Taking Falls – Staying Injury free in the Bouldering Gym

Believe it or not, even with thick pads, you can still get injured falling from a highball at your local bouldering gym.

With the new breed of bouldering gyms popping up in Taipei – Xinyi and STONE gym, we’re seeing walls going up  4.5m to 5m tall  – plenty high enough to roll your ankles on.

 

So just as a safety reminder for everybody, let’s take a look at  how to take falls.

• When falling, aim for the center portions of the mat, not the edges, so you don’t land between pads
• Try to keep your knees a bit bent so you can collapse and roll onto your back/butt as you land and absorb the fall. Think judo fall, not Gymnastic – stick-the-landing type of fall.
• Practice taking falls! Next time you top out your highball, don’t downclimb — just let go and drop! practice and learn how to fall from on high safely and next time you fall unexpectedly you will know what to do. Best of all it will improve your climbing because  it will give you the mental courage to go for moves more fearlessly.

Read the full article on landing safety at Climbing Magazine for more details