![]() Some climbers wear a helmet to one crag but not to another. (Though you can’t rule it out, you’re much less likely to smack your head or suffer rockfall on an overhanging 5.12 sport climb, at the Red River Gorge, Kentucky, for example, than you are on a ledge-filled 5.8 in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado.) Many ice climbers forego their helmets while rock climbing. But far fewer rock climbers don lids for short climbs, especially sport routes. Most ice climbers and mountaineers wear helmets, as do many traditional rock climbers. When it comes to helmets and climbers, inconsistency is everywhere. When we spoke, she was in Spain for sport climbing on overhanging limestone, and she hadn’t even packed a helmet for the trip. Subscribers also receive unlimited access to over 5,000 articles on .īut sometimes, especially when the climbing is hard, Rodden chooses to leave her helmet behind. Just $24 a year gets you five print issues (four Climbing, one Ascent ) delivered to your door. “I hardly ever wore a helmet while climbing in Yosemite, but now I always try to wear one, even if the route is easy,” she says.Ĭlimbing Magazine is now 50% off for a limited time. The accident caused Rodden to rethink her stance on climbing helmets. The symptoms of traumatic brain injury can last for weeks or months-and multiple concussions can cause years of problems. Rodden says her recovery was slow, and she wonders if the concussion is to blame when she has trouble concentrating even today. Indeed, there is little doubt that Rodden’s experience could happen to anyone. Concussion and closed-head injury was the most common injury at 44 percent. One study, from the Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology journal, found that an estimated 5,067 patients suffered head and neck injuries from rock climbing nationally from 2009 to 2018. High-tech anti-concussion helmets are making their way into the cycling and skiing markets, and President Obama declared that if he’d had a son, he might not allow him to play football because of the latest research on traumatic brain injuries. (Photo: Jeff Foott / Getty Images)Ĭoncussion is only one of many serious head injuries a climber might suffer-others include skull fractures and severe lacerations-but new awareness of concussions’ frequency and their potential long-term effects has caused consumers, manufacturers, and regulators to re-examine many sports and their protective equipment. ![]() Middle Cathedral Rock and Cathedral Spires in Yosemite Valley. The next day she went to her doctor, who explained that her brain had slammed forward against her skull upon impact with the rock face. I could see, but I couldn’t process what they were saying.” Another red flag: Rodden’s forehead was sore, even though she’d hit the opposite side of her head. But the next night at dinner, I was having a really hard time concentrating. Twenty feet down, going approximately 23 mph, the back of her head slammed into rock.Īt first, Rodden says, “I didn’t think I was hurt. Partway through the first pitch on the Central Pillar, Rodden’s foot slipped on polished granite, flipping her upside-down and into a freefall. Rodden devoured routes like the Central Pillar without breaking a sweat.īut this mega-popular 5.9 would serve as a reminder of one of climbing’s greatest risks-and also a leading appeal of the sport: that anything can happen, anywhere, anytime, without warning, even on the most familiar terrain. One of the best female rock climbers on the planet, she had never been injured in a climbing fall. After all, the 33-year-old superstar had free climbed the Nose of El Cap and put up the Valley’s hardest crack climb, the then-unrepeated 5.14c Meltdown. This article was originally published in 2013 and has been updated where relevant-Ed.īeth Rodden didn’t expect trouble on the Central Pillar of Frenzy on Yosemite’s Middle Cathedral Rock. Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+
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