In March, Lucy Kim (23) fell from Classic Thin Crack (V2) in Joshua Tree, severely damaging her left ankle. With her hands at the top, Kim chose to jump off in order to retry the problem. Below were six crash pads and two spotters. She fell in an upright posture but impacted with her left foot turned inward and the pad was curved over a rock. A spotter prevented her from falling backward, but the torque turned her foot even more inward as the spotter pushed her forward.

Kim was driven to the hospital with an open ankle dislocation and torn ligaments, tendons, and nerves. She is making a full recovery and has resumed climbing, though she still hadn’t regained full range of motion a year after the accident.

ANALYSIS

In bouldering, every fall is a ground fall. Kim notes, “I should’ve looked down to spot my landing before jumping, but I was instead looking at my next hold.” Be aware of an uneven landing. “The lesson would be to check the landing (what the ground actually looks like beneath pads), and to always be conscious of how and where you’re landing.” (Source: Lucy Kim.)