Complacency in Climbing: Why Vigilance is Essential
This week I came across an article written by a climber who suffered a catastrophic fall last year. The story was unfortunately familiar: the climber forgot to clip himself into an auto-belay device at his gym. He climbed 45 feet to the top of the wall, let go, and fell to the ground.
In his own words “The fall resulted in a skull fracture, bilateral pulmonary contusions, three spinal fractures, right proximal radius fracture, left distal radius fracture, right pilon fracture (ankle shattered), left fibula fracture and a severe concussion...I was in the ICU on a ventilator for two days, and in the hospital for 15 days. I am expected to make a pretty full recovery. The pilon fracture may have some long-term effects and I lost some extension in the right arm.”
While these events seem unlikely they are far too common in the climbing gym community. In June of 2021 a climber fell to her death at a gym in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mark Hesse, a 63 year old climber with decades of experience, fell to his death in 2014 in Boulder. Both of these climbers were using auto-belay devices in climbing gyms. Even the mother of professional climber Sean McColl, who was climbing every few days at her local gym, fell victim to one of these accidents. She forgot to clip in to the device, climbed to the top of the wall, and let go. Thankfully she survived.
While deaths are rare, injuries happen every year. The story is almost always the same; a climber climbs an auto-belay route without clipping into the device. They let go of the wall and fall to the ground. This problem persists in all forms of climbing. In 1989, legendary climber Lynn Hill fell 85 feet from the top of a cliff in Buoux, France when she failed to finish her figure-8 knot. In 2012 Lynn's longtime friend and legend in his own right John Long (yes, THE John Long) failed to finish tying his knot and fell from an outdoor climbing route.
“The last thing I remember after reaching the chains at the top of the route is landing feet first on the ground, crumpling in a heap and rolling up to see my tibia jutting out a hole in my shin. Fifty days and five operations later, I got discharged from UCLA Medical Center and spent most of the next year on crutches.”
In all of these incidents the same culprit shows itself: complacency. Lynn and John fell to the ground because they failed to perform partner double checks and ensure their knots were correctly tied. The climbers mentioned in the auto belay accidents were all experienced. The American Alpine Club confirms as much; experienced climbers are far more likely to make these mistakes than new climbers are. Experienced climbers fall victim to believing their own myth, that their track record of safe climbing guarantees safe climbing in the future. This is demonstrably not the case. Experienced climbers grow complacent, confident in their own skills, and unafraid of the consequences that may befall the failure to double check themselves or each other.
As we explore climbing and the wonderful places it can lead to it is essential that we maintain a state of vigilance, an acute awareness that a momentary lapse of attention or care may have disastrous consequences. It is essential that we double check our systems, every single climb, without exception. If our friends and partners neglect these processes we are obligated to cover for their negligence, and to speak out against such recklessness.
One of the most important aspects of rock climbing is our risk management. The ability to identify and mitigate exposure to risk is priceless. Many of those risks are external: rock quality, the condition of our equipment, weather, approach and retreat paths. However the numbers show that the most pressing risk we must manage is internal, our own complacency. We must remove our ego, acknowledge our proclivity for mistakes, and adjust accordingly.
Stay vigilant, and let's go climbing.
