Are Indoor Gym Accidents Rare?

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Messages 1 - 12 of total 12 in this topic
gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Topic Author's Original Post - May 19, 2019 - 06:26pm PT
A few years ago the staff at a Portland, Oregon gym were replacing a chuck of foam floor that had been pierced by what appeared to be someone's heels. The staff wouldn't discuss the incident. I heard that today someone fell from the top of another Portland gym. How frequent are traumatic gym accidents?
overwatch

climber
Arizona
May 19, 2019 - 06:28pm PT
This would be a good question for the guy/gal who augured in to the deck. Easy to spot because He/she is the one with femurs for shoulders
aspendougy

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
May 19, 2019 - 08:11pm PT
Two notables, John Long and Ashima Shiriashi both had injuries in the gym, but I think Ashima's were relatively light, she was back climbing within a week or so. Not so with the big guy.

I read recently that trampoline parks are hugely hazardous, with lots of serious injuries. Climbing gym mishaps are not that common by comparison, would be my guess, but you'd have to ask an owner/manager for a definitive answer.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
May 19, 2019 - 08:46pm PT
http://www.climbingbusinessjournal.com/indoor-climbing-injury-stats/

JLP

Social climber
The internet
May 20, 2019 - 06:22am PT
No, they’re quite common. Local gym calls the ambulance roughly once a month for a ceiling to floor impact. Soft catch, brah. Soft tissue injuries in the boulder caves - no idea - someone limps out of there weekly? The padded floors nobody had back in the day but are now at every modern gym save lives.
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
May 20, 2019 - 06:32am PT
I think they're pretty common--and sometimes severe as the Largo accident shows. Have good buddy who worked at Metalmark in Fresno, and he said the sound of someone smacking the pads from 30 feet up is quiet memorable.

BAd
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
May 20, 2019 - 09:43am PT
It would be cool to have a way to measure per-capita injuries in the gym vs. outside.
JLP

Social climber
The internet
May 20, 2019 - 09:48am PT
My observation is it’s way higher indoors. I think the #1 reason is you’re closer to the floor, taking more falls.
Gilroy

Social climber
Bolderado
May 20, 2019 - 09:49am PT
This was a huge one.

https://www.climbing.com/news/mark-hesse-died-from-gym-fall/
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
May 20, 2019 - 09:52am PT
Gyms vs. outside...let’s see, one obvious difference is the lack of objective dangers inside. It seems to me that the vast majority of accidents in gyms are pilot error.....weather, avalanches, rockfall etc. don’t factor in. Pilot error could be more prevalent in gyms given the number of new, inexperienced people using them.
johntp

Trad climber
Punter, Little Rock
May 20, 2019 - 10:28am PT
Pilot error could be more prevalent in gyms given the number of new, inexperienced people using them.

I'd add that injuries are likely greater in gyms. I don't do gyms, but it just seems to me the overhanging, pumpy route setting is likely to cause a lot of torn tendons, etc. My niece does gyms. Seems the goal is to do the most overhanging routes with the longest dynos.
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
May 20, 2019 - 02:44pm PT
I go regularly and do laps on auto belay just to try and stay in some sort of shape for actual rock climbing. Almost every time I see something frightening because the staff does not spend enough time instructing/monitoring. Once grabbed a 60lb kid’s harness when his 200lb plus dad flailed at the top of a route in tennis shoes. Yesterday, I saw a dad on the auto belay with his kid climbing up the same route directly below him unroped. Fortunately the kid fell off before his dad as I was walking over to say something.
Messages 1 - 12 of total 12 in this topic
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