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WBraun
climber
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Sep 22, 2016 - 05:36pm PT
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Data is useless.
When your number is up the reaper will appear .......
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Ed H
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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Sep 23, 2016 - 01:11pm PT
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I pulled my 2003 'Accidents in North American Mountaineering' book off the self.
They report 1503 deaths between 1951 and 2001 or 30 a year in US and Canada.
CA had 266 deaths in the same time period or about 5 per year.
From the introduction: 'The Outdoor Industry Association estimates 1.3 million climbing enthusiasts', but the editor says he stands by his 250-300k estimate for number of climbers who climb at least 10 times per year. (2003 data).
Be careful out there people.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Sep 23, 2016 - 01:15pm PT
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The cold water just blew the air right out of his lungs. Or mammalian diving reflex, slows the heart rate
Some people are more affected than others
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Sep 23, 2016 - 01:16pm PT
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Thanks Ed.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Sep 23, 2016 - 02:25pm PT
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Sh*t happens, and water is dangerous. I nearly drowned in the Kern River (downstream of the dam) a few weeks ago. It was a very near thing. Underestimated the current and depth, overestimated my swimming ability. When I crawled up on the shore I was seconds from getting sucked down into a giant foaming hole. Safely ashore I couldn't stand up I was so gassed. Still get the heebie-jeebies thinking about it.
Be careful out there folks. Take measure of what your getting into.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Sep 23, 2016 - 03:11pm PT
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Yeah, 2 of the 5 people.
With car accidents, there is data on how many accidents there are per year; the likelyhood of an accident per 1000 hours driven, etc...
None of this sort of information exists for climbing, so I don't really have a sense of how dangerous it is relative to other activities...
Ok, fair enough. But off the top of my head I can think of a number of people that I've met (at the base of climb or around a camp fire) that later died in climbing accidents. But if they had died in a car accident I probably would never had heard about it. So sure, the stats for car accidents exist, but that isn't really how your emotional response works.
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LongAgo
Trad climber
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Sep 25, 2016 - 03:24pm PT
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Old data from NPS:
"With these questions in mind, the National Park Service (NPS) has examined most of the serious accidents that occurred in the park during the years from 1970 through 1990. The conclusions provide interesting reading for those wishing to stay alive.
Analysis of Climbing Accidents
Fifty-one climbers died from traumatic injuries in that period. A dozen more, critically hurt, would have died without rapid transport and medical treatment. In addition, there were many serious but survivable injuries, from fractured skulls to broken legs (at least 50 fractures per year), and a much larger number of cuts, bruises, and sprains.
Not surprisingly, most injuries occurred during leader falls and involved feet, ankles, or lower legs; for many, these are the accepted risks of climbing. However, leader falls accounted for only 25% of the fatal and near-fatal traumatic injuries; roughly 10% were from rockfall, 25% from being deliberately unroped, and 40% from simple mistakes with gear. Many cases are not clear cut; several factors may share the credit, and it is sometimes hard to quantify the weird adventures climbers have.
Not to be overlooked in the body count are environmental injuries. Inadequately equipped for the weather, four climbers died of hypothermia and perhaps 45 more would have died of the cold or heat if not rescued.
Fifteen to 25 parties require an NPS rescue each year. Sixty more climbers stagger into Yosemite’s medical clinic on their own, and an unknown number escape statistical immortality by seeking treatment outside the park.
Most Yosemite victims are experienced climbers, 60% have been climbing for three years or more, lead at least 5.10, are in good condition, and climb frequently. Short climbs and big walls, easy routes and desperate ones – all get their share of the accidents.
The NPS keeps no statistics on how many climbers use the park, but 25,000 to 50,000 climber-days annually is a fair estimate. With this in mind, 2.5 deaths and a few serious injuries per year may seem a pretty low rate..."
Source: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/climbing_safety.htm
More from NPS on visitation, ALL search/rescue and ALL fatalities, fairly recent data:
Park visitors: 4,294,381 (2015), 4,029,416 (2014), 3,829,361 (2013)
Search/rescue operations: 239 (2015), 181 (2014), 184 (2013), 216 (2012)
Fatalities: 20 (2015), 13 (2014), 15 (2012)
And just for some comparison:
Bears hit by vehicles: 39 (2015), 25 (2014), 16 (2013)
Source: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/management/statistics.htm
Tom Higgins
LongAgo
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