jt512
Sep 23, 2008, 2:54 PM
Views: 8370
Registered: Apr 12, 2001
Posts: 21904
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Becoming more afraid after the fourth bolt is really irrational, since the fourth bolt is commonly where you can finally be reasonably sure that you won't hit the ground if you fall.
As to your fear of bolts failing, I used to have the same fear myself (I came to sport climbing from a trad background), and I overcame it only with experience: eventually I'd fallen enough times, and the bolts had held, that I became confident in them. What you might want to try is taking some intentional falls in situations in which the failure of one bolt won't be dangerous. Since this will almost always be above the fourth bolt, maybe you'll be tackling your other fear simultaneously. Start out with falls so small that they don't scare you at all and gradually increase the distance. You never want to be scared during these practice falls because you want to ingrain the feeling of being relaxed while falling, not scared.
Although I don't want to stifle discussion in this thread, you might consider posting your question in the Warrior's Way forum, which is dedicated to topics such as this. Also, I highly recommend the Rock Warrior's Way book.
Jay
(This post was edited by jt512 on Sep 23, 2008, 2:56 PM)
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