I am frequently reminded of the
importance of wearing helmets when actively participating in the
climbing domain. As a motorcyclist of over 40 years, I learned at a
very young age that wearing a helmet was a “must”. I do not ever
recall there being any negative stigma associated with wearing a
helmet when you ride. It wasn’t until I was older and teaching
motorcycle safety instructor courses that I became acutely aware of
the surprising number of riders who felt wearing a helmet was not
only optional but a downright infringement on their rights. Of
course, when conducting a motorcycle safety course, we had the
authority to require helmet use – else you find some other place to
learn to ride or teach.
Since I learned to rock climb (20 years
ago) I never thought twice about helmet use. I mean really –
doesn’t it make sense that a helmet might protect your head in a
slip or fall? Of course when you learn more about climbing you learn
of numerous other hazards which might inflict harm should you opt out
of some cranial protection. Falling rocks, gear and other debris are
fairly commonplace in many popular climbing areas - and if even a
stone the size of a half dollar were to hit you on top of the head from a fair distance above,
you’d be lucky to walk away – more likely you’d be facing
emergency first aid, evacuation, hospitalization and possibly
death. (Not to mention how ugly you might look with a bashed in head or face!)
What strikes me most (no pun intended) is the lack of helmet use in sport climbing areas.
The next time I get to Rumney, I might conduct an informal “study”
by counting how many climbers I encounter with lids and those
without. Granted, if I do this, I will need to keep it simple by
counting climbers who are actually wearing a helmet WHILE CLIMBING.
At sport areas, there are 2 types (well maybe 3) types of climbing
set-ups in action: lead climbing, following and (similarly) top-roping
(one could argue seconding and TRing are the same in this case). Now
BELAYING is a whole different matter! What percentage of climbers do
you think I might find wearing helmets WHILE BELAYING when I go to
Rumney? Care to post your guesses follows?
Percentage of climbers at Rumney
wearing helmets while climbing =
Percentage of belayers at
Rumney wearing helmets while belaying =
Ratio of climbers vs. dogs at Rumney
(no wait – that’s another soapbox for a future post!)
 |
| Wait - maybe SOME people DO look ugly in helmets! |
Since sport climbing is widely
considered “safe” in terms of protection and by nature, can be on
more overhanging terrain (especially as the difficulty rises), most
“sport climbers” refrain from helmet use. I suppose it is
considered uncomfortable, cumbersome and mostly unattractive (read
“UGLY”)! I have plenty of friends who are sport climbers and my
oratory is NOT intended to offend – although I must admit I don’t
buy the arguments. Climbing is inherently dangerous and like other
high risk activities, there are MANY steps one can take to mitigate
the risks and thereby decrease the odds of serious injury or death.
Helmet use is an obvious choice. But I guarantee you we won’t see
a change in this behavior at the sport crags. It is a part of the
culture. (By the way, are the arguments against helmet use the same
for boulderers? To me, without the protection of a rope and relying
solely on a crash pad and/or spotters, wouldn’t a helmet make total
sense before climbing 15 feet of the ground, especially considering
“falling” in bouldering is more commonplace than sending???) But
I digress.
Recently, some friends of mine were
climbing at Rumney, and these folks typically fall into the helmet–wearing type of climber more so
than the no-helmet crowd. The leader was climbing up to the 2nd or 3rd bolt (not far off the deck) and reached the crux
where she began to have difficulties. After some time I suppose she
couldn’t sustain her position on the rock any longer and knew she
was about to come off. And so she did, landing on her belayer below
and tumbling/stumbling to a stop. The belayer, ever at the ready
particularly when she knew her partner was in trouble at the crux,
was knocked hard into the rock head first. She tells me had she NOT
been wearing her helmet at the belay, the scene would have been an
entirely different one! (The leader sustained a bad gash in her
lower leg, but no head injury.) This story has provided me with a
stinging reminder to wear my helmet even when belaying.
We subscribe to 3 climbing magazines –
Climbing, Rock and Ice and The Alpinist. It doesn’t take a rocket
scientist ( I have a climbing friend who IS a rocket scientist by the
way – just an aside), to see that the magazines do NOT promote
helmet use and in effect discourage it. Glorious photos of
professional and amateur climbers around the globe in all venues are
depicted. While admittedly I believe there may be a slight increase
in the number of helmets I see worn in the mag photos in recent years, it is still a
sad representation. What I find most hypocritical is that in some of
the content writers testify as to the importance and value of
helmets, yet the practice lags far behind. The most recent issue of
Climbing is the 2012 Gear Guide – check out the first paragraph on
helmets on page 62. I quote: “You wouldn’t consider biking down a
busy road without a helmet, so why climb without one? Whether sport
climbing at your local crag or venturing up a 15-pitch alpine route,
helmets offer critical protection from falling rock or ice as well as
from a blow to the head during a fall.” (add “or belay”
here).
Before anyone starts admonishing me for
hypocrisy by claiming I don’t always wear a helmet, bite your
tongue. While I am far from the moniker “safety saint”, I do
wear my helmet probably 95% of the time, yes, even belaying. I find
exceptions and when I do it is when I perceive minimal risk. But the
risk is still there and I have a little voice in my head that warns
me – the one time you think it’s safe to take off your helmet is
the one time something will happen – and you will wish you hadn’t.
Ok little voice – I hear ya.
This is a blog. It is MY blog. But I
welcome participation so the posting is open! Fire away if you care.
And whether you wear a helmet or not, consider taking
this survey offered
up by a graduate student performing a study on helmet use in
climbing. He will donate $1 to The Access Fund for every completed
survey he receives.
