12-Year-Old Boy Killed After Fall at North Carolina Trampoline Park

A 12-year-old boy who fell from a rock climbing wall at a North Carolina trampoline park has died.

News outlets report Altitude Trampoline Park in Gastonia closed Friday out of respect for the boy’s family. Police say he died Thursday following the Wednesday evening fall.

Audio from a 911 call says the boy hit the ground after falling about 15 feet (4.5 meters). The person told the dispatcher the boy was wearing a harness. It’s unclear whether the harness was functioning properly.

In a statement Thursday, an Altitude Trampoline Park vice president said the rock climbing structure has been closed while they investigate what happened.

Topics North Carolina

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June 26, 2019 at 12:31 pm

Greg Flury says:

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I am a climber with 20 years of experience climbing indoors & outdoors, and several years teaching climbing safety. I can say that most climbing accidents are due to user-error.

User-error, in turn, can be attributed to inexperience, such as a new climber not knowing how to wear & buckle a harness, use a belay device, tie-in properly, or how to fall. With experienced climbers, user-error can usually be attributed to complacency, such as neglecting to inspect for and maintain awareness of any hazards, neglecting to maintain redundancy in anchor systems, over-estimating their ability, neglecting to inspect/double-check anchors, gear, & equipment, and neglecting to retire worn or damaged gear because “it still works”.

I have never heard or read of a harness or rope breaking without having been subjected to a cut, abrasion, or chemical hazard.

I think I read in one of the reports that the trampoline park in question is relatively new, so most likely their ropes & harnesses were also new, which would make failure of the harness or rope due to excessive wear highly unlikely.

We won’t know the true cause of the accident until the official investigation report has been released. My guess is that it will be user-error; the most likely scenarios would be improper use of or incomplete fastening of a harness, failure of the belayer to take up rope slack, failure of the belayer to properly attach or use the belay device, lack of or improper instruction & supervision by the staff. Because it’s a trampoline park, there may not be any experienced climbers on the staff, which would dramatically increase the risk level for participants.

Latest Comments

June 26, 2019 at 12:31 pm

Greg Flury says:

I am a climber with 20 years of experience climbing indoors & outdoors, and several years teaching climbing safety. I can say that most climbing accidents are due to user-... read more
June 25, 2019 at 3:12 pm

Agent says:

Unclear on whether the harness was functioning properly??????? Duh!