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climbhigh2005
Sep 29, 2003, 9:47 PM
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Ok, you see I have a small climbing gym near me, and whenever I'm there, I always boulder, and have no fear whatsoever... the wall is inverted about45 degree I think, and I love it! Like I really thought nothing of it at all being scary. but yesterday I went out to lilly boulders, and had this fear of falling... nd it wasnt so much falling as being able to catch myself or soemthing.. I've never been able to jump off like 3 stairs b4... its really weird, but I want to get over the fear... any suggestions?
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tenn_dawg
Sep 30, 2003, 1:02 AM
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There is nothing better for ironing out the wrinkles than mileage. If it scares you, then just go out there and do it! Park with the pads in front of a V0 and don't quit until you send it. Fear is an extremely intrinsic emotion, especially as it relates to climbing. It's really not possible for someone else to help you beyond simple encouragement. If it's going to get better, it's because you will make it better. You can make it better. It's all about being willing to face your fear, having the perserverence to overcome it, and the gumption to not let it beat you! Simple, but at the same time....it can be really hard. Travis
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climbhigh2005
Sep 30, 2003, 1:12 AM
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Thanks Travis!! I think I'm gonna go with Joseph up to Black ot Lilly Boulders... Maybe that will help!
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karmaklimber
Sep 30, 2003, 1:30 AM
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Bouldering outdoors is totally different than bouldering indoors; pretty much any time you climb outdoors, it'll differ completely from any indoor experience. For one, you don't have nicely colored holds or bright pieces of duct tape to guide you to the next hold, so often times you're spotting the next hold by feeling the rock itself. Then there are other aspects, like whether or not the hold is actually stable and won't break off when you put weight on it... mis-perception of how steep something might really be, weather, outdoor critters, etc... And thats just the physical aspect; there's also the psychological factor of climbing outdoors that can throw you off; a highball boulder problem or runout lead might throw your confidence off, even if its an easy rated climb, making you not perform as well as you could. But whether you're bouldering indoors or outdoors, falling is a skill that, like climbing, takes time to learn and develop, especially when applying it outdoors. Crashpads indoors are often times much bigger and much more padded than pad available at your local adventure store retailer. Being smaller, it can be, and often is, much harder to aim for the center of the pad, that is when you have a "controlled" fall. But in all reality, not every fall you take is "controlled"; sometimes you lose your grip, or get pumped out unexpectedly, or a hold breaks, or whatnot, and you end up flailing on the way down. Despite popular myth, falling does take skill, in that a sense of body awareness needs to be developed and practiced so you can force yourself upright while falling to land on your feet instead of your bottom, back, or worse yet, your head. Just take it slow, like all things and start simple at first. Try some traverses low to the ground to familiarize and orient yourself; climbing outdoors doesn't always necessarily produce the beautiful, graceful climbing as seen indoors. Then start on some other easier problems, like a V0-; There isn't a rule saying that you -have- to top-out on every problem you attempt. Climb to however comfortable you feel going, and call that height your own top-out. Repeat the climb as many times as you feel necessary to gain reassurance. Then, slowly increase the height of your top-out. Having a good spotter helps as well. Sometimes, a few words of encouragement from a trusted friend is all you need... Hope this helps. Climb Safely
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nbrown
Sep 30, 2003, 2:45 AM
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the more you boulder the less scared you will be. like tenn_dawg said get mileage.
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wv5ten
Sep 30, 2003, 3:23 AM
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yeah, go out and send some problems! :D I have faith that you can, and will, and you'll see your fear start to ease. It all comes with experience. Have fun and stay safe!!
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herm
Sep 30, 2003, 4:52 AM
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mileage counts in everything. get out there and be careful to have fun.
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joeschmoe
Sep 30, 2003, 5:19 AM
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go over in the corner of the maze in lily boulders, there's some nice easy problems there, v1 - v3 (arets of fun, kb problem, ameliation) that have really easy topouts at under 15 feet. also work the babylon serious as well as the back side of flexorsize. once again all problems at 10 ft or less at topouts with awesome walkoffs. most of the face is vertical too which may help. well atleast i found it helped me :). if you're heading out to the lily boulders sometime on a saturday lemme know and i'll join ya, not that i'm that great, but its always nice to session with new people .... josh
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xcire
Sep 30, 2003, 6:10 AM
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have someone kick you in the nuts the last thing you will be thinking about is falling
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joeschmoe
Sep 30, 2003, 6:28 AM
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but what if you don't have em... i mean that'd work for me, but not cchsclimber ;)
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squish
Sep 30, 2003, 6:39 AM
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In reply to: any suggestions? Rope up and climb something higher. Hitting the ground is a non-issue on real climbs. Well, hopefully, anyway. :wink:
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rizzuh
Sep 30, 2003, 9:33 AM
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hats off to travis; way true. Just start small and learn to focus on move by move rather than half move... think about consequences of falling... death grip... down climb... etc. another alternative; if things aren't happening; take a couple shots of liquid courage... you'll be climbing up some crazy sh*t. :wink: rock on, nic
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rockclimber412
Oct 19, 2003, 5:16 AM
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Start out on something easy that you wont have any problem with and do it a couple times to get used to being up there, then try somethin harder. u will have to just get used to it,
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sixter
Oct 19, 2003, 5:48 AM
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I only seem to have this problem when I boulder sans crahspad. A Metolius XXL takes care of my fears.
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buckyllama
Oct 19, 2003, 5:08 PM
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First, get thyself a good pad and spotter. Helps a lot. Second put up some miles on easier problems as others have said. But don't spend all your time on easy stuff. I often find for me that working stuff at my limit is the best thing for controlling fear. Quite simply I can't both climb and be worried about the fall at the same time. Another thing is to spend a lot of time focusing on mental strategies. There are several books which deal with this. Eric Horst's "Training for Climbing" is a good one and I reccomend it. Fundamentally you want to get away from the reactions to the fear like shallow breathing, overgripping, lack of focus, poor footwork, etc. by focusing on those things, and forcing yourself to relax. For some people, just recognizing the problems and taking a deep breath is enough, others need more particular mental tricks to gest past these problems. As an excercise, with your pad and spotter there, try jumping off the top of several boulders. Start small of course and work your way up. Once you KNOW a fall won't be bad it's easier to calm those mental demons.
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mrme
Oct 19, 2003, 5:30 PM
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In reply to: I only seem to have this problem when I boulder sans crahspad. A Metolius XXL takes care of my fears. boulder easy stuff sans crashpad learn your abialities and what you can an can't do thats the key that and milage . when i started climbing there were no crash pads and my spoter when he was climbing something next to me when i was on easy ground.
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joeschmoe
Oct 19, 2003, 7:04 PM
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In reply to: As an excercise, with your pad and spotter there, try jumping off the top of several boulders. Start small of course and work your way up. Once you KNOW a fall won't be bad it's easier to calm those mental demons. Though i agree that falling is the one of the best ways to get over the fear, i'd disagree with jumping off alot. i have bad joints and the jumping, even to a pad, hurts my knees. so if you can avoid it, don't fall. if you're worried about the heights and falling, just work smaller stuff till your comfie with it, then start going higher. thats the advice i've always been given, and found it worked great for me. i used to feel sketchy topping out at 10feet (yeah i'm a wuss) now 15 feet is like a walk in the park and i don't even think about it.
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climbhigh2005
Oct 24, 2003, 10:44 AM
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Registered: Jun 14, 2003
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Thanks guys! Yeah I dont have the "balls" to climb high or the "nuts" to get kciked in... LOL all the guys at the gym are always pestering me about that stuff.. but last night I got a good ways up! Proud of myself... man I'm sore today tho! =P thanks for all your help!! peace yall!
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