ski “went up near his rectum, his large intestine,” requiring surgery.

“This is how deep the ski laceration was,” Sterett said.

Sterett, who said he is a knee and shoulder expert and not an abdominal surgeon, said he thought Svindal would need further surgery in three months.

“Based on the extent on the injury, he’ll need more surgery down the line,” Sterett said.

Norwegian team doctor Ola Ronsen wouldn’t discuss details of Svindal’s injury, citing doctor-patient confidentiality.

The 24-year-old Svindal is expected to remain hospitalized for at least another three-to-five days and Norwegian team officials have said he would not return to competition for months.

“He’s pretty puffed up. His eye is really swollen up,” said Bryon Friedman, who went to visit Svindal in hospital on Wednesday. Friedman knows what bad accidents are like, having shattered his lower right leg in a race at Chamonix, France, in 2005.

Svindal will need at least three weeks without any physical training or exercise to allow the wound to heal, Ronsen said. Only then will doctors be able to assess when he might resume training.

Sterett raised the possibility he could be out for the season.

Svindal won a super-G in Lake Louise on Sunday to reclaim the lead in the overall standings. He also won the season-opening giant slalom at Soelden, Austria.

AP-ES-11-29-07 1850EST