A question for those who had a major fear of heights before they started climbing.

I had a huge fear of heights when I started climbing, beyond what is natural or normal. Probably the first five to ten times I went out cragging, I would not go more than 20 feet above the ground (on TR) and then I insisted on downclimbing rather than being lowered. I freaked out when I started to feel the exposure and I didn't trust the system/gear. I also climbed some easy 5th class ridges and mountaineering routes in the mountains during this time and didn't have the same issues, for some reason.

I am not sure how I got over this, I think one day something just clicked, and it was such a cool feeling it kept me coming back for more. It has recurred periodically throughout the years I've been climbing, though, which is frustrating. It happens especially after long layoffs but has also hit big-time a couple of other times for no apparent reason at all and didn't go away for months. I also still regularly get freaked out following/TRing on big overhangs with a lot of air beneath me. Heck, I stood on a high dive at a swimming pool the other day and couldn't force myself to jump. But when I am really focused on lead (which doesn't always happen!) I have no problem taking a whipper.

I am not sure I can give you good advice about how to overcome it, but I would say, #1, keep plugging away, #2, it's totally worth it, and #3, it won't ever be gone completely.

powhound84 wrote: I would argue that those who lack a fear of heights are more likely to hurt or kill themselves while climbing than those with a profound fear of heights. Fear keeps us honest with our abilities and attentive with our safety systems.

You wouldn't have to argue. Going out the other side and having no fear or respect for heights is equally dangerous. While learning to skydive I was once told (by an old guy in the plane): "the day you aren't scared on the ride up is the day you should quit jumping..."

powhound84 wrote: I would argue that those who lack a fear of heights are more likely to hurt or kill themselves while climbing than those with a profound fear of heights. Fear keeps us honest with our abilities and attentive with our safety systems.

You wouldn't have to argue. Going out the other side and having no fear or respect for heights is equally dangerous. While learning to skydive I was once told (by an old guy in the plane): "the day you aren't scared on the ride up is the day you should quit jumping..."

""I suggested he and others with a more profound fear of heights should also consider the possibility this may not be a fit. Again, forcing too contrary a fit can be dangerous to both the person and partners. You may not care to hear that, but it is a reality and one I've seen played out enough times over the years to bring it up here."

Amen.....

Thats why Bouldering was invented.

I've been climbing for about a year and a half and it still hasn't gone away but it gets easier each time. I don't know if the fear will ever truly disappear, I mean it's not really natural to be hanging on rock wall hundreds of feet up, but I think it gets more manageable, especially as you learn to better trust the systems and yourself. Going with people who you are confident you can trust your life with (because it really does boil to that sometimes) wont hurt either.

Gripe: This is hard.
Fix: Keep trying.

Gripe: Life is frightening.
Fix: Man up.

Gripe: Nay Sayers.
Fix: Ignore them.

I have a fairly bad fear of heights. When I started climbing, it took a few months before I felt 100% safe falling on TR. Obviously I improved pretty slowly until I was able to risk falling.

I still (been climbing for 3½ years) am struggling with lead climbing. When I know that a fall will be a 10 foot drop before the rope catches me, even when I know it is a totally safe fall, I become frightened enough that I can't commit to moves. Even worse, I get scared and do stupid things like stick my foot behind the rope, or clip from way too low, or whatever. My fear basically turns what should be safe into something that actually is worth being scared of. Doing lots of test falls helps some but it hasn't yet gone away. I assume that once I get bold enough to make a lot of "real" (ie, unplanned) falls on lead it will eventually go away. At least that's what I'm hoping.

Why do I keep climbing despite my fear of heights? The fear is probably part of the attraction. On TR I still get nervous: Nervous enough to make it exciting but not nervous enough to stop me from having fun and trying hard. Looking forward to the day when lead climbing feels the same way.

gription wrote:Gripe: This is hard. Fix: Keep trying. Gripe: Life is frightening. Fix: Man up. Gripe: Nay Sayers. Fix: Ignore them.

That's exactly right:) I didn't ask anyone's opinion on whether they think climbing is or isn't for me; I asked about how long before you get over the fear of heights or falling, whatever.

As I said, I have this insatiable urge to climb and oddly enough, I also have an insatiable urge to climb high, which totally doesn't make sense considering that the higher I go, the more afraid I get.

After reading what a lot of you had written, I think it's more than just a fear of heights. It's a fear or equipment failure, huge rocks crushing my arms or falling on me, falling and bouncing off a rock before my gear catches me, etc. I think it's a whole combination of fears balled up into what I refer to as a fear of heights.

I think I might do what Mathias said, and keep doing routes without overhangs, at least large ones.

I climbed the other side of this cliff that was a bit easier and was able to practice working my hands inside the cracks more because I feared less. I made it up to about 70 - 75 feet and I was pretty OK. I think I will go back to this route and keep doing it over and over. It is a really nice rock.

Fear is a very personal issue. A mind that knows itself is a mind that knows much more. There have been a lot of good suggestions made but everyone is going to have a different experience with what works for them.

I grew up with a pretty strong fear of heights. I took a semester long rock climbing course midway through my undergraduate studies as a way to possibly push my boundaries. It was pretty surprising how much I took to climbing. Learning proper safety systems and how to trust and assess those systems helped me mitigate my fear. Trusting myself has always been pretty important too. One mental technique I find useful is having an open dialogue in my mind about how I feel about a climb. E.g. "I'm about to try to redpoint this route that has been giving me hell. I'm scared I'm gonna fall at that tricky 4th clip or my foot will slip and I'll peel off on that later section..." or "Frick I'm pumped above my last piece and I don't know where to go next and shoot I'm tired agghhhh this sucks"(there's usually much more cursing with this one). I try to be as frank as possible about being afraid etc, then I take a few deep breaths and try to step aside from it all. Acknowledging the reality of your situation is a good first step to moving beyond fear through rationalization. I focus on my breath, heartbeat, and calming down.

Another useful technique for me, especially for dealing with exposure is climbing in "the bubble". Being X feet off of the ground is a lot less intimidating when you're focused more on that next handhold and where your feet are going than the fact that you're X feet off of the ground. I have to do this a lot on anything overhanging that's more than 15 feet off the ground because even though it's usually safer some part of me just detests that feeling of climbing above a void. Obviously one shouldn't ignore hazards such as that ledge 10 ft down and so on, but it helps to acknowledge something like that and set it out of your mind to deal with the task at hand (climbing) if your fear is going to affect your climbing.

Knowing what you're capable of physically and what mindset you perform best in are important. With time, practice, and some self awareness the mental game is something that can be mastered like any other aspect of climbing.

I would say I am somewhat better with heights now but I am still scared to death of heights. It is really the only thing I can say that truly scares me. I have no problem leading anything sport, trad, etc. But I can't stand setting a top rope, I can force myself to do it but I have to be careful because I get dizzy when standing near an edge while not attached to anything.

If I have to walk over to a drop off after a long multi pitch to start a rappel I will normally find a way to lower myself to it or have my partner set it up or slide on my belly to get to it.

I don't have a problem with sky diving, I just can't stand near a drop off and not get dizzy, even if a railing is there I will walk against the wall away from the drop off, if I am not attached to anything (or have a parachute).

Given all of that the scariest thing I have ever done is probably the top part of snake dike after leading the entire climb and had to untie and pack the rope away in the 6ft deep ditch at the top of the route and climb the 3rd / 4th class 1200ft or whatever at the end. That was totally mental for me trying to block out what I was doing to stop from getting dizzy... at the same time forcing myself to stop and look around because the view is amazing.

For quite a few years I had a fear of exposure.
Then for two weeks I worked on a rope on a side of a high rise building.
Thus my fear of drop-offs was completely eliminated (plus I earned some money).
---
Just join for a few weeks a windows washing company or an arborist. :)

I feel you Greg. I wonder how different I'd be with a little fear. I'm struggling to understand what fear of exposure is. Reminds me of how much I hate crowds but I think that's a different kind of exposure, and not really a fear, just annoyance.

youtube.com/watch?v=zgtysvZ…

the first 10 or so words

The heights really got to me when I first started climbing (had always had an issue with heights) but more so the idea of "Is this thing attached to that thing clipped into that other thing REALLY going to stop me from falling 100 feet to my death!?"

For me , the mental breakthrough came when I really began trusting/understanding the gear involved.

Going climbing in the morning. Time to tackle my fears and finish the routes I started.

I had to start small and progress; climbed ladders and tried to put myself in successful higher and higher places. I would top rope everything outside as my experience grew. 3 years later and I can lead 5.8 trad without much trouble. I never use to looking around, I can now enjoy the views. Repeated successful exposure is my best advice.

I had fear from the first but it also felt like a thrill. It took me about a year to lose my "obsessive" fear. Try to find a climbing partner who cares about you and your safety. Climb as much as you can. When you think of climbing don't think of your fear, think of your successes, how pretty the rock is, what a beautiful day and how fun it is to make the moves. Practice, practice, practice! Start with easier climbs. You will always have fear but with experience & confidence the fear will turn to a feeling that feels more like caution. Try to keep your climbing a personal experience not a social event.

I went climbing this past saturday. We went to the same location I climbed the last time. I didnt do the route with the large overhang, but i did do the route with the small tiny overhang that you really don't go over it but to the side of it. Anyways, I climbed that and made it past the overhang. Just past that I was touching the biners. I was so proud. I wasn't as scared this time around. I did 3 climbs without fear. I noticed that i begin being fearful as i get tired. The more tired and fatigued i am the more fearful I am. I lose trust in my ability to climb. I lose trust of my hands and fingers. Also, i noticed that its harder to climb when someone is talking to me. I asked my belayer to not do that and i worked. I fell into this climbing zone. I was comfortable and i was at peace. So weird. It was an 80 foot climb, about a 5.10.

One piece of advice which could possibly help...

I climbed for about two years before my climbing really took off and the main thing that changed was I realized I wasn't falling off climbs at my physical limit like I always thought and assumed I was. What I realized was I was jumping off climbs at my emotional limit.

Now, thirty-nine years later, and despite putting up a bunch of reasonably hard FAs, I suspect I've climbed at my true physical limit about a half-dozen times and I was going to die if I didn't for half of those. So maybe three times fully intentionally. Further, I suspect I'm not alone and only a very few elite, full-time climbers manage to do it on a regular basis. For example, you can easily suspect Alex Honold does on so on a more regular basis than most given what's on the line. But most climbers don't and don't want to believe that about themselves. I understand that, and didn't believe it myself the first two years, but realizing the reality of it was my breakthrough moment.

I bring it up here somewhat with the notion that maybe it doesn't matter why you're jumping off at your emotional limit or what's defining that limit. On the assumption it may not, I offer my solution which made all the difference in my climbing career and it's dead simple.

What is it other than holding onto the the realization that it's an emotional limit, not a real/physical one? Simply this: once I realized what I was doing I simply decided that once I found myself at that limit I'd try and hold on one second longer, then two, then five. Oh, I still came off, but by the time I got to around five seconds I further figured I might as well use that time to work the move even if I felt like jumping. Over the course of that year that spread got bigger to the point where my climbing jumped several grades of difficulty and I was working much steeper routes for much longer per go.

Will it work when the emotional limit is defined more by fear? I have no idea, but am just throwing it out here because who knows, it may work for someone.

Alex Honold doesn't free solo at his limits. He has said that what looks completely crazy to most of us is really very low risk because he free solos so far below his level (and he practices hard stuff before he tries to solo it / cleans the route, you can't just go jump free solo on a moderate route because if a piece breaks you die). So even though you can't climb what he is climbing he is normally completely comfortable with it. The risk of falling is extremely low but the result of a fall is extremely high.

I do agree that alot of times climbers (myself included) don't climb until we fall off the wall but jump off early. Alot of times especially when climbing at my limit I will stop and hang on gear to rest before going through a crux or semi hard part of a route that has unsafe falls. For me the risk just isn't worth decking into a ledge and getting seriously hurt, I would rather rest up before attempting any part of a route that is dangerous / could mean not being able to climb for a while. It is hard to get over that just letting go and pushing to a true failure, I do it from time to time but it is normally only on places I feel there is 0 chance of getting hurt. Maybe my problem comes from a few falls I took and had to stop climbing for a few weeks from getting hurt, but I generally push through though even after having gotten hurt, but i guess i am just a little more careful.