Is Bouldering Dangerous?

I’ve been at the bouldering gym a lot lately, and a few of my friends kept asking me if bouldering is dangerous. To settle their worries (and honestly my own), I dug into the research to find out.

Is bouldering dangerous? Bouldering does lead to more injuries than rope climbing, but that doesn’t make it a dangerous sport. When you use caution and good technique, indoor bouldering is a safe and genuinely fun activity.

One nice thing about bouldering is that it’s easier to get into than rope climbing, because all you really need are shoes and chalk.

That low barrier is also part of why you see people get hurt. Plenty of climbers jump straight on the wall without any training first. Below is what I learned about the common climbing injuries, what actually causes them, and how to stay safer when you boulder. If you’re brand new to all this, our guide on your first time at a bouldering gym is a good place to start too.

Common injuries in bouldering

One of the best parts of bouldering is how simple it is. No rope, no carabiners, just shoes and chalk.

The flip side of having no gear is that when you fall, you hit the ground 100 percent of the time.

In a study that surveyed climbers, hand injuries were the most commonly reported. Another study that looked at rock climbing injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments found that fractures, sprains, and strains made up the largest share of injuries. 

From what I’ve seen at the gym, hand and elbow tendon injuries are the most common, and climbers with those usually don’t head to the emergency room for treatment. That’s probably why the two studies land on different results.

Here are some of the injuries you’ll run into most in bouldering:

1. Pulled tendons in your fingers and hands. A common hold in bouldering is called a crimp, and it’s where most finger and hand injuries come from, because it’s one of the easiest holds to overload with too much pressure on your tendons.
2. Sprained ankles from landing on your feet wrong. The padding softens the impact, but you can still roll or twist an ankle if you come down badly.
3. Sprained wrists from falling on your hands. This tends to happen on overhangs when your feet slip, your body pitches forward, and you land on your wrists.
4. Climber’s elbow, often called tennis elbow, which comes from straining the tendons near your elbow too much.
5. Climber’s knee is like climber’s elbow, except it shows up in your knee from twisting and contorting it in ways that strain the tendons.

Any of these can put a real dent in your work or your climbing, so pay attention to what your body is telling you and stop if you feel the early signs of an injury.

What causes most bouldering injuries

A common worry people have is the size of the mats below you when you fall. Good news there: indoor gyms usually have really thick mats that cover a big area, so thin padding isn’t something you need to stress about. There are a few other things, though, that lead to injuries far more often.

Doing climbs way above your skill level

I’ve watched plenty of people who’ve never climbed before throw themselves at hard problems using pure strength and zero technique. The trouble is they’re forcing their bodies to do things they aren’t ready for instead of moving well, and that’s how you get hurt. You’re also way more likely to fall when you’re climbing over your head, and every fall is another chance to get injured. If you’re not sure where you stand, our take on whether bouldering is actually that hard gives you a feel for how the grades progress.

Overuse of tendons

Like I said, tendon injuries are probably the most common ones out there, and they usually come from overuse. Your tendons take longer to build up stamina than your muscles do, and climbers forget that all the time. Their muscles get stronger, so they keep bumping up the difficulty without thinking about whether their tendons have caught up. The fix is simple: listen to your body. If your hand or elbow hurts, stop. One or two more climbs aren’t worth a long-term injury. 

And if you’re thinking about training on a hangboard, wait until you’ve been climbing for a couple of years so your tendons have built up enough stamina, then research the best methods so you don’t overload them while you train.

Walking under a climber

One of the top rules at any indoor bouldering gym is no walking under climbers. The obvious reason is that they might fall on you. What would have been a safe fall for them turns into injuries for both people. Be smart and watch where you’re walking. It’s one of the most avoidable mistakes in the gym, and we cover a few more in our list of common mistakes beginners make.

Twisting your knees

A common move in indoor bouldering is the drop-knee, where you twist your knee to pull your hip closer to the wall. If you don’t turn your foot to match the knee movement, you’re more likely to get hurt, because you’re twisting the tendons in your knee in a way they aren’t built to handle. 

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So is bouldering dangerous, and how do you make it safer?

There’s no textbook fall in bouldering, because every fall is different, so even a seasoned climber can get hurt. Still, bouldering isn’t as dangerous as it looks from the outside, and there’s a lot you can do to boulder safely.

1. Don’t jump down from a climb. If you can control how close you are to the ground when you come off the wall, get as low as you can first. That alone cuts down on the injuries you get from hitting the ground.
2. Use proper technique when you contort your body for different moves. There are a few ways to pick up technique. Getting a coach is the easiest, but it isn’t always affordable. You can also read blogs like this one, watch videos on YouTube, catch climbing competitions on TV, or just ask a stronger climber at your gym for pointers.
3. Get a spotter if you feel like you need one. Spotting is less common indoors because of all the deep matting, but it can still help if a climber ends up outside the mat coverage. Be picky about who spots you, though. An inexperienced spotter standing under you can cause an injury instead of preventing one.
4. Try to land on your feet with your knees bent. This won’t guarantee you walk away clean, but bending your knees spreads the impact through your body. This isn’t gymnastics, so you don’t have to stick the landing. When you hit the mat, let your body roll onto your side, back, or shoulder, and keep your head tucked to prevent whiplash.
5. Avoid catching yourself with your hands. On overhangs, I lose my footing, my legs swing, and the momentum pulls me off the wall face first. When that happens I try to catch myself on my knees and engage my core, and I keep my hands out of it so I don’t sprain a wrist.
6. Climbing.com had a great tip: take off all jewelry, belts, and anything heavy or sharp in your pockets, including keys, phone, and wallet. A ring catching on a hold or landing on your keys hurts a lot, so just put it away before you climb.

Want a simple way to keep building the technique that keeps you off the injury list? Our free newsletter sends you one short climbing drill each week, about 15 minutes, straight to your inbox. Level up your climbing with 15 minutes of training and it costs you nothing.

Conclusion

Indoor bouldering is a fun sport and a great way to get into climbing, but yes, it can be dangerous if you’re careless. The good news is there are plenty of ways to avoid injury and boulder safely, and it probably isn’t any more dangerous than basketball, soccer, football, or gymnastics.

If anything, the safety gear and technique in climbing make it easier to avoid injury than a lot of those other sports. For more on that, check out the health benefits of climbing.

If you have your own tips for making indoor bouldering safer, or a horror story you want to share, leave a comment. We’d all love to hear it. 

Frequently asked questions

Is bouldering dangerous for beginners?

Bouldering has more injuries than rope climbing, mostly because you fall to the ground every time and lots of beginners climb without any training. That said, it isn’t a dangerous sport when you use caution and good technique. Start on easy problems, listen to your body, and it stays safe and fun.

What is the most common bouldering injury?

Hand and finger tendon injuries are the ones I see most, usually from crimping too hard, along with sprained ankles and wrists from landing wrong. Emergency room data leans toward fractures, sprains, and strains, since most tendon issues get treated at home rather than in the ER.

How do you make bouldering safer?

Downclimb instead of jumping off, land with bent knees and let yourself roll, use proper technique instead of muscling through moves, never walk under another climber, and take off rings, belts, keys, and anything sharp before you get on the wall.

Is bouldering more dangerous than other sports?

Probably not. Bouldering is likely no more dangerous than basketball, soccer, football, or gymnastics, and the thick mats, technique, and safety habits climbers use actually make it easier to avoid injury than in a lot of other sports.

Sara Climbing Coach, Climbing Trainer, Writer

Sara is the founder of Send Edition, author of '77 Drills to Help You Climb Better,' the creator of 'Elevate Your Climbing: Training Planner and Tracker,' and climbing coach.

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