@Corydoras @verretor Climbing is unusual, because it tends to either be very safe, or deadly. It's fairly uncommon for people to even sprain ankles climbing, especially with top rope. OTOH I've seen someone fall 30ft due to a belaying mistake - had they not been in a padded gym, or had just fallen awkwardly or on someone, they'd have been killed instantly. Fortunately the thick padding the gym had installed left them with nothing more than a sprained back.

@Corydoras @verretor I personally got dropped about 20ft due to a belaying mistake myself. I was lucky that the grigri locked up before I actually hit the ground at full speed due to the belayer letting go. I stopped climbing with them...

But actual injuries? Other than some blisters, I really can say nothing at all.

@Corydoras @verretor Same with caving. Much more dangerous than the climbing I've done. But at the same time, I'd say my biggest screw up was once needing to ask a partner to help me get down the last ~1m of a small downclimb that I screwed up on and couldn't climb back up.

To me, that was a BIG DEAL because I could have sprained my ankle (no stable footing under me if I jumped). We were about an hour or two from the exit so that would have really, really, sucked.

@Corydoras @verretor I think you choosing to focus on techy movements is smart. Endless fun to be had being precise, and it'll keep you doing it for the rest of your life.

@pete @Corydoras That’s Ido Portal’s approach. Instead of focusing on performance like endurance and strength, he focuses on movement so as he ages, he’s always in his prime.

@pete @verretor That's terrifying, haaa. What are the demographics for climbing like, out of curiosity? At parkour, I haven't seen too many serious injuries personally, but OFC idiots yeet themselves off tall buildings, and that makes headlines as a parkour accident. The worst injuries I've gotten are severe bruises from whiffing vaults.

@Corydoras @verretor In terms of top-notch climbers, I think the majority are late 20's to early 30's, with men and women being represented about equally.

But as for who you actually see at gyms, it's a really big age range. It's not uncommon to see people who look like they're in their 60's and even 70's climbing in gyms, both men and women.

It's a sport where intelligence can make up for being weak and fat. I would know... 😂

@Corydoras @verretor And to be clear, that's just talking about indoor climbing. With outdoor climbing - especially stuff like trad climbing where you install your own (removable) anchors as you go up - intelligence, courage, and planning matter even more.

@Corydoras @verretor See, that you've seen any injuries is a sign that it's more accident prone than climbing. :) Indoors, I've yet to see someone even break a bone. Plenty of overuse injuries though...

@pete @verretor To be fair, basically 100% of injuries I saw were teenagers who didn't respect their bodies. They'd be training a movement, would *almost* get it right but would get tired out in the process, and they'd push themselves too far and get a sprain. It happened often enough they we called it 'One More Time Syndrome.' The adults who trained were much more respectful of their lives lol.

@Corydoras @verretor Yup. Knowing your limits and respecting them is absolutely key.

It's notable how outdoor climbing really advanced after the top-tier climbers started training grip strength and similar outside of climbing itself: you just can't push your limits actually doing climbing. So you're leaving potential strength on the table that you can achieve at the gym on a hang board. Unfortunately, at some point you have to train to failure to advance.

@pete @verretor Interesting. Now that you mention it, I do remember my climber friend saying something about grip strength peaking later in life comparatively than most other physical assets. Parkour is mostly teenage boys at the gym, but one of the top global teams is men in their upper 20's/30's. Teenage boys don't think they can die so they always win on the mental game.

I definitely think parkour could be more like climbing, where you have an older crowd that focuses on intelligent and precise movements rather than just big death drops, but it has a such a reputation as a sport for dumb kids.

@Corydoras @verretor You're right, turns out grip strength does peak in your 30's for both men and women: https://theconversation.com/what-your-hand-grip-says-about-your-strength-through-life-35063

I didn't actually know that!

Though I wonder if climbers have the same peak? I started indoor climbing when I was 15 or 16, and climbed trees much earlier than that. I'm sure that must affect how your body develops.

@Corydoras @verretor Those teenagers aren't entirely wrong either. You can take much bigger falls if you don't weigh much. It's the same thing with gymnastics: much easier to start to learn big moves when you're a little kid.

@Corydoras @verretor If rescues weren't so challenging, and filming so difficult, cave exploration could be the "precision parkour" sport. Caves tend to be chock full of obstacles. Hell, Canada's third deepest cave is literally a 500m deep pile of boulders on about a 30° slope.

But alas, screwing up has such high consequences that "high contact" movement like sliding down obstacles and "belly flopping" up them often makes more sense.

@pete @verretor We also had a saying that 'The children will always be better than you.' It made me feel better when I saw them doing elevated rail precisions effortlessly, haa.

@pete @verretor I'd assume that if you're a climber, your personal 'peak' is way higher than average, and that it takes a longer time for you to significantly decline. I don't really know body mechanics though - I leave that to the acro folks.