Overcoming "fear of the gear"

Dan Wachlaczenko wrote: +1 "Most climbers begin climbing by following or toproping and then progress to leading. Many climbers who aspire to lead stay in this mode too long. The follow/lead progression can give skewed sense of climbing's safety." "When climber starts leading, the increase in consequences is so dramatic that many climbers don't realize how much the risk has changed" Espresso Lessons by Arno Ilgner.

That's a fairly true quote. I followed (apprenticed maybe more like it) behind an ole' school climber for about 4 years before I took the sharp end. I had it drilled into my head the old school adage "the leader must not fall."

While there is a lot of great advice here I think the "just do it" attitude will not help since the problem appears to be mental rather than physical. I think you should start doing a mental training program. While many may laugh, Ueli Steck does something like an hour a day of mental training (was in Climbing Mag) When I was a competative athlete many many years ago at training camps they made us do about 15 minutes a day to help us break past the mental barriers.

Take 10 minutes a day or every other day sitting and visualizing your climbing. You are moving fluidly and the gear you place is solid. Feel, hear, smell, everything that you would on a particular climb. Or when you are climbing or training visualize a whiteboard see the word "Fear" on it (or whatever word you feel when you are climbing trad) then "erase" the word from the board so nothing exists on it. It will take a little time to get used to doing it, it's almost like meditation, you have to practice, but make it fun. Hell you're going to visualize climbing have fun with it.

Timmamok wrote:Seems to me, based on all the excuses I see you offering on this thread that you are afraid to fail, not to fall.

Uh, no...sorry.

Count Chockula wrote: The issue here is not my skill at placing gear...I know how to get good gear on the routes I am climbing and rarely (if ever) place a piece of gear and think, "Well, that sucks, I better not climb above it." The thought process is more like, "That's good gear, but if I botch this move and fall will it hold?"

Everytime a place a piece, I think "Is this piece totally 100% bomber?" I do this before I climb above it. If not, then I am counting on the gear below it to hold me. If I can look down and see that a fall would be clean and I have good gear then I'm good to go. This also means if the fall is clean, then I don't need to waste more time and energy placing extra gear.

The other side of things is being comfortable climbing when you are not allowed to fall. For me this happened with enough mileage. Eventually you are solid enough at a grade that you have the confidence to climb 50 feet up through broken ledge filled 5.7 terrain without sweating it.

If you don't know if your gear is really good, then you need to spend your free time taking practice falls until you do. It sounds like you have an intuition about your gear but you wouldn't let your grandma take a whipper off your pieces.

johnL wrote:You need to go to Indian Creek. It's gear but it's basically sport. It's a great place to take your first falls on gear.

nailed it 1st try, IMO.

Count Chockula wrote:I have had solid trad mentors that have critiqued my placements over the years and confirmed my ability to place "good gear" on lead.

There's a big difference between academically knowing that your gear's good and really knowing that it's good. This second kind of knowledge comes from testing the gear (falling) and learning to trust it. Until you *really* know the gear's good you don't really know it.

Count Chockula wrote: Excellent point...and one I've thought about a lot over the years. My primary climbing partners are all (to varying degrees) stronger trad climbers than I am.

+100

I did a lot of climbing when I started out trad with a friend who didn't lead much trad. I still push myself the best when I know it is me who is getting us to the top of a climb. Sometimes when you're scared it helps to push through the mental aspect and finish the pitch.

On a second note mountain project is a great resource. Find a climb with good gear that is at your limit and read up all the beta and comments so you feel confident that you can climb it or fall safely trying and go for it. Taking whippers on gear is fun! I find now that if I fall I usually feel more relaxed going for the crux again since I know what to expect.

I took my first real lead fall on gear on blind faith in Eldo and would say it is a great climb to push yourself you can place as many cams as you can hold on for through the crux and the fall is clean.

BTW, if you do start taking practice falls, watch out for the fall factor. i.e. don't fall on your first piece. Go up at least 50' and then fall 5'. That will minimize the damage on your rope.

I commend you for putting this out there. There are probably a ton of other sport climbers turned trad that have struggled with this too, but won't admit it.

I never had this problem because when I started climbing it was only trad. Did six months of top rope / following and started leading after that.

p.s. I agree with the other poster that you gain confidence by putting yourself in those scary situations again and again.

p.p.s. check out this interview with Lynn Hill on the mental side of climbing. climbing = moving mediation. Lynn Hill interview

Never do I respond to these forum discussions but I felt that this topic was something worth sharing my experiences on. I think for the most part, we have all climbed sport leads before traditional leads (or "Leads" in the "traditional" sense) and have this weird, unexplained comfort with the bolts that we ourselves did not place. In our minds, it is ok to fall on bolts but not the gear we place ourselves. Although I understand the reason why bolts are so trustworthy, it is still strange that we trust a stranger's work more than our own. If you are shaky when placing gear, do not climb on gear. you have no business doing this. I still, after now several years experience, will go out on a snowy day and do ground placements and compare crack size to finger or hand (or body) size and associate that with a particular piece. This is a fantastic way to find proper sized pieces in an instant when climbing demanding routes. Also, rack your pieces in the same order as much as possible (unless you are climbing routes that you know the placements of, in which case you should just maintain consistency in the racking of pieces), this will further aid you in being able to make quick placements on demanding routes. Now, back to the original point. Place gear as much as possible and learn that there are differences between how a C4 places and how a Powercam places (this is an example, every brand place differently). Once you can see a crack and identify that it can take an orange TCU or a #6 nut or whatever, then you must go climb something that pushes your limits, on gear. Why be scared? Place pieces early and often, do not let being pumped out get in the way of a solid placement, "set" ALL pieces simply by yarding on them a couple times and realize that if you keep following these steps, the worst outcome is comparable to that of a sport climb, just a little fall. This is what it is all about, experiencing something that we as humans were not supposed to do and finding technique that will keep us alive and safe during the experience. So, go find some bitchin' 11d/12a overhung dihedral finger crack (this would be really cool, let me know if you find or found one) and remove the fear of DEATH from your head. People die climbing but usually it's just a banged up knee or something. BE willing to get hurt, be willing to get scared and be willing to commit by finding strength within yourself.
P.S.
I am a NOLS graduate, AMGA certified, a WEMT and climb regularly. I am always looking for people to climb with and if they are willing to belay me, I will in exchange share anything I have learned over the years (and also belay of course). Its hard to find a solid partner that has the same days off as you year around so I am always ready to meet someone else and get some climbs in. Let me know Amigo!

Count,

I've been through the same thing...despite knowing my placements were good and being confident in my climbing skills, I just couldn't let go and fully trust the gear. Well, no matter how solid your climbing or gear placements are this really just comes down to an issue of trust and faith in your mind (like you said). I've placed gear and fallen on it with top rope for back up, but for me a real breakthrough came when I finally went to lead a route with a weaker climber and without any trusty trad mentors around. Like others said, I HAD to lead it or else there was no one else to do so. I also just spent a lot of time thinking about faith and I really had to solidify in my mind that at some point we all have to let go and just trust. If you are constantly worried your partner is cheating on you, you can never really love as freely or be as happy; If you are always worried about all the "what if's" that can go wrong, you will always be on edge. At some point you just have to be free and accept what's going to happen, have faith, and move forward.

Best of luck to you!

Maybe this is a little general or to simple for you to truly enact. I was scared about my gear but at the same time I really wanted to climb and I really didn't want to take on my gear. So I decided that I would just climb place good gear and then move on. I don't think about my gear once its in, and once I end up in a situation where i might fall I'll just tell myself to go and climb further. I wouldn't say I'm not afraid to fall on my gear, but my desire to climb outweighs my irrational fears. That being said i have not fallen on my gear but I attribute that to not being paralyzed by fear. I think its just easy for me to say fuck it and just go for it.

In my experience, a huge part of trad climbing is trusting your skill at placing pro and believing it will hold. Climbing in a gym or sport climbing is fun and, while it makes me physically stronger, it does little for my head and confidence needed on a trad route. As a matter of opinion, the gym and sport routes actually are a liability if you want to lead trad. Don't fear the gear. The gear will hold. Trust your ability in placing it.

Gaining confidence and the proper mental attitude takes time. Also, don't think too much about it: down grade when trad climbing, set the gear, trust your ability, and have fun.

Thanks all...I appreciate all the positivity.

Just to reiterate, I feel totally confident placing gear on the routes that I do lead. It's not a matter of not feeling comfortable with actually placing gear, it's the mental aspect of climbing above that gear (and trusting that it will hold if I do fall) when I'm climbing at my limit that I'm struggling with.

I'm confident that I will eventually bust out of the mental funk I'm in. I absolutely love climbing (in all its disciplines), so my motivation to improve is strong. I think mileage is certainly key, as some of you have pointed out. Being a family guy and weekend warrior, it's hard to get out as often as I'd like. I just need to take better advantage of the days I do get out trad climbing and safely push myself a bit more.

Count Chockula wrote:I understand there is only one way to feel comfortable with this...focus, breathe, keep climbing, and if the fall happens, the fall happens.

I don't think you actually comprehended what 20 people just told you. You personally need to practice falling on gear. You claim to have read the rock warriors way a million times and are still avoiding the real issue.

We're not going to tell you, "it will just get better sweetie." Because it won't.

I understand perfectly, Hoss.

And I prefer to be called Punkin', not Sweetie.

Count, You've got the desire and know how to do this. Fear of falling is a very rational one, but you just have to say f-it and concentrate on the next move more than what will happen if you blow it. Who knows you might suprise yourself. Also, drink lots of Jameson on your next time out. I know you're pretty fearless on that stuff.

You need to fall if you want to be comfortable falling. After realizing that the fear of falling was keeping my leading level below my bouldering level I took the advice in this Blog Post and now I jump off every route I climb. Slabby, steep, easy or hard.
Your excuses sound a lot like the ones Dave McCleod outlined so I think the advice is well tuned to you.

JLP wrote: Until your placements have been tested, you know nothing of good gear. Everyone I have ever climbed with thinks their gear is the best ever, yet it's the #1 cause of inury and death in rock climbing - right after falling off the rock to begin with, that is.

Is that statistic correct? I thought the #1 cause of death was lowering/rappelling mistakes.

It seems to me that you are looking for a 100% guarantee that you won't get hurt or that your gear will not pull. If that is the case, I think you are just out of luck. Gear can fail; rock can fail; you will place some bad pieces.

You are being way to cerebral with the whole thing and obsessing about it. Someone mentioned it earlier, but I think you just need to compartmentalize the fear, apply some logical problem solving to protecting the climb well, and go for it. Realize that you may get hurt if you fall (but why would you fall on something well below your limit?), but also realize that you have done what you can to minimize the danger, and face the fear. Facing and managing that fear is a large part of trad climbing. That is what you need to practice, not falling.

If you start thinking, what will happen if I fall here, and what will happen if my last piece pulls, and what if the piece after that pulls, you'll never get up anything.

Copperhead wrote:You are being way to cerebral with the whole thing and obsessing about it. Someone mentioned it earlier, but I think you just need to compartmentalize the fear, apply some logical problem solving to protecting the climb well, and go for it. Realize that you may get hurt if you fall (but why would you fall on something well below your limit?), but also realize that you have done what you can to minimize the danger, and face the fear. Facing and managing that fear is a large part of trad climbing. That is what you need to practice, not falling. If you start thinking, what will happen if I fall here, and what will happen if my last piece pulls, and what if the piece after that pulls, you'll never get up anything.

100% agree.

An interesting thread for sure. I have to disagree with the recommendation of falling on your gear to gain confidence. Very few (moderate) trad climbs in the area offer safe clean falls and in any case it sounds like falling per se is not the problem for you. As someone who trad-climbed for many years, switched to sport, and now mostly boulders, I can attest to the "spook" factor that emerges when you have to go out on a limb on natural pro and really believe you will be OK.

If you really want to get better at trad climbing, then you will keep at it and eventually gain the face-time needed to become familiar with the situations it presents. And if you find you don't really like it, then climb sport and quit worrying about it. When I started, trad climbing was all there was so if you wanted to climb, you learned to deal with risk or you quit climbing altogether. In trad climbing, there are many situations where a fall is simply unacceptable and if you persist in the sport, they pose the greatest risk. Dealing with those risks is at the heart of trad, not falling close to good gear.

I agree with those who are skeptical about the Warrior's Way. Practicing falling or playing mind games are of little use until you thoroughly understand how climbing gear works. Simply believing that all you need is to "grow a pair" is misplaced. The consequences of failure in many climbing situations are too serious for that attitude. I would instead recommend a few days climbing trad with a very competent guide who can illuminate more thoroughly for you the reliable systems and strategies for climbing safely.