Hi. Climbing is scary. Did you know that?
Seriously though, everybody gets scared climbing. The difference between people who are bold and people who are… not is just how they manage that fear.
Fear looks different on everybody
There’s a whole spectrum of different ways that people interact with fear. Some of these come across as simply being unafraid. But that’s not the whole story.
Picture this: you get to the crag, and there’s somebody on your project. They’re halfway up – and trembling. After making a desperate clip, they yell “take”. It’s pretty obvious that they were scared. But when they come down, you’d never know. All they talk about is being super pumped and how heinous the crux is. They don’t mention being scared at all.
What’s up with that?
Some people deal with their fear by ignoring it. They push it to the side and leave it alone. And that’s totally fine. Labeling things give them power: it makes sense. But just because somebody isn’t acknowledging or talking about fear, it doesn’t mean they don’t experience it.
Practice makes perfect
Here’s how a large proportion of people deal with fear: practice. People who climb hard have spent a lot of time honing their climbing skills – and their mental game. They have practiced feeling the fear and doing it anyway – over, and over again. It’s not something that comes overnight. And even when they’re really good at it, that doesn’t mean that fear no longer exists: just that they’re really practiced at managing it.
If you haven’t seen this video, go watch it. Stefano Ghisolfi, Dave Graham, Miho Nonaka, and a host of other climbers talk about fear and how they deal with it. Spoiler: everybody gets scared.
You’re still scared. Me too.
The point of this post isn’t to tell you how to not be scared: it’s simply to normalize fear. Need more? Tom Randall gets scared. Hazel Findlay gets scared. These are bold climbers (see what I did there) who have some serious ascents under their belts. Fear is normal, healthy, and okay.
Your fear right now isn’t your fear forever
After I hurt my ankle, I was so scared toproping 5.8 at the gym that my whole body would shake to the point where I would tremble myself off the wall. It took two years and the help of a super-rad mental coach to be able to get my fear under control. Note that I said under control: it’s not gone, I just know how to handle it.
If I can be bold, you can too
People told me that I was the most scared climber that they’d ever met. People told me that when I climbed, I looked like I was soloing. I used to regularly cry at the crag out of sheer terror. There are two things I want you to take from this:
- No matter how scared you are, there’s somebody out there who’s even more scared
- You can learn how to manage your fear if you’re willing to work at it
As for exactly how to do that, I’m not an expert. Shout out to my coach: Karly at Project Direct Coaching. She is! Getting a coach was the best thing I ever did for my head game.
Also, look online: there are lots of resources around fear of falling. Hazel Findlay is coming out with a program as I’m writing this. Talk to your partners. Talk to yourself. Just know that the answer is out there.
Photo credit: Ryman Wiemann