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porkchop_express
May 11, 2008, 11:28 PM
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Registered: Aug 18, 2006
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Hey all- My girlfriend broke her ankle in the fall (07) on one of her first leads- (hitting a ledge when she slipped) and now we are getting back out and climbing again but she is somewhat tenuous about getting hurt again. I dont want to push her too hard but I also dont want her to hate climbing because of the setback of the injury.
Can anyone give me some ideas to help? Anyone had a similar injury and maybe can shared what worked/ didnt work? Thanks.
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granite_grrl
May 12, 2008, 12:50 AM
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Two ideas are to get her on routes that are over hanging and very safe to fall on, or on routes that are so easy and she knows so well she knows that she's not going to fall.
Ideally you could combine the two, but if she really sucks on over hangs and can't climb harder than 5.9 it could be really really hard.
You need to push her a little, but not too hard. A good form of pushing is just to let her know that you know and believe that she can lead such and such a route, but don't make her feel like she has to climb it.
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jammer
May 12, 2008, 1:31 AM
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Registered: Jun 25, 2002
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All you can do is encourage her. I broke mine and needed a pin. It was up to me to get back up to snuff. Have you asked her how she wants to proceed?
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dingus
May 12, 2008, 2:39 AM
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She should not try to lead anything with the remote possibility of falling until she's willing and able to take a short to med. bouldering toss.
Sport leads swinging into the wall can resnap an ankle too.
It took me a couple of years to recover sufficiently from my last ankle break (at 44 years old) to gamble lead falls again, and even then I climbed with a must not fall dude (I broke my ankle in 3 places and it still isn't right).
I can hop up and down on it again, one footed. Can your girlfriend do that? Can she sustain a bouldering fall?
I can't trust myself to a bouldering fall, mayhaps never again. Coming up on the 4th aniversary of the break. As I used to boulder a lot this hurts but I think my bouldering days are done for good.
Cheers
DMT
(This post was edited by dingus on May 12, 2008, 2:40 AM)
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Myxomatosis
May 12, 2008, 3:51 AM
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Registered: Jun 12, 2007
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Buy a boulder matt if you are only doing single pitch routes.
They aren't overly expensive and are very handy for preventing the old ankle snaps 
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overlord
May 12, 2008, 8:35 AM
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well, i broke my ankle last spring and my lead head still isnt what it was. mostly due to the fact that i just wasnt able to get much rock mileage in since the fall.
there are a few things you might try...
a) leading easy routes to get used to the feeling of leading again.
b) proceed to leading difficult but safe to fall on routes (no ledges or dangerous pendulums, easy early pro)
i do not really believe in practice falls... if you know you are going to fall it just is not the same. the best way to get over the fear of falling is falling while not planning it and falling safe. just before i decked and broke an ankle i got quite some air time on a few routes that were really safe to fall on and it really did boost my confidence.
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dantheman212
May 14, 2008, 9:05 PM
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Registered: Apr 22, 2006
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I broke mine on a highball boldering fall in fall of 2006. i had a plate and two screws put in and spent 6 months on crutches. I just started climbing again and the fear of falling sucks! All she can do is climb easy stuff to get her confidence back. a couple unexpected falls with no problems will get rid of that fear. No fun man.
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caliclimbergrl
May 14, 2008, 9:40 PM
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Registered: Feb 19, 2008
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I had a similar experience to Dan (previous post) and I agree with his advice. The short version of my story -- 40 foot fall on run-out slab. Lots of scrapes and skin injuries, but the worst injury was a shattered ankle. I needed surgery that included a bone graft and 4 pins and I was on crutches for 4 months. I'm still limping a bit now a lot of the time (it's been almost 9 months).
I love climbing. I honestly don't know what I would do if I couldn't climb. I don't think I could ever find the same level of happiness if climbing wasn't a part of my life. So I never saw quitting climbing as an option for me!! However, the fall definitely affected my lead head. I started climbing again pretty much when I started walking again. And I started leading easy stuff again a couple of months ago. Although the ankle is no where near fully healed, I feel like I'm back up to the level of ability that I was at before I fell. But my head is no where near there.
Climbing comes with risk. When you lead a route, there is always the possibility that you will fall. And if you fall, you could get hurt. I think it's good to be aware of that when you're climbing. If her love for climbing isn't worth the risk of an injury for her, maybe she shouldn't climb anymore and only she can decide that. But if she is still interested in climbing and she also doesn't want the fear to hold her back, than I say offer to lead all of the climbs for a while and let her just top-rope. Once she feels confident enough to get on the sharp end of the rope, be encouraging. Give a very attentive belay. And make sure she knows that, while you believe in her ability, that you are also willing to pick up the slack if she gets scared and needs to be lowered and have you finish a route. For me, decided to lead a route means I completely trust my belayer and I feel like leading is something I choose to do, not something I'm pressured into.
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evanwish
Jun 6, 2008, 6:52 AM
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Registered: May 23, 2007
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yeah i know the fealing.. i shattered my tib/fib/5th meditarsal
i'm honestly kinda bi-polar when it comes to leading again, like i REALLY want to but i'm still nervous about the consequences of a fall..
they say the 12 pieces of metal will strengthen it... but they also say if i fall hard enough to bend the metal i'm F***ed.
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