How unsafe is climbing?

[tbwilsonky]

yeah? gimme a list of recently banned outdoor activities. then give me a list of those which included private property.

[dustonian]

How about the ban on climbing in KY state parks? The abysmal safety record in the Red is not going going to help our case there. And there are plenty of landowners who don't allow climbing on their property due to liability concerns (Recreational Use law notwithstanding)--monthly news blurbs about another accident in the Red does nothing but reinforce their conviction that climbing is a dangerous, reckless activity. I fear that a serious accident or fatality at Military, Left Flank, or Motherlode may well close those places for good. The climbing "ban" is an insidious, crag-by-crag phenomenon, not a blanket all-at-once one.

[tbwilsonky]

The climbing "ban" is an insidious, crag-by-crag phenomenon, not a blanket all-at-once one.

agreed. i was speaking more to the latter.

[tbwilsonky]

also i clearly see the political dangers for us as a user group. and i am concerned. but i tend towards optimism when i look at mortality rates for other kentucky wilderness user groups. say, hunters, for instance: http://fw.ky.gov/newsrelease.asp?nid=394

certainly this sort of comparative analysis doesn't ensure anything, but it does suggest (to me at least) that climbing can be represented at relatively safe in relation to other, more normalized, outdoor activities.

[dustonian]

Agreed, but climbing is still unfortunately often viewed by the general public as a reckless, outsider activity beyond the mainstream "recreational" options, and it tends to be scapegoated by land owners, land managers, and politicians. These bonehead sport climbing mishaps do not help this problem.

[brooke]

anyone have any experience with the mammut smart? it is not the same motion as a gri-gri or atc, but it may have some advantages over the two...

[clif]

so if i'm elected to the rrgcc BOD by popular decree/write-in campaign, the best way to kill myself is by rapping?

[Shamis]

so if i'm elected to the rrgcc BOD by popular decree/write-in campaign, the best way to kill myself is by rapping?

Or just go visit cleavis.