Rock Climbing Rescues: Causes, Injuries, and Trends in Boulder County, Colorado

Abstract

The occurrence of rock climbing-related rescue victims comprised one fifth of all rescue victims in Boulder County. A large fraction of incidents and fatalities resulted from unroped climbing. Incidents of lost or uninjured stranded climbers and belay incidents account for more than half of victims, which can likely be prevented by gaining appropriate experience, seeking local information, and applying some simple safety measures for control of rope belays.

Wilderness Falls: An Analysis and Comparison of Rock Climbers and Nonclimbers

“…This gender distribution is similar to that reported in both urban and wilderness falls. 3,9 Climbers in our population had a length of stay half of what was reported by Locker (5.2 vs 11.67 d), and nonclimbers had a length of stay one-third of what was reported (6.7 vs 20.95 d). 8 Although we cannot be certain, this could be due to differences in the health-care systems in the United States and United Kingdom.…”

Climbing Accidents—Prospective Data Analysis from the International Alpine Trauma Registry and Systematic Review of the Literature

“…In all studies analyzed, male climbers accounted for the majority of injured patients (range 66-88%) [7,12,14,15]. Bowie et al further found that more experienced climbers (mean 5.9 years of climbing experience) were injured more often.…”

“…The fatality rate from rock climbing accidents varies quite significantly: Forrester et al found a mortality rate of <1% [10], Lack et al reported 5.5% [7], Bowie et al 6% [14] and Schussmann et al 20% [13], whereas Ferris et al reported a fatality rate of 41% [18]. Falls on snow or ice or during ice climbing were more likely to be fatal [9,14,17,19,20].…”

“…In parallel to the increasing popularity of this sport, the number of climbing accidents and emergency department consultations due to climbing-related injuries has reportedly increased [2,6]. In a study from Colorado, rock climbing rescues accounted for approximately 20% of mountain and wilderness rescue victims [7]. Climbing accidents usually affect a young and healthy population.…”

Wilderness medicine

“…[6] Retrospective surveys have shed light on the nature and frequency of traumatic injuries sustained while climbing. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] Advances in cervical spine management and immobilization, opiate-based pain control, and invasive procedures are being discussed. [47][48][49][50][51] Advanced techniques such as shoulder reduction are being taught to lay providers.…”