Is Mountain Biking Too Dangerous? Study Links Sport to Spinal Cord Injuries

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A study published this month in Neurotrauma Reports suggests mountain biking may be more dangerous than scientists—and the sporting community—previously thought. The new research out of Canada links the sport of mountain biking to an unsettling number of spinal cord injuries during the survey period—a higher number than scientists recorded from other high-impact sports such as hockey. The researchers call this “a cause for national alarm.”

“While much attention in North America has been placed on hockey and other high impact sports as causes of spinal cord injury (SCI), over the past two decades, our Level 1 trauma center has experienced a much higher number of SCI from off-road mountain biking (MTB),” the research states.

The research encompasses a retrospective review of patients with spinal cord injuries from mountain biking who were treated at one particular trauma center between 2008 and 2022. Over the 14-year period, researchers identified 58 individuals who suffered spinal cord injuries while mountain biking—a rate of four per year at just this one trauma center in Canada. Comparatively, only three individuals were treated for spinal cord injuries at the same center during the same time period.

“Our data underscores the urgent need for increased awareness and preventive measures to reduce the incidence of these devastating injuries, particularly in regions where MTB is prevalent,” the researchers say.

Read the full study here.

What do you think? Is mountain biking TOO dangerous? Does this research change your view on the sport?