Irrational fear of falling -Only indoors

Hi all,

I have been climbing for a while now, and lately have been experiencing the "irrational" fear of falling only in the climbing gym, when I am leading (which I do 95% of times). It is really frustrating to be conquered by the feeling, especially when I am very comfortable leading outside and have no inhibitions at all.

After I make a clip, at the first signs of the slightest fatigue, I have my belayer take immediately, rather than hanging on there, shaking my arms around a little bit or may be even take that "safe" fall. I am not sure why this happens only indoors, considering it is more safe inside, which also means you should be able to push yourself even further. Perhaps it's the adrenaline rush that conquers my fears outside? Or may be the complacency of climbing indoors? My immediate solution is to take those falls a few times on purpose just to experience it a few more times (which btw i have before) and figure out that it's not that big of a deal.

I have been trying to debug this problem for a couple of weeks now and thought of checking if someone else has been through a similar situation before. I would highly appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers!

easy solution ...

once you are several clips up .. there is NO TAKE ... unless yr belayer sees something obviously dangerous ..

if you MUST have a take ... you have to scream "I AM A TOTAL WUSS" to get one

problem solved ...

and yes it actually works ;)

use a less sketchy belayer at the gym.

Maybe it's those nasty falls? They say kids are fearless, then you learn fear from getting hurt. If I'm feeling pumped to go on past a bolt I'll do a take. However, I'll dyno to a hold even on lead (I have to often), it's the feeling of being pump I hate and am trying to avoid. I'm a lazy climber.

I don't know why you are ok outside but not ok in the gym, b/c outside bolts aren't checked as often (no insurance policy) and they don't put ledges you can hit in a gym. Lead walls on gyms are typically slightly overhanging for a safer fall.

Maybe it's cuz if you want to go, you want to go out "outside" and not in some dinky indoor gym.

I'm actually having the same exact problem. I fell in the gym and broke my back a few years back. For a while the fear of falling was just inside the gym. Outside I had no problems going for it. This year I'm starting to feel falling anxiety both inside and outside. In the gym I have trouble relaxing and climbing when I'm leading. I'm overgripping everything and my climbing is just starting to suffer. I just feel like there are so many distractions that my belayers aren't paying attention even though I know that they are.

I've decided to sign up for Arno Ilgner's Falling and Commitment Clinic he's putting on at my gym before my fear of falling gets out of control. I'm hoping this puts me on the path to get over what's starting to take control to relax when climbing both inside and outside the gym.

try leading in the gym with your eyes closed. feeling for the holds. i know it sounds sketch on lead so maybe start on TR. I did a couple runs with my eyes closed and it was so nerve racking and scary that once i climbed with them open i felt so calm and in control because id come down off of such a high fear factor. its like going 200mph in a car and then coming back down to highway speed makes you feel so much more in control and level headed. worst case senario closing your eyes will only help with technique.

My guess:

Gym climbing tends to be more arm oriented than most outdoor spots (overhung limestone and volcanic tuff exclude). Setters make routes harder by not putting enough feet a lot. I only get scared when I don't know if I can hang on anymore because I'm pumped. I would just work on your endurance so that you don't have to worry about that aspect. You'll know that when you do get to the next bolt you can hang and rest off the clipping hold.

climbing is a psyche sport. and our psyche is made up of strands.

time goes on. things happen. falling in love. losing friends. or burying one. taking a scary whipper. witnessing enough potential hazards turn into kinetic peril.

all these stimuli emit responses. and those strands weave into a web.

nothing is irrational. it just is. fear. irrational or not. is no less real than an avalanche or coming face to face with a bear.

in the end. we're just highly acute sensory receptors. spinning our own webs.

You know, gym climbing in general kind of scares me. It's weird, I've never gotten nervous on El-cap, royal arches, epinephrine, or even single pitch cragging, but when I get near the top of the gym, I get nervous.

I think it's because it's so closed in or something like that, or it might be because the rope isn't mine, I dunno but gym climbing is scarier than outside (to me)

I don't have a solution except to soldier on, but I feel your pain.

I bet it is the pump. In my experience, gym climbs are very sustained for the grade, with slightly more pumpy clips than is normal outside.

It's rare (for me, at least) to climb outside and get as pumped as I do in the gym. So I feel safer outside sometimes because I don't get that pump where I might just let go. Inside, I find myself making a lot more desperate clips.

But the falls are super safe in the gym, and this is irrational, so go for the progressive desensitization route.

And yes, I need to push myself harder outside.

Also, what Rob said.

Locker wrote:"Having confidence in your belayer is paramount too". +1

I'm diggin the new profile pic, Locker!

I solved that same issue by never climbing in a gym again. ;)

1) Different social environment?
2) Different belayers?
3) Different types of climbs? I try not to fall on the first couple of bolts nor in the section of the lead cave at my gym where it transitions from a slab to a steep overhang; I try to only fall towards the top of the overhang. Too much potential to come swinging into my belayer or into the slab below.

Doesn't seem that strange to me. I refuse to lead in the gym. I have no particular big fears of falling outside (I regularly take falls, on gear and bolts).

Between the distractions for climber and belayer, having to clip every second or third move, protruding holds to hit(this is the biggest deal for me, I get banged up enough bouldering on plastic), I don't see any reason to lead in the gym.

Maybe if I were just learing to lead, or was really petrified of falling to where it crippled my ability to lead and was trying to log a bunch of "practice falls", then maybe I would. Just seems like a waste of time to me with no upside and plenty of potential downside.

Thank you much everyone for all your views. It gives me good perspective.

I don't think the past falls have much effect on me -the thought of falling does. Also, neither does the lack of confidence in the belayer has much effect, considering I pretty much trust my partner. I agree with you on the fact that the routes in the gym are a little more pumpy or for that matter I haven't done enough pumpy ones outside.

Mentally being prepared for a fall looks like a good way to start; building my physical endurance is the other. If I start to resist the urge to call out for take, and take a few natural falls, hopefully i will start to feel comfortable again.

Thanks again for all your inputs. Appreciated.

Cheers.

Falling in the gym is fun.

everyone takes it different. where i started climbing i got to see some famous climbers getting their start. i wont name drop but she is the premier female sport climber in the US these days. anyway, i would see her climbing with her mom tentatively belaying her. when she got tired, she said "take" and would even grab jugs on other routes to avoid a clean fall. its nothing to be ashamed of. forcing yourself to "get comfortable" is a contradictory statement. if you wish to get truly comfortable and reach your potential you should explore dif avenues until you find the right one for yourself. dont give in to macho peer pressure for example. btw- im the same way.. i only use a pro as an example to state that even the best get scared and find their own way through trial and error. it obviously works.

JLP wrote:You say you lead 5.5 outside? I've never seen a 5.5 in a gym - ever. Everyone freaks and yells take at some point.

On a more careful observation, you would notice that I mentioned 5.5
Lead on trad -gyms don't have trads.

blind cantaloupe wrote:everyone takes it different. where i started climbing i got to see some famous climbers getting their start. i wont name drop but she is the premier female sport climber in the US these days. anyway, i would see her climbing with her mom tentatively belaying her. when she got tired, she said "take" and would even grab jugs on other routes to avoid a clean fall. its nothing to be ashamed of. forcing yourself to "get comfortable" is a contradictory statement. if you wish to get truly comfortable and reach your potential you should explore dif avenues until you find the right one for yourself. dont give in to macho peer pressure for example. btw- im the same way.. i only use a pro as an example to state that even the best get scared and find their own way through trial and error. it obviously works.

I like what you said there..:)

DarkKnight wrote: On a more careful observation, you would notice that I mentioned 5.5 Lead on trad -gyms don't have trads.

So youre not trying to brag but you are "generally regarded as fearless" leading 5.5 trad and 5.10a sport climbs? Wow you are such a bad ass!! The ladies must be super impressed with your bravery...

Maybe that's your problem, you are climbing grades outdoors that any modestly fit individual is not going to fall on. Seriously who falls on a 5.5 trad climb? And what self respecting climber gets scared leading 5.9 sport climbs? Is this even real...?

BSheriden wrote: So youre not trying to brag but you are "generally regarded as fearless" leading 5.5 trad and 5.10a sport climbs? Wow you are such a bad ass!! The ladies must be super impressed with your bravery... Maybe that's your problem, you are climbing grades outdoors that any modestly fit individual is not going to fall on. Seriously who falls on a 5.5 trad climb? And what self respecting climber gets scared leading 5.9 sport climbs? Is this even real...?

I don't understand where you are coming from. I have seen so many good climbers around, I am sane enough not to brag I about something I am not. And honestly, I don't care. I was just trying to put into words my case as accurately as possible, and I guess a fair number of people did get it and gave some good suggestions. If you want to get into numbers, or if you think I am trying to prove a point in front of strangers, you have the wrong person. All I meant to convey was that I have no inhibitions climbing outside -perhaps this would have been a better way to put it. :)