High Performance Sports

Abstract

Introduction: Hiking has increased in popularityand it is suggested that 2 million hikers visit the Swiss Alps per year. Although intuitively the risk of a mountain accident seems to be small,reports of severetraumas and even death can be found. Material & Methods: The study was designed as retrospective analysis of a ten-year period from 2009-2018. In total,11,120 mountain accidents were analyzed.Results: From 2009-2018,a total of 11,220 mountain hiking accidents was identified. The highest share with around 45 percent were falls. These were mainly in the summer months July and August and in the sub-sample of 50-70 year-old mountain hikers. Furthermore, with around 20 percent illness (mainly cardiovascular) evident, and around 13 percent were due to losing the way. The localization pattern of injury presents as follows: head and skull (14.5%), shoulder (14.5%), ribs/thorax (7%), multiple trauma includingpelvis and abdomen (1.2%), leg (14.5%), knee (15.4%) feet (36.9%). A total share of two-thirds are the traumas of lower extremity, around one-seventh are multiple traumas or head & skull,implying that less than 20 percent were life-threatening injuries.Discussion: Basically, beside other factors, the massive proportion in elderly of falls (50-70 years old) is a consequence of decreasing postural stability. As a consequence, hikers can profit from strength training in advance of difficult hiking tours. KEY WORDS: Eccentric Training, Injury Pattern, Lower Extremity, Mountain Emergencies