Don’t Get Struck By Lightning

1. It happened to him—it can happen to you

On the afternoon of Saturday, August 17, 2019, a Colorado climber named Minko Nikolov went up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a short afternoon bouldering session. The forecast said 20 percent chance of rain, low for those monsoonal August afternoons, but Nikolov, a seasoned alpine boulderer, wasn’t particularly surprised to find it thundering when he arrived at the parking lot at 1:30 p.m. Knowing weather is fickle in the mountains, Nikolov waited in his car. When the sky cleared 15 minutes later, he loaded some gear into his aluminum-framed pack and set off alone toward the boulders.

Two steep miles later, he reached Lake Haiyaha, the lowest section of Chaos Canyon, where the stubby spruce treeline gives way to rocky alpine tundra. At that point, he saw another storm cell churning toward him over Hallet’s Peak to the west. Normally, he’d have just taken shelter under a boulder or some trees to wait out the storm before hiking deeper into the canyon to try one of his projects—Doppelgänger Poltergeist (V13) or Wheel of Chaos (V13). But today was different; he had to get home early that evening so he could prepare to celebrate his mother’s 61st birthday. Realizing he didn’t have time to let the storm blow through and also climb, Nikolov cut his losses and began hiking back toward the parking lot.

After about ten minutes, a light rain began to fall. He stopped to pull on his rain jacket. The next thing he knew, he was lying in the trail unable to move his left arm or leg. He could feel blood oozing down his face. He wondered if he’d been shot. He saw rain sizzling as it fell onto his smoking pants. A pair of hikers were running toward him up the trail. They told him not to move. They told him he’d been struck by lightning.

As he related to Corey Buhay in an excellent Backpacker article, Nikolov later learned that the lightning had struck his backpack’s aluminum frame and “entered my body through my left shoulder. It exited through my left big toe, missing my heart by inches and burning 30 percent of my body. The blood came from facial wounds, an injured eardrum, and my jawbone, which had cracked when my head hit the ground.”

Nikolov was in the hospital for nearly a month and underwent multiple surgeries. The lightning had killed some 50% of the tissue in his deltoid, so doctors had to cut much of it away. “I was back to being an infant,” Nikolov told climbing filmmaker Cameron Meier in a video interview in 2020. “I couldn’t walk until Thanksgiving. I couldn’t lift my arm for about three and a half months.” But aside from the scarring and tissue loss, much of which is permanent, Nikolov was eventually able to make an effectively full recovery. By August 17, 2021, two years after his injury, he’d sent both of the boulders that had nearly cost him his life.

Carrying voltages in excess of 10 million volts and temperatures reportedly as high as 53,540 degrees fahrenheit (that’s not a typo), lightning bolts confer a rather traumatic experience upon those unfortunate people with whom they interact—which is why Nikolov’s full(ish) recovery is an anomaly. While only 10% of people who encounter lightning are killed, some 70 percent of survivors have lifelong debilitating injuries. This was Phil Broscovak’s experience after surviving a lightning strike on Edward’s Crack (5.7) in Vedauwoo, Wyoming, on August 13, 2005. He was guiding two of his kids and a nephew when the storm moved in. After getting them to safety, he made the mistake of going back up the wall to retrieve his gear. As he was rappelling, the lightning struck the rock just inches from Broscovak’s head—then traveled to him. Though he survived, he was not unchanged.“The real Phil Broscovak died that day,” he told Climbing in 2014. “Since then, I’ve dealt with the consequences: a lifetime in a very personal but invisible hell while everyone tells me how ‘lucky’ I am to have survived. The electrical shock caused a traumatic brain injury that’s left me with periods of normalness punctuated by massive mood swings, hypersensitivity to sound, difficulty writing and speaking, insomnia, extreme fatigue where I can barely force my eyes open, and an inability to regulate body temperature (sweating at 30°F and shivering at 80°F). This has affected every one of my relationships, and it was a huge factor in my divorce.”

2. Lightning facts

Getting struck by lightning is—as the proverbs would have it—pretty rare: Only an estimated 400 Americans are struck each year, 40-50 fatally. But while your average person very rarely puts themselves into a position to be struck by lightning, backcountry boulderers, big wall climbers, and alpine climbers routinely put themselves into high-risk locations during high-risk times of the year. So it’s important for all of us to realize that lightning is a very serious threat, and to know how to minimize their exposure to risk. 

Lightning can travel further than you think

It takes five seconds for thunder (the sound made by lightning) to travel one mile. That means if you see lightning and count to ten before you hear the thunder, the lightning was generated two miles away from you. Count to 20 and the lightning came from four miles away. That may sound like a safe distance, but lightning can travel up to 12 lateral miles from its source—which is further than the sound of thunder carries. The common rule “when thunder roars, go indoors” is thus pretty apt. If you can hear thunder, the storm is within ten miles of your location, which means that you’re within range, especially if you’re high on a mountain or cliff. Back in June 1988, two climbers on the Naked Edge, a classic 5.11b in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, were struck by lightning from a storm that they thought was far away from them. One climber was killed; the other was badly burned and later passed away after a long battle with depression caused in part by the incident. 

There are five main types of lighting to human interactions

1. Ground current is when the voltage from a strike runs along the ground. This happens with every bolt, but it’s a particularly common source of electrocution for humans, accounting for some 50% of all lightning related injuries. This is one of the reasons why, if you cannot reach true shelter, it’s important not to lie down, which increases the surface area you present to the voltage. Instead, assume the lightning position: stand or crouch, ideally on a backpack, bouldering pad, or spare set of clothes—something that will separate you from the potentially conductive ground.
2. Side splash is when voltage jumps laterally from tall objects (trees, antenna, rocks) to an individual. They account for about one-third of lightning injuries.
3. Direct strikes are just what they sound like: The bolt hits you directly. These account for less than five percent of all lightning injuries and are almost never survived. Not recommended.
4. Contact voltage comes from touching a conductive object when it’s struck—for instance, having your hand on a wire fence or the metal exterior of a car.
5. Upward leaders. These originate from tall, pointed conductors that actually generate electricity upwards to meet the approaching lightning a split-second before the strike. You’ve probably seen images of this happening on One World Trade Center or the Empire State Building.

Common lightning storm scenarios for climbers

What to do when you find yourself in a lightning storm varies depending on where exactly you are. The only places that are completely safe from lightning are in fully enclosed buildings with wiring and plumbing—i.e. houses, offices, and restaurants,  but not gazebos or open-sided shelters—or vehicles with solid metal roofs and solid metal sides—i.e. not the back of your cousin Burt’s 4-wheeler: those big rubber tires won’t save you.

That means the best rule for lightning safety is to be inside when a storm hits. Period. Check the forecast and time your activities so you’re not outside when a storm is likely to arrive. And if you do end up encountering a storm, the best thing to do is find your way to an indoor shelter or vehicle while the storm is still distant. If that’s not possible, the next step is to get to the safest place available. If you’re in a high-risk location (see figure below), identify a safer spot and make a beeline to it.

If you can’t flee, find the best shelter possible

For climbers in alpine and mountain environments, flight isn’t always easy. In this case, you should try to find the safest place possible to wait out the storm. In general, you can calculate the spot most likely to be struck by lightning by using the following three criteria, which are listed in order of importance:

1. The relative height of a location: A summit is more likely to be struck than a valley floor.
2. The relative isolation of an object: A tall tree in an open field is a more likely target than a tall tree in a forest of tall trees.
3. The shape of the object: A skinnier streamlined shape (i.e. a spruce tree or rock pillar) a more likely target for lightning, which just wants a direct path to the ground, than a squat wide boulder.

There are two common climber situations that are not covered in the above graphic: being stuck on a vertical face, and being stuck in a wide, treeless boulderfield. Both of these situations are risky and subject to judgments about where lightning might strike based on your specific geography.

If you’re in a boulderfield: Counterintuitive though it sounds, rock shelters and cliff-side caves are very dangerous places to hide from lightning because if the rock is struck by lightning the voltage will travel along any surface in order to reach electrical ground. If any part of your body touches any part of these surfaces, the voltage will travel through your body. That said, while hiding under a boulder is not ideal from a safety perspective, most people caught in storms while bouldering in a talus field don’t want to get drenched by rain or pounded by hail, so they tend to take shelter under the rocks if available. If you do this, remember that the biggest risks are contact voltage and side splash. You can minimize these risks by picking a squat flat boulder that does not have significant prominence relative to the surrounding boulders and trees; having as much space between your head and the rock ceiling as possible; sitting far away from the cave’s entrance; and assuming the lightning position (more below).

If you’re on a cliff: Being on the side of a cliff is pretty dangerous, and it’s generally best to keep moving down to safer terrain, unless you come to a spot that’s even more dangerous, such as a rock cave on the side of a face. (As noted above, these locations are especially dangerous because they put you in the position to serve as a grounding object if the cliff gets struck.) If that rock cave is small, and if the storm is still distant, you’re probably best risking it for a moment and sneaking past the cave and into safer terrain below. If the storm is right on top of you, try to minimize your physical contact points to the rock (i.e. assume the lightning position) until the storm moves away. The same general rules apply to your return to the ground: move until you find the safest possible place—but if the storm is close, avoid moving through more dangerous areas (like exposed ridgelines) in order to reach safety. It’s best to assume the lightning position and hope it passes.

The lightning position

When flight and proper shelter aren’t options, or when the storm has overtaken you, assume the lightning position. The point of the lightning position is to minimize your exposure to ground current. Squat on the balls of your feet with your feet together, your head and neck lowered toward your knees, and your hands over your ears. Crouch on top of a dry crashpad, sleeping pad, or backpack, whatever you have with you, in order to keep your exposure to the ground as small and indirect as possible. (Note: don’t stand on those things if they’re wet.)

Remember, this is a position of last resort, something you should assume if you’re trapped in a risky location or feel the signs of an imminent strike. Your biggest priority should be getting to a properly safe location. If you do feel signs of an imminent strike, assume the position. If, after 10 seconds, you don’t feel those signs (more on those signs below), continue seeking shelter.

4. How to give first aid to a lightning victim

Lightning fatalities and injuries occur due to the high voltage of electricity, the heat, and the blast of air, which functions like an explosion. While burns, temporary loss of hearing, unconsciousness, and other injuries are common, the most immediate health problems are caused by cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest, so the most important first aid is CPR. (Note: step one should be to call rescue services, 911, or emergency medical professionals immediately.) Follow the most current CPR procedure, which emphasizes chest compressions rather than rescue breathing. Automated external defibrillators (AED’s) also work well. Check the victim for burns and treat accordingly. Burns can gather around pieces of metal jewelry. Also treat the victim for shock: keep them warm and comfortable.

Again, there will be NO residue of the electricity in the victim’s body. You are safe touching them.

5. Quick lightning survival tips

• Avoid storms. In peak thunderstorm season, alpine climbers and hikers should generally aim to be on the summit by 10 a.m. and off by noon—therefore putting them safely below the treeline by the time the afternoon storms roll in. Remember that summer thunderstorms are hard to predict, which means that forecasts aren’t always accurate: rely on your senses, not on your cell phone. If you’re still going up when you hear thunder, turn around immediately.
• When thunder roars, go indoors.  If you can hear thunder, it means the lightning is less than 10 miles away—which is theoretically within reach.
• Judge the distance. Sounds travel one mile every five seconds. Count the seconds between the flash and the bang, then divide by five. That’s how many miles away the storm is.
• Spread out when hiking in a storm. Current can jump from person to person or travel underground and affect multiple people at once. Aim for 20 feet between people to reduce the chances of others getting hurt, but make sure you’re within hearing distance.
• Know the signs of an imminent and close lightning strike. If your hair starts standing up on end, if you hear cracking/static sounds in the air around you, if your skin starts tingling, if your rope or light metal objects (cams, carabiners, ice axes, or trekking poles) begin vibrating—if you experience any of these things, know that your body is essentially turning into a lightning rod and you should immediately assume the lightning position.
• The lightning position. Stand or squat with your feet together, on top of a pad or a pack if you have it, in order to keep your footprint on the ground as small as possible. NEVER lie flat on the ground, which increases your exposure to ground current—the most common form of lightning encounter.
• Avoid any and all water.
• Remember the consequences: Only 10% of those who encounter lightning are killed, but 70% of survivors have lifelong debilitating injuries. If you’ve got any doubts, play it safe.

6. Lightning myths busted

• Rubber tires or shoes insulate you from lightning. The amount of rubber in these items is way too small to insulate from the incredibly high voltage of lightning; it’s actually the metal body of the car that protects you. When a car is struck, the current travels around the outside of the vehicle (only if it has a metal top and sides), protecting the people inside.
• Someone who has just been struck will electrocute you if touched. The hikers who called 911 after Minko Nikolov was struck by lightning in 2019 were afraid that he was “somehow still sizzling with electricity,” and even though he “begged them” to shift him to a more comfortable position and cut away his burning clothes, they refused. This was an error on their part—and they’re lucky it wasn’t a fatal one for Nikolov. The lightning used his body like a grounding wire and passed straight through it and away. If someone is struck by lightning, you should immediately start providing first aid.
• It won’t happen to me. This is perhaps the single most dangerous myth. The threat of lightning should be respected and taken seriously, even if you have to change your plans. A good thing to remember: even if the objective risk seems low, the consequences are horrific. Almost nothing you’re doing is worth the risk.
• Lightning never strikes the same place twice. False! It happens to the same prominent features (both manmade and natural) all the time, and if you’re a climber there’s a decent chance you’re interacting with that feature. You’re not safe until you’re inside a building or vehicle.
• Thunder doesn’t mean lightning. Thunder is the sound that’s created by lightning, so if you hear thunder, there is lightning. The flash can hide behind a mountain, deep in a cumulus cloud, or just the opposite direction of where you’re looking.
• Your trad rack or cell phones attract lightning. Metal rods on skyscraper roofs are designed to attract lightning (and do); your cams and carabiners aren’t particularly likely to. Prioritize getting to a safe location over shedding gear. But if the storm overtakes you, definitely try to shed them.