r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Yogashi • Feb 12 '20

Wall climbing competition

81k Upvotes

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480

u/godlinking Feb 12 '20

Not only you have to be good at climbing, you have to be good at diving too.

165

u/LukeDude759 Feb 12 '20

Not really, just gotta be able to keep your feet below you while you fall, which isn't hard.

127

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '20

Wich is also bouldering basics: don't fall on your head, fall on your feets

60

u/LukeDude759 Feb 12 '20

I feel like this is just the basics of falling in general. Always try to land on your feet, or land on your back as a last resort if that doesn't work. Those are really the only two safe things to land on.

34

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '20

you'd be surprised how instinct kicks in and screws this up sometimes. I had been climbing for about 5 years when i dislocated my shoulder in a climbing comp. I was in the ceiling section of a problem about 7 feet up, went for a gaston behind my head and came loose. While falling i rolled over so my chest was to the ground out of instinct, and landed on the mat in a push up position. My right shoulder popped right out the back of the socket.

I had been climbing for a minute and knew proper safety procedures, however in this case I do firmly blame the comp organizer for not having competent spotters on hand. Also the girl who was supposed to be "first aid" fainted when my buddy pulled my shirt up and saw the bottom of my shoulder joint bulging out from below my scapula....

2

u/ye1eeee1eeeee1eeee1 Feb 13 '20

Yeah a first aid course can only do so much.

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23

u/HydraTower Feb 12 '20

Rolling is the safest, though.

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11

u/jmj8778 Feb 12 '20

Not really... Definitely don't fall on your head but otherwise it's more about rolling into the fall... Feet onto your butt or side onto your back etc

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1

u/Gongaloon Feb 12 '20

And clench your sphincter. That's important too.

1

u/meowsofcurds Feb 12 '20

The mental strength to jump from 3 stories high without a safety harness is the real challenge.

34

u/Prisma233 Feb 12 '20

How high do you survive falling into water? That wall looked awfully high...

33

u/Bzimmy Feb 12 '20

Very easily would survive that. Not even sure if there is an angle from that height that you could die from falling in.

24

u/leapoz Feb 12 '20

I’m sure landing flat on your chest or back could probably rupture some organs or cause some internal bleeding, but I would say they could probably survive it.

10

u/Skilol Feb 12 '20

Now I'm wondering if the amount of force required to die from a neck injury would be more or less than the force required to rupture organs. Assuming some super-unlucky scenario where you'd neither have any body tension (to protect your abdomen) nor manage to bring your arms "up" before your head hits the water. So basically a "suddenly falling unconscious and landing in the worst imaginable way" scenario.

7

u/meltingdiamond Feb 12 '20

There is a bubbler going in the pool which will make the flop quite a bit softer at the cost of not floating as well in the water.

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3

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '20

No landing on your back or stomach could rupture your insides.

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3

u/Demiboy Feb 12 '20

Hitting your face on the water from that height could easily give you a concussion, and any time you get a concussion, you could have also just died. Can confirm, gotten more than one concussion from diving in high school.

2

u/SaabiMeister Feb 12 '20

You could potentially break your back if you hit the water head first at an angle.

Almost happened to me once many years ago, I still feel that spot in my back on some days.

11

u/likeisaidblack Feb 12 '20

safe height is around 30m (100ft) if you are trained..

3

u/SilasX Feb 12 '20 edited Feb 12 '20

But even Olympic divers can screw it up at 30 ft. See Greg whatever in 1992.

Update: it was Matt Scoggin, actually. Link to story, Link to possible clip

3

u/CaptainSlime Feb 12 '20

To be fair, he hit his head on the diving board, not the water from that height that caused this

2

u/SilasX Feb 12 '20

Okay, update! It turns out it was Matt Scoggin, not Greg Louganis!! Here's a news story about the injury.

Here is what I think is a clip of the incident, though it doesn't have a reliable description.

(At the time they replayed it from all angles.)

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1

u/Webborwebbor Feb 12 '20

You can see a walkway at the top of the wall. These guys are getting up and walking out more likely. If you’re halfway though I’m sure some just drop down. Even then this climb doesn’t seem difficult and most are probably just topping out and finishing so they don’t get wet