“For Your Mountain: Emmeline Wang”

“Resilience, resilience, resilience…” Those were the words I kept uttering to myself when my body rebounded from the cocktail of anesthesia and painkillers I was given after getting splinted up at the Las Vegas trauma center. 

On November 18th 2022, I was involved in a traumatic trad climbing accident in Red Rocks, Nevada, when a large piece of rock about half the size of my torso broke from underneath where I stood. As I was one move away from gaining the size 4 thunderbolt crack system, I felt a sudden jolt, or swoosh that felt like someone was ripping a carpet from under my feet. What went from a fun trad route quickly turned into a literal free-falling nightmare. On the way down, I felt and heard a “craaaack,” and before I could even understand what happened, I was flipped upside down. Completely aware and coherent the entire time, all I could think was, “Shit, my gear better catch, my piece better not blow.” After what felt like 20 seconds, my .75 cam was a bomber placement (thank god), my rope finally tensioned, and all the commotion finally stopped..”

Read my full story on La Sportiva here.