Climbing injuries in the Netherlands.

Abstract

During the last decades, climbing (i.e., sport and rock climbing) evolved from a little known sport for extremists to an accessible sport with many participants of all ages. The exponential increase in participation is due to several factors, for example, increased safety and the evolution and availability of artificial indoor and outdoor climbing walls. Especially the indoor climbing walls allow all-weather access to an environment where the technical climbing moves can be practised. At present, many major and often smaller cities have artificial climbing walls located for instance at sport accommodations or colleges. In Germany, the number of artificial climbing walls is estimated to be about a 100. The Netherlands has 26 medium sized to large climbing halls, 20 smaller indoor walls and 26 outdoor walls. The explosive growth of the number of artificial walls can be illustrated by figures from the United Kingdom. In 1988, the number of climbing walls was 40, in 1995 122 and in 1996 the UK had 169 climbing walls. Although the popularity of climbing and its obvious potential for accidents and injuries is evident, there is little known about the accidents and injuries that are caused. Limb has executed a postal survey targeted at the 90 most accessible walls in England, Scotland and Wales. This survey requested details of the construction of the wall, safety features and equipment, the climbing styles allowed and the occurrence of significant injuries in the 2-year period from July 1991 to July 1993. A significant injury was defined as an injury requiring the victim to be transported to a local Emergency department. Fifty-six walls with good access were included in the analyses. It was calculated that in the 2year period under investigation, 1021 million visits were made to the 56 walls and 55 significant injuries were reported. Limb concluded that climbing walls seem to be associated with a very low injury rate. In Germany, during a 6-month period (November 1996 to April 1997), the number of visitors, as well as accidents leading to an injury requiring an immediate visit to a doctor were registered in 10 indoor climbing accommodations. During the 6-month period, 25,163 climbing enthusiasts visited one of the 10 indoor climbing accommodations under investigation and four accidents as mentioned above were registered. This corresponds with an accident rate of 0.016% per visit. The average climber, climbing two times a week, has a 1.8% risk of having a significant accident each year. Like Limb, Schöffl et al. conclude that climbing is associated with a small risk of having a significant accident and injury. In the Netherlands, information about climbing injuries can be gathered in two ways. Firstly, the Royal Dutch Mountaineering and Climbing Club stimulates managers of climbing accommodations to report accidents (and injuries) occurring in their accommodation using a standard form. In the period 1999–2001, 10 accidents were reported. Secondly, there is the Dutch Injury Surveillance System of the Consumer Safety Institute. Information regarding climbing accidents and injuries compiled in this system is presented in this short report.