Arno Ilgner

Falling is as integral to climbing as climbing itself, yet it creates fear that you must address correctly—and you must learn proper falling technique in order to fall safely.

One of the easiest ways to improve as a climber is to get comfortable falling. It just takes some incremental practice.

When we practice falling, we’re practicing a physical skill, but we’re also addressing fear and how the mind uses attention, which are mental-training issues.

Your mind is motivated by achievement, causing you to easily slip into practicing falling to get it over with.

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This lesson builds on everything you've learned by outlining components for building your falling skill incrementally.

You may do everything right and still injure yourself. Climbing and falling are like that. But, you can mitigate this possibility by being skeptical of the mind—your mind.

Falling isn’t something you can decide not to do, it’s one consequence of your choice to climb. Embrace it responsibly.

I wanted the send as much as my son. Invested emotionally in his success and full of doubt about my own belaying ability, could I be the partner he needed on his hardest route?

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Develop a ritual to ground you in the moment

Get comfortable going airborne so you can let go and climb