Thanks for the video! I'm also an older climber: 56 yrs old, I started boulder climbing a year ago. I climb with a bunch of friends who are 10, 20 or 30 years younger than me. They all show a mix of fear levels, from continuous to no fear whatsoever. I'm somewhere in the middle. The ones experiencing continuous fear really appreciate the companionship of a climbing buddy who experiences fear but is not quite so at its mercy! So, basically, I think it's good to find your climbing buddies, make use of their support, and be supportive.

I started climbing at 42 and am 45 now. So happy to have found your channel. Please keep making videos!

@OnTheCrux

Ай бұрын

Thank you! I will try to keep making them!

Great climbing! I appreciated you voicing aloud your thoughts/feelings. And good to see someone around my age climbing on youtube 👍

I started the year before last and I feel like you. I want to climb till I can't any more. Had a nasty fall last Friday downclimbing but hopefully will be back on the wall soon.

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

I hope you’re back to climbing again soon. It’s so frustrating when we can’t!

"I might fall" is a given on any climb. We don't help ourselves by repeating messages like that, out loud or to ourselves. While we expose ourselves to fear inducing situations, we must also check our language. Turn "I might fall" or "I can't" statements into "I'm ok" or "I can" statements. I am also an older climber, and I also try to limit the number of times that I fall or jump off of a boulder, but I still remind myself that its not that high and I have plenty of cushioning beneath me. Most important, I remind myself that I know how to fall correctly.

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

I’m not climbing alone here but filming a KZread video, so me saying “I might fall” wasn’t a ‘message’ but communication to my crew to take a step back if needed! I think that’s pretty clear by the next line -“make sure there’s nothing behind me”. Thanks for your input though, the algorithm appreciates it ;)

I think there’s a couple of points regarding fear that might be important to note. When people mean fall more they mean try more moves that you don’t know if you’ll make, yes, but also try them knowing beforehand that it is a low percentage move and having a plan for how to fall. For genuine foot slips I don’t know I’m going to fall then I fall the only thing you can do is have a mental almost pre programmed reaction and push yourself up the wall and depending on the fall tuck your arms. The way to develop that reaction is a to be aware of when it might come up and maybe practice falling and pushing out and trusting your instincts and remaining calm. Another thing regarding fear is just trying more moves, realizing everything that your body is capable of and testing your limits with full confidence, especially when you begin you are often afraid of the wrong things, tiny but horizontal feet should never be feared for example, hold size is often not the correct indicator of wether a hold is good or not. And doing moves half way will make it more likely that you mess up a move, the wall is not a place for doubt. Lastly to help not making the wall a place for doubt I recommend reading the route clearly and visualizing the moves before you go. The time to think and doubt is off the wall, the time to feel and do is on the wall. A decisive, confident climber is a safer climber.

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the detailed comment, there are some valid points in there. I do agree about route reading beforehand and trying every possibility, I had to cut a lot out of this video to keep it down to a watchable duration! The only thing I’d say is, for an intermediate climber pushing into the v3-4 grade level you don’t always know what your body is capable of. Doing a move with confidence will give you a higher chance of success, but it’s experience that gives you the understanding of how risky that move is, and you lack that if you’ve never done it before. Learning to balance that risk by sometimes going for it, and other times practising the manoeuvre in a safer way is the whole premise of this video. As is the fact that fear/risk will be different for everyone based on their own body and past experiences.

@MyMusicSosa

5 ай бұрын

@@OnTheCrux Im sorry but reading this response and the others you’ve made in the video I honestly think you’ve got the wrong approach, I think a climber ought to go for a bolder method of just trying stuff out that feels scary because the climber doesn’t actually know what scary is. Actual scary stuff is so far away from the scope of the scared climber that they’ll be safe kind of no matter what. Instead I think your approach serves to encourage or validate an inefficient and ultimately unsafe thought process. That it’s ok to be afraid. Because invariably we sometimes climb ourselves into dead ends, where only a cool head and our capacity to try hard can move us forward, and it behooves the novice climber to have an idea about how to calm the mind and execute as opposed to only climbing when one is 100% certain. It also limits progress, because the weary climber will never be certain. Instead we need to be grown up, assume the risks we take and develop a skill for pushing past our fears and keep our technique as clean as possible. Ultimately climbing is a sport where injury is pretty much guaranteed if you want to progress, so it’s about minimizing risk not about avoiding it.

@kathywesthead3176

5 ай бұрын

@@MyMusicSosa I think you’ve got some fair points there, of thinking things through from the ground, and trying different stuff to find out what you can do. My main thought on this, though, is that there perhaps isn’t as much of a ‘one size fits all’ solution as you seem to be suggesting. One of the things I love most about bouldering is the way that it can accommodate such a diverse collection of climbers. I was with a group of friends today (all probably 30 or 40 years younger than me) who found several ways of doing the same climb that suited their individual size, shape, strength or balance. And it isn’t just about those physical things, people have different personalities and past experiences, that mean we do not all have the same attitude toward risk-taking; or indeed of the likely consequences of falling, etc. I think it’s fine that you’re confident in what you’re doing; and it’s also fine that @OnTheCrux wanted to practice that tricky step down at a lower level before trying it again on the original route.

I started climbing at age 47. I'm 52 now. It's odd; I'm pretty strong and relatively fearless. But my technique sucks donkey's balls. Hence my v5 limit. Nice send on the green.

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

I see that a lot in stronger climbers as strength can get you to the top just as easily, so you don’t necessarily need both to get to around v4. I didn’t feel strong when I started so I invested more time into watching videos, learning and practising technique. I’m starting to work on v5’s now but I’m finding I now need to work on my strength to actually finish one! One thing I’d add is, my technique can go out the window if I’m climbing at the limit of my ability as I’ll do just about anything to stay on the wall! Don’t be afraid to drop down a grade or two to perfect your balance and technique and get an elegant send :)

I am almost 60ty year old and I just restart climbing after may years (now I climb from one year ) both leading and bouldering.. I am very scared of "copetition style" boulder in the gym expecially jumps and coordinative movements, I can climb V8 in most of the gyms and otside with the rope I climber 5.12D (I failed for one move my first 5.13a). I do not know how to overcome the fear of falling on the route and the fear of hurting myself on hard moves expeccially dynimic .. Suggestions ?

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

So this is where I differ from most people about having to ‘overcome fear’ to take a risk you’re not comfortable with. This probably won’t help you outdoors, but indoors I’m putting a lot more effort into getting good at the basics in a no risk situation. So I used to practice footswapping, volume walking, toe/heel hooks only a few inches off the ground, and more dynamic moves on the auto belays. For specific moves now, I try to make up an equivalent move near to the ground. If I manage something hard in a safe situation then I more confident I’ll manage it high up. At that point it’s a case of overcoming that mental fear due to the height, but knowing I’m more comfortable with the move itself. I am very much not a dynamic climber myself (yet), but I’d like to be! My plan is to build up slowly with baby steps, so I’d suggest dropping down a few grades when climbing on the comp wall. Working on perfecting technique on a lower grade bloc rather than brute forcing our way through a higher level bloc with bad technique.

@gaiaiulia

5 ай бұрын

@@OnTheCrux that's a great idea, to practise technique close to the ground. Fear of falling is pretty inhibiting, well for me anyway.

@ArrampicataGolden

5 ай бұрын

In march I will start a Climbing Course, it is for beginners but I think I have to overcame my fears and I hope to lear so, rather than "fight for my life" on a 5.13 pitch ..

@kathywesthead3176

5 ай бұрын

@@OnTheCrux Yes, that's a great idea, I should do more of it. I also got a short coaching session on how to fall ( from a very low height) and that helped me the couple of times I have actually done so.

@OnTheCrux

5 ай бұрын

@@ArrampicataGoldenI’m in awe that you’re already climbing at that level, and the extra confidence from that course will only make you even better!