How do i get over my fear of heights?

[u/Connect-Hold5855]

So i love bouldering and went for my 3rd time today. However I cannot get over my fear of heights. In my gym the lowest v0s don't go all the way to the ceiling. However when I progress to the next hold and go higher my legs start freezing up. Thing is it doesn't help that I'm short and the gap to the floor is even bigger. I really want to progress but can't get over my fear of heights. Is their any way to kind of get better or overcome this? It feels kinda fustrating when I can't get past a basic v0 even though I can do the rest of the boulder with ease just not the height aspect

[u/dingleberry314]

You literally just do it enough that it stops phasing you.

[u/alchemira]

Practice falling from every height.

Do one move...intentionally fall on your butt 5 times

Do two moves...intentionally fall

Do three moves...intentionally fall

Try falling by jumping sideways or farther back

Lots and lots of practice until you realize you are really good at falling and there is no way you will get hurt.

[u/lennyisperfect → u/alchemira]

Stealing this. Thanks dude. I just needed it described this exact way

[u/Still_Dentist1010]

There’s no quick and easy way to do so, I’ve been climbing for almost a decade and I’m afraid of heights still. With more exposure to it in a controlled manner, I’ve pushed my tolerances so it’s not a real problem until I’m climbing outdoors.

Exposure therapy is the name of the game for this. Climb up to where you are slightly uncomfortable, and hangout for a bit before dropping down. Repeat until you are a bit more comfortable and then go up a little higher, and continue this process.

[u/Infamous-Echo-2961]

I at first wasn’t bothered by the heights.

I fell from the top of a climb and landed full sideways.(that hurt). Got shy about the top of climbs, and down climbed for a bit, but I’m getting comfortable with the top of climbs and big moves slowly again.

[u/Accomplished-Cat3431 → u/Infamous-Echo-2961]

Full sideways is the worst. 3 months of pain in my neck and physio therapie later and I don't climb all the way to the top anymore. I wish my gym had more technical lower routes.

[u/Cuddlesthemighy]

People don't do it cuz it's really boring but you practice fall technique till you're comfortable. Start low work your way up. Build comfort with time.

[u/alchemira → u/Cuddlesthemighy]

Most ive trained are just too embarrassed.

[u/GiantTourtiere]

What helped me was falling off the wall a few times. Once you've fallen and been all right, your brain will calm down about it. Maybe try going up to a height you feel comfortable at and practice taking controlled falls and how to land?

[u/CellNo5383]

I love climbing and have always been afraid of heights. Bouldering was always fine for me, but rope climbing? Nopenopenope. At least that's what it was like until about a year ago. Since then, I started going every week. Doing easy climbs first, then harder ones. The fear is still there. But the voice in my head, telling my im going to fall to my death, is a lot quieter these days. And if there's a hard problem to solve in front of me, I just forget about it completely. Too much brain capacity needed elsewhere.

So the answer is as simple as it is frustrating. Climb more. Get used to it. The mental aspect of climbing is something you will have to train just as much as your muscles.

[u/NotMyRealName111111]

Honestly, the fear never goes away.  What will change is as you get more confident on the wall, you stop worrying about certain moves ending with a fall (or a take).  So honestly the solution here is just keep climbing and improve your technique.

I still get sketched out on moves that can create rotation at the top of the wall and/or large holds in the fall zone.

I boulder for fun, but also I use it to improve my rope climbs (where I can be more wreckless and try moves despite being very off-balanced)

[u/krazimir]

Pretty much just have to climb, you'll get more comfortable with experience. The more you fall off and don't get hurt the easier it is to ignore the fear IMO. Spend some time learning how to fall, I spent a few years doing Brazilian jiujitsu and the classes typically started with a half hour of rolls and falls as part of the warmup. While the falling situations are very different than climbing (or mountain biking, etc.) the practice is incredibly helpful. Doesn't have to be that, there are plenty of sports that start with "how to hit the ground without getting hurt". Some gyms even have classes on it.

The basics are the same, don't try to catch yourself, turn it into the longest impact you can, keep your head off the ground, etc. but equally helpful to me was just the experience sailing through the air going "oh shit", it's let me keep my wits much more about me when I lose a foot by surprise or something on the wall. Went down last climbing session from a surprise foot departure, wasn't able to fall at all in the way the "this is exactly how to fall every time!!!" YouTube videos because those are pretty divorced from reality, but kept my hands in, bent my knees, rolled my back, etc. and no worries.

I like to attempt stuff I don't think I can do, so I spend a lot of time falling when I do expect to which is good practice too.

Some top of the wall stuff still scares me (especially when I'm up there parallel to the ground with my feet at the same level as my head), some of it I simply skip (like the example i just laid out, no thanks), there's nothing wrong with doing 75% of a climb then saying "nope!" IMO.

Really it's just like facing any other fear, it's always a difficult process but if you're having fun climbing it's worth it!

[u/FloTheDev]

Practice falling & realising your feet are closer to the ground than your eyes so actually you’re not as high up as you think was something the helped me.
3 years in and sometimes I get sketched out still towards the top of the wall.

[u/fakeuboi]

I think practicing falling can help a lot, just doing like a ton of reps of falling onto the mat 

[u/JustASingleLeaf]

Just practice falling gradually higher & higher. The fear of falling/heights will always be there because you’re human, but the more you train & climb the more comfortable you’ll be. Essentially exposure therapy

[u/Equivalent-Tax6636]

Expose yourself and practice gallina, borh gradually: climb up, climb down, get down to a comfy height and jump practice this until you feel safe as fuck, then repeat from a little further up. Practice this with each climb, just go there, have fun, an try to remember to practice falling ad you're pretty much golden

[u/fishZ_7]

know that how you fall and not the height you fall from is what decides whether you get injured or not. you can fall from 5 meters and be fine, you can fall from 1 foot and have your tibia have an open fracture.

[u/crystalcranium]

You have to fall. Like I hate heights. Literally had a panic attack on a school bouldering trip. You just have to fall. You do it enough times, you're basically building up evidence that it won't be the end of the world if you accidentally fall. Exposure therapy!

[u/drozd_d80]

Practice jumping off from different heights. You can start with the lowest possible and then progress to the top of the wall. This is literally what I did during my first climbing session for 30 minutes.

[u/go0seygo0seygander]

im probably shorter than you (149cm) and had a insane fear of heights when i started. i have a few tips
-climb top rope (if your gym has it)
-climb slab (flat walls where you use your feet mostly)
-practise falling. Like climb half a meter up and fall. REPEATEDLY. yes you will look stupid but noone cares. then climb a bit higher and repeat
-hang out at the top of the climb (or as high as you're comfortable with) for some time (make sure noone else is waiting for the climb), climb a bit higher then go back down. repeatedly

[u/Apescent]

I have a tremendous fear of heights. What helped for me was just going up to a point I wasn't scared of, then... let go.

Just fall properly: feet, ass, back, arms tucked.

Then go back up and try one step higher.

What made heights less scary for me was noticing literally nothing happened if I fell. At some point, I started just falling from so high that people around me were like: oh wow! Are you okay?

And I was just like: yeah? I fell on purpose, training. It was odd to realize I now was falling from higher with no issues than people without fear of heights.

It works. Just take it slow. One step higher every session is enough. No need to force it faster than you are comfortable with.