How often do climbers quit climbing entirely due to injuries?

I have seen couple fellow climbers are giving up climbing due to their health or injuries.

I wonder how often does one decide to give up this life-time hobby completely. It's sad to see people move on from climbing, but I hope I won't wind up like that.

I am just hoping my hands hold out so I can continue to climb. I can't make a fist anymore, but instead of quitting I plan on just climbing easier routes.

Like Mike said, people move on. I'm not sure it's so much a conscious choice of giving up climbing as it is simply pursuing something else.

Though I will say that I've know more than one person who's drastically modified their climbing habits because of recurrent injuries. And I've certainly noticed that although I still like to push my physical climbing limits I don't go about it the same way I did 15yrs ago.

I know a guy that quit completely after his friend was seriously injured.

Yeah my question may not be an easy question to answer in general. If anyone can share some personal experience, that would be great for newcomers like me. Haha for now, all I can think of is that as long as I am not dead, I will keep climbing.

I've been having issues with a tendon in the back of my hand because of Carpal Bossing. If I climb too hard too much, it gets hard to grab onto things.

Luckily there are many climbing (trad, alpine, mountaineering etc..) types beyond TR and Sport where the challenge is more than just physical :)

I can think of two people. One fell while free-soling something he probably shouldn't have, and broke both ankles pretty badly. Another took a nasty lead fall and again broke both ankles. Oddly enough on the same route.

The first hadn't been climbing for all that long (maybe a few years), but the second had been at it off and on for decades.

They both have gotten back into easy hiking, but it's tough for most folks to face not being able to walk again.

I know people who have quit climbing because of a horrible accident that they've been involved in or even just witnessed. But that's a mental thing... most of them could have physically gotten back on the horse if they could have sorted their heads.

I also know people who can't climb anymore because of car/motorcycle accidents and whatnot. But I don't think I know anyone who has given up climbing because of a chronic injury or even a sprain/strain/tear/rupture/break/etc.

The thing about climbing is that you can usually participate in it even when injured. I've come close to having serious finger issues, but was able to rehab by cutting my volume and intensity in half. I still have small issues that would have gone away totally if I had stopped cold turkey for a few months, but I just can't do that. So instead I train on easier routes for endurance and am going to do some moderate alpine trad this summer in place of the usual autumn cragging road trip.

But I know that no matter how much or how little I climb, how hard or how easy, how well or how poorly... I will never be satisfied. There will always be more routes that I want to climb and more areas that i want to see.

Knowing that even the best climbing life possible would not satisfy me leads me to the conclusion that there is a much larger difference between no climbing and a little bit than there is between a little bit and a lot. I can imagine (and deal with) a little bit of climbing on moderate ground... but I don't think I could handle a life without any climbing at all. What would I do instead?

A friend of mine decked from 50 feet, fractured his C2 and wore a Halo for 3 months. 2 weeks after the halo removal he was ice climbing and has been climbing more than ever now.

So I think it's more of a mental thing than a physical thing if you quit climbing because of injuries. The passionate ones will stick around despite serious injuries IMO.

Ryan Williams wrote:Knowing that even the best climbing life possible would not satisfy me leads me to the conclusion that there is a much larger difference between no climbing and a little bit than there is between a little bit and a lot.

Ryan, this seriously helps me out. That's an important insight I don't think I would've realized without hearing it. Thanks. :)

By "climbing" I take it you mean technical climbing?

My climbing has been heavily modified due to recurrent shoulder injuries and 4 surgeries. But I started technical climbing because I wanted that as skill the mountains, but I can be in the mountains without technical climbing. 3rd and 4th class peaks abound. If you consider hiking up them "climbing", then I haven't quite.

As I further strengthen and rehab my shoulder I start to think of easier long alpine routes I could get on. It's an itch thats never completely scratched, it would seem.

Dom wrote: The passionate ones will stick around despite serious injuries IMO.

+1 to a point

I have seen a double amputee(feet) leading tic-tac in the ice park. Tommy Caldwell cut his finger off years ago, re-attached it, then removed it after surgeons told him he would never climb with it... still crushing. People like this are great motivators and inspirational. We are capable of so much more that we generally think. There are many more examples of people overcoming their injuries. Dig deep, think positive, eat right and take care of yourself. Unfortunately time is the only thing that can help most injuries. If you really want it, you will make it happen.

I've been climbing for over 20 years now, and climbing has often been a decent indicator of recovery from injury - or at least a style-specific climbing fitness indicator. I've had a fractured skull with a concussion, 2 other concussions, nose breaks, a spiral fracture on my humerus (not funny), my heel shattered in 16 pieces, torn ACL/MCL/meniscus on my left knee, and a torn meniscus on my right knee. All of these injuries were spread out in multiple encounters with the planet, and the torn meniscus was my only climbing-related injury (aside from little things like a popped pulley) . . . skiing was the major culprit otherwise.

I climb (and ski) more cautiously at this point, but I think it has to do more with motivation and priorities (more energy to other things) than physical capability, as I tend to come back stronger once I've been injured and gone through the inevitable, forced meditations and self-examination an injury so readily offers. A hiatus from climbing can be nice, but not nearly as nice as the second pitch of "Hiatus", Left Book, Lumpy Ridge, in the light of a full moon.

A friend broke his ankle from falling before his first clip. Two surgeries and one ankle fusion later, he climbs no more. Although some might think it's a matter of how passionate (obsessed?) you are, others would say they don't want to risk re-injury and the attendant long recovery, or a possible crippling injury (although that can happen anytime, regardless of whether you've experienced a previous injury). It's a personal choice whether they want to continue. I lost a climbing partner, but respect his decision

I think it's hard to know how you'll react until something bad happens. A couple of friends and I witnessed the aftermath of a bad fall at the Gunks (the victim required CPR, and is now paralyzed for life). We were pretty shaken up by it, but all of us still climb. I think the best we can hope for is to learn from our mistakes (or those of others), try to be safe, and have fun. Right now I'm more worried about the arthritis in my knuckles from too much crimping!

I quit for about 5 years, just too many deaths. Just didn't think the rewards outweighed the risks. Most of my peer group that I used to climb and work with are no longer here.

They say that time heals most things and it does to a certain degree.

It's funny.

I am over 50 years old and then I woke up one day recently, only to realize that many of the people I climb with or have been climbing with are half my age.

Anyway, to get back to point. Comparable to the timely words of Charlton Heston..."I'll give you the lead and my climbing rack, when you take it from my cold, dead hands".

AB