Are you afraid of heights?

I got into climbing because I have an extreme fear of heights. Anyone else get into climbing for the same reason?

A teacher of mine many years ago told me he was terrified of heights as a kid and started climbing to overcome it. He said it worked. Sorry I can't elaborate more than that!

I don’t think I would choose to climb with anyone who didn’t respect heights at least as much as I do.

i didn't get into climbing because of a fear of heights, but i definitely get scared in extremely exposed positions even with a rope 

I would say that I got into climbing despite my intense fear of heights.   Over the years, I have acclimated,  but I still don’t enjoy exposure the way others do.   

I did. I started out hiking, and being anywhere near the edge of a cliff would give me vertigo and make me feel like I was going to be sucked into the void. I was much more afraid of heights than most others I knew growing up. The fear was strong enough that I couldn't imagine myself being on an exposed face or standing on a knife-edge ridge, and that gave these features a sense of mystery and impossibility in my mind. I enjoyed the challenge and excitement of overcoming the fear, and my favorite climbs now are easy ones with high exposure.

Friends and family thought it was odd I started climbing despite having a fear of heights, only a few years ago realized I have a fear of falling to the ground. Having learned to trust the systems my fear while climbing is far less when there's no decking potential.

I don’t know if I have a “fear” of heights or just an extreme “respect” for said heights. When I’m not tied in to a rope or into an anchor, I get the big heebee jeebees when next to an abyss. On the rope, I’m ok. I will add that seeing my wife or anyone else, unroped, next to a deep yawning chasm is almost worse than me being there. 

I have been for most of my life but I discovered when I got off the boulders and onto much bigger objectives that the focus on the rock and moves in front of and above me caused the exposure below to be sort of a vague distraction instead of an all consuming fear. Luckily through judicious route finding and more than a little luck I haven’t found myself in a position where I’ve had to make uncertain type of moves with hundreds of feet of air below me which could change my mindset entirely.

I am, yes, but it's a little desensitized.I notice a calming as ground fall becomes less likely while moving up. People ask, "Aren't you afraid of falling?" A good head space is focused on not falling.

I used to say that I was a raft guide in the summers because of my fear of the water. I think a more honest way to say it would be that I enjoyed the activity, and separately enjoyed overcoming a phobia.

The idea of an adult recreational athlete is kind of weird. It's not that we're built for the sport. I may not have a full on phobia, but I pull back from the abyss. All my strength is in my legs. But I dig climbing, even knowing I'm very much not "built" for it and will always be fighting my own natural deficits. An important skill is being good at not being good at something.

no

From JonasMR:

“An important skill is being good at not being good at something.”

I like that. 

apogeewrote:

I don’t think I would choose to climb with anyone who didn’t respect heights at least as much as I do.

There’s a difference between respect and fear. I have zero fear of heights, in fact it’s the opposite, what the French call “lapel du vide” the call of the void. Whenever I hang my legs over the edge, I have the urge to jump. And I have no qualms about being unroped near the edge. But I have tremendous respect for it, I’m always acutely aware of where I am and the consequences if I let my guard down. I would imagine it’s similar to people who free swim with sharks or something. Not fearful, but respectful. 

I started climbing with no fear of heights, then I had a pretty nasty fall after getting in over my head. I developed what I thought was a fear of falling from height, but it was really a fear of not knowing what it was going to be like on a route, that I was going to get into dangerous territory, lose my composure and fail. After gaining back confidence, it's a fear of blasting my ankles the first ten to twenty feet off the ground or after a ledge. Once I'm high enough for a clean fall I'm way more relaxed.

I think it's the times where I haven't been afraid of the heights that bother me more. Having to pull myself back into proper presence on a few climbs, oooof, that's been cause for a deep breath or two.

"Afraid" would be relative, of course, my thinking being that I'm as desensitized to it as the next climber.  

I do, though, have to have an extra degree of caution than most, as my vestibular system can get away from me at times.  It's infrequent, but when it sets in, it's really hard to get back into proper head space. Knowing the general triggers, that helps me keep it largely in check, but to have to explain to someone I've never met that I've just glitched out halfway up a grade IV, or even having long-time climbing partners see it manifest for the first time, that's always an awkward conversation.

I lost my hearing/vestibular system so early on in my climbing, I just don't have a strong reference for what "normal" might be.

Yep.