Keep your body relaxed. It’s OK to be afraid.
“Falling is the consequence that we accept for our decision to leave the ground,” says Lor Sabourin, 28, a professional rock climber in Flagstaff, Ariz. Sabourin teaches clinics across the country on how to prepare mentally and physically for that moment when your fingers slip or you lose your footing and you find yourself tumbling down the rocky face of a mountain. Sabourin, who uses they/them pronouns, likes to climb sandstone crags in the Southeastern United States, where they occasionally need to climb as high as 15 feet above the last safety anchor, which could result in a 30-foot fall.
Don’t avoid falling; practice it. “You can learn to fall better, which makes it less scary,” Sabourin says. If you’re using ropes and anchors, it is unlikely you’ll ever hit the ground unless something catastrophic happens, like an equipment failure. Your rope and harness should catch you first. Keep your body relaxed. You want to land on the vertical rock face with your hands and feet, knees and elbows bent, in a froglike position.
It is OK, normal even, to be afraid. The aim is to understand how that anxiety manifests inside you and how to trust your body despite it. Start by practicing much shorter drops while focusing on your breath. “Exhale through the entire fall,” Sabourin says. As you dangle from a top rope in a harness, push off the wall and exhale. Once that feels like muscle memory, “add in the eyes,” Sabourin says. Look down toward the ground as you plummet so you can see what obstacles might be rushing toward you.
While you practice, try to find joy in those fleeting moments of weightlessness. If you don’t figure out how to grapple with your apprehension about falling as you climb, you will tighten your muscles, increasing the likelihood that you will fall. Note when your brain starts to chatter with anxiety and bring your focus back to your body. Aim to be present in the moment, not to be fearless. Despite what gonzo marketers might try to sell you, there isn’t a fear/no fear binary. “You can’t just cross the threshold into being someone who’s not afraid anymore,” Sabourin says.
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July 20, 2021 at 04:00PM
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How to Fall Off a Mountain - The New York Times
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