A few months ago all-around climber Josh Wharton broke his back after he made a mistake while maintaining a route in Rifle, CO and fell 25 ft. to the ground. Check out this excellent video in which Wharton talks about the accident, his approach to recovery, and watch him as he climbs a few nice “rehab” boulders in RMNP just a few months post-injury:
Via When Coffe Adds a Stop & The Professor
Posted In: Videos
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[…] This is an especially sweet victory for Wharton. In
late summer 2010, Wharton suffered a broken back while climbing at
his home crag, Rifle, Colo., (details on his rehab can be read on
climbingnarc). […]
Jared: Use to visit this site daily. Miss you Narc! Hope ...
chris marcolini: Did you ever find the falling block?...
Nate: The narc lives on, at least as an archive. Miss th...
J: Two slings half inch webbing 24 inch sewn slings w...
Animull89: So gnarly that he did that twice...I remember the ...
So if I break my back I’ll be able to climb V9?
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There’s only one way to find out!
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great story, water aerobics is a great way to train. When you take off the belt that enables you to float and have to tread water plus due exercises for an hour is harder than ya think.
I’d love to see an interview with both josh and ethan P about specifics of their rehab.
I’ve been really impressed with what ethan has been able to do in such a short time after his shoulder surgery. Never ceases to amaze how the body can recover!
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Pretty awesome video indeed. When you get injured and you’re uncertain whether you’ll be able to get back into climbing, it definitely allows you to appreciate every movement, plastic hold or granite sloper that much more.
I am sort of getting back into the swing of things myself and seeing this video put things into perspective for sure. The common denominator for getting back in the game is passion.
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Break your back to climb V9.
After getting injured, I had to throw myself into PT to get healthy again. The mental and physical discipline that PT required was insane, but after I healed and begin to regain my original strength, I found that I had this foundation for training hard. I’m stronger both mentally and physically now than I ever was, and I attribute it to what I was forced to learn from daily physical therapy.
Cool video. Thanks for changing it up Narc, keeping it fresh.
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@neil
I’ve found that with a PT foundation in shoulders via bands, body blade (which is the greatest things EVER!), swimming you’ve worked on the muscles/tendons that are needed to jump into fun (hard) climbing without running the risk of injury.
That grouped with a little self control (which I’ve found to be the hardest part about training for climbing is not climbing) you’ll really enjoy yourself.
Looking like a good weekend in the dirty.
Here’s to the demise of fear, doubt, egos and most importantly 8anu!
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Another thing to know about Josh, his recovery and the video is the man just lost his Dad last year, having lost his mom when he was 16. His plate sure has been full. Great seeing him cope with it all and returning right away to his strengths!
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Really good video, super inspiring. I’ve had a couple shoulder surgeries in the past so I can relate… somewhat. A back injury looks so much worse! Oddly enough, I just wrote an article about staying psyched while injured: http://rockclimberlife.com/staying-psyched-injured Check it out!
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