Lightning Safety for Climbers: Stay Safe
Tis the season for some impressive summer storms, and we all know that alongside massive thunder, those summer storms can bring about some extremely impressive, and extremely deadly lightning strikes. As climbers, anytime we climb outdoors in a storm, we are in jeopardy. The good news is there are things we can do to reduce our risk of getting struck.

As always, check out the full article for some more in-depth analysis and reasoning, but now for brevity's sake, here are the top 8 tips for avoiding that summer lightning while climbing this year:

1. Check the weather forecast before going out.
2. Do your climbing in the morning before it storms.
3. Be prepared to change or abandon your climbing plans.
4. Pay attention to atmospheric changes.
5. Get off high places before a storm arrives.
6. Learn to recognize thunderstorms that produce lightning.
7. Use thunder to determine how far a storm is from you.
8. Follow the 30-30 Rule.

There you have it! The 30-30 rule just means if the time between when you see lightning and hear the thunder is under 30 seconds, seek shelter. Wait 30 minutes from the last bolt of lightning before you safely go out again.

Stay Safe this year!

(image via allposters.com)

Labels: climbing, Climbing Safety, Lightning, Outdoor Rock Climbing

  ¶ Wednesday, June 03, 2009