I know ... and two people that have broken ankles bouldering in the gym.

wow i can't see how you could break an ankle bouldering at the gym

Speaking very loosely my general impression is about 80% of the time on a moderate trad fall (say up to 12 foot) you can expect some kind of moderate (maybe a sprain or similar) to serious injury (hospital time).

- Fell on p1 of Frog's Head(5.6-) - no injury, but thank god for that little nut, for if he hadn't held I would probably have smacked my leg on a ledge

- Had a 20+ foot fall(oh yeah....) on Moondance(5.5), clean fall with no injury, although my belayer may very well have gotten poopie pants. If so, she never let on. Damned stretchy doubles......

wow i can't see how you could break an ankle bouldering at the gym

wow i can't see how you could break an ankle bouldering at the gym

It's pretty easy, land right on the edge of a big pad.

I saw it happen once too, can't remember if it was broken or badly sprained but the recovery time is pretty similar.

wow i can't see how you could break an ankle bouldering at the gym

0% over hundreds of falls but there have been some close calls and it only takes one to end it all.

Each climb is so unique that you can't legitimately make an injuries to number of falls ratio. Rock climbing is all about using your judgment, part of which includes knowing what your fall will be like.

Trad leading includes lots of systems, number one is the quality of your pro, number two is your belay, then you have things like keeping track of how much gear you have left, managing rope drag, maintaining communication, watching the weather develop, and definitely managing your potential fall. Along with the 50 million other things I'm keeping track of on lead, I'm constantly looking down to see what my fall will be like should it occur. This is crucial buddy! If you take even a small, clean fall but get your rope gets stuck behind your leg, that sudden inversion could cause you to break a vertebrae! Falling isn't casual--proper application of the fall is reserved for the best and smartest of the trad leaders. Any gumby can climb easy shit all day!

A good trad leader knows how to fall. I've taken like 5 trad falls or something over 4 years (3 in the last month since I started pushing 5.9 and 5.10), and I've never injured myself. I've collected scrapes and even banged my nuts once while falling but never had to deal with ankle injuries or the like (from a trad fall). (1) This is because I put a lot of thought into my fall potential. (2) Also because I fall on hard shit (a 5.5 fall scares the bejesus out of me!).

I was scared off a 5.7 at the gunks once because it was raining and the crux had shitty pro--it was a traverse across thin, wet, semi-sloping holds with one mank .75 camalot, the next piece being all the way around a corner. I left a sling and bailed, injury wasn't worth it! You only get one body...

Falling is part of the game, and once you get confidence in your gear and you know what may hold, then you can accurately predict what will happen when you fall. If you know how to tumble right, you can even take a short fall onto a ledge and tumble backward safely (finishing inverted). Also, 12 feet is hardly moderate. It's more like the end of short. 5 feet above your gear? That's having the gear 2 feet below your feet. You're going to need a triple rack if you want to place that much gear for 200ft! I'd say a 20 footer is moderate, but it's all opinion/perspective!

Don't get all psyched out on reports and stuff, the truth to falling on trad is that it is a completely unique experience each time. Falling safely is totally possible, and those are the only falls I regularly expose myself to. Climb harder and climb safer; avoid routes with tricky pro until you can place super clever pro. Exposing yourself to dangerous falls is the sport of fools!

Be paranoid about taking a fall! Broken ankles fucking suck! It means no climbing and muscle atrophy! Just be smart and feel free to risk falls when it's safe, the gear was meant for that. You'll never progress through the harder grades unless you take some falls.

Falls eventually become fun, I think so anyway. The flip side is that it means that you have to reclimb that hard section that just spit you off (the 5.9 ow of East Butt of El Cap is coming to mind.....).

I'd like to end these words of wisdom with a quote:
"Looking back upon the climb, we find out greatest satisfaction in having demonstrated, at least to ourselves, that by the proper application of climbing technique extremely difficult ascents can be made in safety.... If any member of the party had fallen, his injuries would, at the worst, have been a few scratches and bruises."
--Bestor Robinson, ruminating on the 1934 climb of the Higher Cathedral Spire (taken from Roper's Camp 4)

Welcome to the internet.com, and more relevantly rc.noob. Thank you for adding another page to the thread just so you could highlight something that everyone could read themselves.

by being less trite and smart ass you may be able to reduce the overall banter of rc.noob. instead of pages and pages of bullshit, people might be able to get their answers. but this will keep you from reaching 20,000 posts this year. it's a tough dilemma, I know

Nick

p.s. get outside and climb, eh?

I've never been hurt climbing. Fall on lead:
- Several on a 5.7 route, clean fall with no injury
- Fell on p1 of Frog's Head(5.6-) - no injury, but thank god for that little nut, for if he hadn't held I would probably have smacked my leg on a ledge
- Had a 20+ foot fall(oh yeah....) on Moondance(5.5), clean fall with no injury,...

If you're taking lead falls regularly on 5.5 - 5.7 in the Gunks, you really, really, need to stop, take a deep breath, and reassess your climbing and how fast/hard you're pushing for your ability level. Then drop it back a couple of notches to 5.3s or easy 4's. Keep in mind that Frog's Head, Shockley's, and Disneyland were all considered Gunks 5.5s for decades.

20 footer on a Gunks 5.5? Yikes. What a recipe for a shattered leg.