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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: Popular climbing areas in the United States are frequently on public lands under administrative purview of land management entities. During climbing, climbers may be subject to injury. This study aimed to describe existing climbing risk mitigation tactics used to protect climbers by oversight agencies responsible for these public climbing areas and to identify strategies perceived by the oversight agency to be successful.
METHODS: We identified publicly managed US bouldering, sport, or traditional climbing areas through a state-by-state search of Mountain Project. We assessed climbing-related visitation, injury, rescue, and risk mitigation strategies using a 10-item survey targeting land-use managers, rangers, outdoor recreation planners, and park managers. Quantitative analysis included univariate and multivariate analysis. Qualitative analyses of survey responses with thematic grouping of mitigation interventions were performed.
RESULTS: One hundred fifty-seven publicly managed US climbing areas were contacted, and 76 (48%) provided data. Thirty-six (47%) of those that provided data stated that programs are in place to reduce climbing-related injury. There were no associations between demographic variables and the presence of risk mitigation strategies. Four themes of climbing risk mitigation strategies emerged: coordination with climbing coalitions (25% of respondents), permitting (22% of respondents), publication of accident reports (22% of respondents), and preventative search and rescue (17% of respondents).
CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of survey respondents reported having climbing risk mitigation programs. There is opportunity to assess the efficacy of risk mitigation strategies through intra-area and inter-area assessments. A centralized climbing injury database may prove useful for assessing the efficacy of and need for risk mitigation techniques.
Language: en |