What is Fear of Heights to you?

[The Teth]

I am in the number 2 group. I started climbing with ropes to face my fear. I have known a lot of weekend top-rope climbers in this group, but have not met too many who have gone on to become hard core climbers. Usually once they face and conquer their fear that is enough for them. I guess I was a climber first, from free soloing as a kid, traversing the rafters in my parent’s house and trees etc. Once I had conquered my fear in that first year of top-roping it all came back to me and I was addicted. It is still a pain though to get through those first couple of climbs after I have not been climbing for a while and loose my tolerance for height. Man, I hope we have a better ice season this year so I do not have to go through that again in the Spring!

Teth

[vbpad]

i'm a bit of a 3 and a bit of a 4 all depends on the day really

[betaburgler]

I'm not really on your list. I want to try ropes, but was too happy bouldering this summer. My issue is that when the fear kicks in I start to feel like some sort of dear in the headlights. My body just doesn't respond as well, and I get pumped more easilly. I don't mind fear, but I really don't like the lack of controll I have over what it does to me physically.

[The Teth]

Bete for Beteburgler.

1) Don’t panic. Don’t make emotional decisions, they can often be bad decisions.

2) Relax. Because you are afraid your muscles naturally tensed up in a panic grip. When your muscles are that tense it restricts blood flow, which will give you even more of a flash pump. You don’t need to hold on that hard to stay on the wall. Relax your muscles. If you can, let go with one arm and shake it to loosen it up and get the blood flowing again. Then switch hands and shake out the other arm.

3) Think through it. That 10.5 mm rope may look like a 5 mm cord right now, but you know it is strong enough to hold a truck, and that anchor was setup with three points of redundancy, so you are safe. You will not die if you fall here, so there is no reason not to continue.

4) Push through it. You have established that there is no reason not to go on. Force yourself to make the next move, and then the next. Action will make the fear subside.

The more you manage fear the better you get at it. Besides, after a couple of days of climbing you get used to the height and it isn’t a problem any more. (At least not until you stop climbing for six months and then have to go through it all again.) Learning to work through fear may also be a useful skill in emergency situations such as escaping from a burning building etc. The main things you want to avoid are a) freezing up and b) making stupid decisions (a common consequence of panic).

[Ecaz]

If I were to classify myself on that list, I would probably be a 4. Considering I don't fear heights, but rather, I fear doing something stupid while on the rock. If it be 2' or 40', I would fear that stupid act that would cost me months or recovery.(I should Know, I've done it - 9 months for a broken growth plate, and a nice piece of metal in my ankle.)

[The Teth]

An interesting spread. I should have switched 3 and 4 to make more of a continuum. At this point that would have given a nice bell curve. I think I expected a higher percentage on number 4s, but the results are quite interesting.

Out of curiosity, how many of you fellow number 2s climb trad at 5.8 or higher? I find trad to be less scarey than top-rope. Has anyone else experienced this?

Teth

[betaburgler]

Thanks for the advice Teth. I still haven't climed rope so I'm not sure how I'll feel in that situation, but I look forward to it. I'll have more time at higher altitude to learn to deal with my body's reaction. My mind doesn't freeze up thankfully, so I am still able to make good decisions, but because my body is so tense I tend to be weary of trying to hold onto that crystal that would look so much better if it were a little closer to the ground. It was my first summer of getting outdoors a lot though, so with any luck I'll get better. I'll try shaking things out in the future, sounds like a good way to try and coax my body out of lockdown.