CU student Austin Forbes, a 21-year-old junior psychology major, is recovering after injuries sustained in a rock climbing incident.
Forbes has been released from the hospital after sustaining injuries in a rock climbing fall in Boulder Canyon, according to Boulder Community Hospital.
Forbes was not wearing a helmet during the fall and suffered a head injury, said Rik Henrikson, deputy sheriff with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Henrikson said the sheriff’s office sees quite a few of these kinds of accidents, and emphasizes safety while climbing.
“We’re always concerned that people are being as safe as they can,” Henrikson said. “Understand that climbing is somewhat inherently dangerous and you need to be careful and there’s always a potential for injury.”
Dave Christenson, a qualified member of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, highlighted the importance of wearing a helmet.
“We’ve never heard of a person who sustained worse injuries because they had a helmet on,” Christenson said. “I don’t know that it would have made much difference in the injuries, but it couldn’t have hurt and it might have helped.”
The call about Forbes came in to the rescue group at around 2:30 p.m. on Mar. 6, Christenson said. Judging from bystander reports, Forbes likely blew a clip while climbing and fell about 20 feet.
Henrikson said Forbes was lowered to the ground after the fall. Someone there with him then got the attention of a U.S. Forest Service employee who radioed for help.
In 2009, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group received 143 calls, Christenson said. It fielded 79 of those calls, assisted 86 people and evacuated seven other individuals. Of the people assisted, Christenson said that 11 were rock climbers, and that the most common cause of injury was a fall.
“We’ve had several falls—I’d say far too many falls—in the last five to 10 years where people fell because of mistakes they made in how they were using their ropes,” Christenson said. “I don’t have any indication that that happened in this case.”
Because of the complicated terrain of the Boulder Falls area where Forbes was located, the climber was evacuated using a steel cable Tyrolean high line method, Christenson said. A picture of this procedure can be viewed on the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group’s homepage.
Some student rock climbers shared their perspective on safety precautions in the sport.
Heidi Kasemir, a 21-year-old junior architectural engineering major, said she goes climbing two to three times a week.
“Safety is a big deal, especially outside,” Kasemir said. “I always go with somebody, and outside, I always have a crash pad under me and someone spotting.”
Kasemir said rock climbing can be dangerous, primarily if climbers don’t pay enough attention to their surroundings, but that this is common to any extreme activity.
“I have seen people get hurt, and have had a few scrapes myself, but it’s the same deal with many fun sports,” Kasemir said.
David Lide, a 20-year-old sophomore chemical engineering major, said wearing a helmet is an important safety measure for climbers to take.
“I always wear a helmet when I outdoor climb,” Lide said. “There’s just too much stuff that can go wrong.”
Forbes could not be reached for comment.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kaely Moore at Kaely.moore@colorado.edu.
