Fear

"Twelve years ago, I’d tell my mother climbing was no more dangerous than driving. That was before I’d been to a half-dozen climber funerals in the same picnic area in Eldorado Canyon."

"I’ve been climbing for a pretty long time, long enough that I feel like I shouldn’t still get so freaking nervous when I’m going for the send."

Arousal regulation and mental toughness are crucial for success on climbs at your limit. Knowing when to activate your mind and how to control it takes practice, and here Justen Sjong shares his insight.

After a near-death climbing experience, I was inspired to dig deeper into the psychology of fear and learn about its effect on performance, how it wells up in the first place, and what we can do to deal with it. What I found will take your climbing to the next level—and could save your life.

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.

The science behind fear and how to overcome it to achieve your climbing goals.

The tougher you are mentally, the easier tough things will feel and the quicker you can recalibrate in the face of adversity.

When we're in a flow state we not only climb our best but also feel our best—it doesn’t matter if we fail because we know we could not have done any better.

Check out Climbing Staff's author page.

Check out Carlo Traversi's author page.

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.

Check out Arno Ilgner's author page.

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.

Why “get ‘er done” doesn’t work

Check out Climbing Staff's author page.

Check out Jenny Abegg's author page.

Check out Nina Williams's author page.