On March 28, Noah Cleveland (20), Ben Rader (19), Carson Yates (19), and I (22) went to Rumbling Bald to boulder. Ben and I were familiar with the area, and our plan was to introduce Noah and Carson to bouldering outdoors, so we focused on moderate problems. The weather was warm and clear. After climbing one problem, I got on Short Crack (V2). The landing area was flat, with no rocks or roots, and we placed several crash pads. Because the problem was short, I decided not to top out. Instead I dropped about four to five feet onto a crash pad, but I landed on the outside of my right foot, dislocating the ankle. Ben was able to support my shoulders when I dropped, so my head never hit the pad. I was able to reduce the dislocation and elevate it on a log while the rest of the group finished a couple more problems, then I walked out slowly.

The swelling really kicked in on the drive home. Later that night, I was unable to support my weight and could not walk for the next day and a half. I visited an orthopedic specialist who took an X-ray and confirmed that I had dislocated and sprained the ankle. It took me six months to fully recover. (Source: Anna Marie Alewine.)

ANALYSIS

One takeaway from this incident is that you don’t have to be climbing a big or difficult objective to get into trouble. In my case, I was doing an easy boulder problem with a flat, well-padded landing zone. You can “play it safe” and still get hurt. Assess the landing area before climbing and make a mental image of where you plan to land. Though not a factor in this accident, careful pad placement can prevent landing on an edge of a pad, as can adjusting crash pads to follow a climber as she moves, especially on problems that traverse. (Sources: Anna Marie Alewine and the Editors.)