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seatbeltpants
Sep 17, 2008, 9:59 PM
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hey all,
i've always had a fear of heights - well, not so much heights, as the edges of cliffs. climbing is fine for the most part, hanging off bolts on a face is okay, but i'm totally uncomfortable once i'm on horizontal rock at the top of a crag. standing at the top of a cliff puts the shits up me something chronic and getting myself over the edge while rapelling requires a serious mental kick up the arse. but once i'm over the edge it's all flowers and bunnies.
can anyone offer advice on the best way to get over this? i guess that familiarity will eventually do the trick, but something quicker would be useful as i'm sick of being a whimpering pussy...
steve
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Banta
Sep 17, 2008, 10:02 PM
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base jumping
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alleyehave
Sep 17, 2008, 10:06 PM
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seatbeltpants wrote: hey all, i've always had a fear of heights - well, not so much heights, as the edges of cliffs. climbing is fine for the most part, hanging off bolts on a face is okay, but i'm totally uncomfortable once i'm on horizontal rock at the top of a crag. standing at the top of a cliff puts the shits up me something chronic and getting myself over the edge while rapelling requires a serious mental kick up the arse. but once i'm over the edge it's all flowers and bunnies. can anyone offer advice on the best way to get over this? i guess that familiarity will eventually do the trick, but something quicker would be useful as i'm sick of being a whimpering pussy... steve
Stop your arrogance. Why do you value your life so much? Get over it.
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majid_sabet
Sep 17, 2008, 10:25 PM
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Last year while teaching a rope course to group of people whose lives were worth something, the guy in charge of the group asked me if he could bring a cameraman to film their activities for some dog and pony show. I said fine so we rigged a separate anchor with separate belay system with two ropes so the camera dude can be lowered from the edge and film their stuff.
After spending over an hour rigging the system for the guy and had him all wrapped up for the rappel, as soon I put the guy over the edge, he chickened out like a five years old boy begging me not to lower him. We were all standing there shaking our head trying to figure out WTF. He started saying he has a bad heart and somehow the fear of heights is making him nerves blah blah balh.
We said,dude, this rig is set to rescue a 600 lbs guerrilla and there is nothing to worry. In fact, you do not need to rap. We will lower and raise you back to the ledge and he was sweating like dog that was facing a pack of lions. We de-rigged the whole sh*t and send the guy back but his boss was pissed for paying almost $250 per hour and still, they did not record a clip.
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Sep 17, 2008, 10:31 PM)
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knieveltech
Sep 17, 2008, 10:47 PM
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seatbeltpants wrote: hey all, i've always had a fear of heights - well, not so much heights, as the edges of cliffs. climbing is fine for the most part, hanging off bolts on a face is okay, but i'm totally uncomfortable once i'm on horizontal rock at the top of a crag. standing at the top of a cliff puts the shits up me something chronic and getting myself over the edge while rapelling requires a serious mental kick up the arse. but once i'm over the edge it's all flowers and bunnies. can anyone offer advice on the best way to get over this? i guess that familiarity will eventually do the trick, but something quicker would be useful as i'm sick of being a whimpering pussy... steve
I'm in a similar boat and all I can say is after 2 years of climbing it doesn't just go away. I've found that the more frequently I log miles in low stress situations (toproping relatively short easy stuff or following on easy multipitch) the better it gets. If I back off of climbing for a couple weeks/months it gets worse. This is a generalization though. Some days I'll go to the crag and have relatively solid headspace and have a great day. Other days I'll take one look at the crag and want to hike back to the car and drive home.
My advice would be to maintain a sense of humor about this (because it isn't going to vanish overnight) and take things nice and slow. I've also heard conflicting (but mostly positive) reports about Arno Ilgner's "The Rock Warrior's Way" training seminars. I've read the book and it's pretty cool stuff but definitely no panacea. It's gonna take work, bro, plain and simple.
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sungam
Sep 17, 2008, 11:00 PM
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seatbeltpants wrote: hey all, i've always had a fear of heights - well, not so much heights, as the edges of cliffs. climbing is fine for the most part, hanging off bolts on a face is okay, but i'm totally uncomfortable once i'm on horizontal rock at the top of a crag. standing at the top of a cliff puts the shits up me something chronic and getting myself over the edge while rapelling requires a serious mental kick up the arse. but once i'm over the edge it's all flowers and bunnies. can anyone offer advice on the best way to get over this? i guess that familiarity will eventually do the trick, but something quicker would be useful as i'm sick of being a whimpering pussy... steve
Climb a route that is runout but with a clean fall and good pro. be scared, then powerscream (bugging people at the crag? fuck them) and finish the route or whip.
The experiance of havving your adrenaline waayyyy up (height, runout, screaming, hard climbing, maybe a fall) but still pushing it and being scared- and enjoying it- may just whipe it a way a little.
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seatbeltpants
Sep 17, 2008, 11:13 PM
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sungam wrote: Climb a route that is runout but with a clean fall and good pro. be scared, then powerscream (bugging people at the crag? fuck them) and finish the route or whip.
this is definitely the wrong answer but could be worth a shot if i ever get the nuts up. i liked knieveltech's answer waaaaaay more.
steve
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sungam
Sep 17, 2008, 11:41 PM
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seatbeltpants wrote: sungam wrote: Climb a route that is runout but with a clean fall and good pro. be scared, then powerscream (bugging people at the crag? fuck them) and finish the route or whip. this is definitely the wrong answer but could be worth a shot if i ever get the nuts up. i liked knieveltech's answer waaaaaay more. steve
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alleyehave
Sep 17, 2008, 11:43 PM
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sungam wrote: seatbeltpants wrote: sungam wrote: Climb a route that is runout but with a clean fall and good pro. be scared, then powerscream (bugging people at the crag? fuck them) and finish the route or whip. this is definitely the wrong answer but could be worth a shot if i ever get the nuts up. i liked knieveltech's answer waaaaaay more. steve Mine will be funnier for the people watching :)
Yesssss, and full utilization of the powerscream MUST be recorded on video, there is no other way. Onsight the powerscream.
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sungam
Sep 17, 2008, 11:48 PM
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NEED MORE POWARRRR!
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POWAR.jpg
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seatbeltpants
Sep 17, 2008, 11:49 PM
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will do - a link will be posted here on monday morning. i promise.
steve
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hafilax
Sep 17, 2008, 11:51 PM
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Are we talking phobia or butterflies?
I don't usually like to pick on spelling but Majid's use of Guerrilla was pretty damn funny.
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meahtots
Sep 18, 2008, 12:17 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: ...We said,dude, this rig is set to rescue a 600 lbs guerrilla and there is nothing to worry...
I think this is the first anyone mistook guerrilla for gorilla. Its usually the other way around.
Unless you actually meant a 600 lb. guerrilla, then who am I to judge?
(This post was edited by meahtots on Sep 18, 2008, 12:19 AM)
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seatbeltpants
Sep 18, 2008, 12:33 AM
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i'd say it's more than butterflies - i don't say "whew, that's a long way down, best i don't fall!", but am pretty much reduced to hands and knees within 4-5 feet of the edge (and definitely want to be roped up).
steve
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sungam
Sep 18, 2008, 12:34 AM
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seatbeltpants wrote: i'd say it's more than butterflies - i don't say "whew, that's a long way down, best i don't fall!", but am pretty much reduced to hands and knees within 4-5 feet of the edge (and definitely want to be roped up). steve
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alleyehave
Sep 18, 2008, 12:43 AM
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seatbeltpants wrote: i'd say it's more than butterflies - i don't say "whew, that's a long way down, best i don't fall!", but am pretty much reduced to hands and knees within 4-5 feet of the edge (and definitely want to be roped up). steve
My roommate(the person I climb with most) was the same way. He's still a ninny don't get me wrong. But when we first started climbing and we'd go up to setup top rope, he would not get within 4 feet of the edge and he'd crawl to get closer. It was rather embarrassing, for me.
I'm not sure if it's just my persistent teasing, or his balls just dropping, but now he gets a lot closer, sometimes not even having to get down on all fours, he leads, wont commit on some leads, and tends to bail out a lot which pisses me off cause I gotta hero the route.
But, suffice to say he has gotten significantly better and does climb multi-pitch now.
My best advice would be to allow it to come naturally, but there has to be a point where you have to push yourself beyond your realm of comfort if you ever wanna break past it.
When climbing, focus on the moves, forget everything else. One move at a time. And like I said before, quit valuing your life so much, I seriously doubt youre that important. I mean for crying out loud would you rather die climbing or getting wacked by a car? My logic might seem faulty, point being: Tomorrow is never guaranteed and today isn't long enough to dillydick around being a pansy about life, just get it done and no more drama.
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limeydave
Sep 18, 2008, 5:17 PM
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Aibohphobia - Haha! Fear of Palindromes
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climbingaggie03
Sep 18, 2008, 5:44 PM
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I'm kinda the same way, I don't mind heights really, but transitioning over the edge is hard for me. Mine is linked to the time when I was going over the edge for a rap, and my anchor failed, but still... I don't have any advice, I've been climbing and rapping for 15 years, 7 since my anchor failed, I still don't like it, but I figure if I keep at it, it should get easier. Also I've started using a friction hitch back up when rapping and that makes me feel better
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blueeyedclimber
Sep 18, 2008, 5:45 PM
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I have a fear of widths.
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knieveltech
Sep 18, 2008, 5:49 PM
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sungam wrote: seatbeltpants wrote: sungam wrote: Climb a route that is runout but with a clean fall and good pro. be scared, then powerscream (bugging people at the crag? fuck them) and finish the route or whip. this is definitely the wrong answer but could be worth a shot if i ever get the nuts up. i liked knieveltech's answer waaaaaay more. steve Mine will be funnier for the people watching :)
Fuck that, thanks. I watched some doofus pull the aforementioned stunt at Bubba City last time I was at the New. Dude ended up taking like a 40' whip, of which I suspect he was only planning for 20' (gotta love slack + rope stretch + belayer getting yarded up route). End result: dude narrowly missed a pine tree on the way down (he came so close that a limb emptied his chalk bag), then missed bottoming out on a detached block by about a foot and a half.
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knieveltech
Sep 18, 2008, 5:57 PM
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alleyehave wrote: seatbeltpants wrote: i'd say it's more than butterflies - i don't say "whew, that's a long way down, best i don't fall!", but am pretty much reduced to hands and knees within 4-5 feet of the edge (and definitely want to be roped up). steve My roommate(the person I climb with most) was the same way. He's still a ninny don't get me wrong. But when we first started climbing and we'd go up to setup top rope, he would not get within 4 feet of the edge and he'd crawl to get closer. It was rather embarrassing, for me.
Then you're a shithead for attaching your ego to the actions/perceptions of others. Get your head out.
In reply to: I'm not sure if it's just my persistent teasing, or his balls just dropping, but now he gets a lot closer, sometimes not even having to get down on all fours, he leads, wont commit on some leads, and tends to bail out a lot which pisses me off cause I gotta hero the route.
Giving people shit for stuff they genuinely fear is not only a dick move but is actually classified as a particularly insidious form of mental/emotional abuse. You think your buddy enjoys having his climbing day blown up by headspace issues? Think again. Bailing off a route due to irrational fear is about the worst feeling ever. I sure wish I had friends (and climbing partners) just like you. And for the record, who (other than yourself) really gives a shit if you "hero" the route or not. Quit climbing for others and consider showing your climbing partner a little support from time to time.
In reply to: But, suffice to say he has gotten significantly better and does climb multi-pitch now.
Good for them!
In reply to: My best advice would be to allow it to come naturally, but there has to be a point where you have to push yourself beyond your realm of comfort if you ever wanna break past it. When climbing, focus on the moves, forget everything else. One move at a time. And like I said before, quit valuing your life so much, I seriously doubt youre that important. I mean for crying out loud would you rather die climbing or getting wacked by a car? My logic might seem faulty, point being: Tomorrow is never guaranteed and today isn't long enough to dillydick around being a pansy about life, just get it done and no more drama.
John Wayne would be proud. 
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knieveltech
Sep 18, 2008, 5:58 PM
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sungam wrote: NEED MORE POWARRRR!
This post is useless without a link to the Power Aid video.
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flipnfall
Sep 18, 2008, 5:59 PM
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sungam wrote: NEED MORE POWARRRR!
Holy Crap! I just took a dump in my pants I got so scared.
Regarding fear of heights, I totally agree with those who say that regular exposure will get you use to it. It took me two years longer than my friends to get comfortable leading. I found that the gym really helped where I took regular falls on overhanging routes (the safest kind to fall from). I also free soloed some 5.4 routes I knew really well (I'm NOT recommending this) just to force myself to focus on climbing and not my fear. Over time it gets better.
Even after a lull in my climbing for about two years, when we moved to Arizona, I found myself a little scared, but climbing every day has gotten me use to it again and I no longer feel scared. Exposure seems to be the best answer.
GT
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Valarc
Sep 18, 2008, 6:22 PM
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knieveltech wrote: Giving people shit for stuff they genuinely fear is not only a dick move but is actually classified as a particularly insidious form of mental/emotional abuse. You think your buddy enjoys having his climbing day blown up by headspace issues? Think again. Bailing off a route due to irrational fear is about the worst feeling ever. I sure wish I had friends (and climbing partners) just like you. And for the record, who (other than yourself) really gives a shit if you "hero" the route or not. Quit climbing for others and consider showing your climbing partner a little support from time to time.
Well said. I have the misfortune of having a terrible phobia of drowning, and there are few easier ways to lose me as a friend than to give me shit when I'm freaking out. I have a scientist's mind, and I admit full well the irrationality of the response certain situations elicit in me, but that doesn't stop those responses from happening. It sucks ass.
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