Why People With A Fear Of Heights Need Rock Climbing
Hi. My name is Ryan Howes. I have been rock climbing for more than half my life and I have been a professional climbing instructor in Maine for two decades, which basically means I have one of the coolest, and most challenging jobs on the planet. I absolutely love teaching people how to climb. Every person I work with, even if it’s just once, has huge successes and commonly say things like, “I had no idea I could do that”.
Not many people know I entered the sport as a late teenager with a crippling fear of heights (aka fear of falling and getting hurt) mixed with nauseating vertigo. Most people with this affliction will never allow themselves to climb. Its simply a hard no, while others will entertain the idea, but use excuses like “I need to get in better shape first”. The rare individual who decides to go rock climbing with a professional like me, despite the fear, take on a huge mental and emotional risk filled with uncertainty and a high degree of perceived risk, whether real or not. And that is a seriously courageous move.
I did just that many years ago. The big, bold, courageous move to lean into my fears, rather than run away from them. What did I learn about myself? Well, after many years of coaching and supporting others through the same process, I think there are several universal truths about facing and overcoming fears through climbing:
Fear as an acronym means False Evidence Appearing Real. Most humans think they know what something will be like and how they will feel about it well before they have done the thing. It’s rather hilarious to think we could know what something we be like despite having never done it. Then decide to not do the thing based on one’s created evidence. Climbing teaches us to be in the present moment.
l tell all my climbing guests that fear is a teacher and climbing is a vehicle to experience and grapple with our fears, insecurities, and anything else that arises. Fears and the like find us outside of climbing too. But here is why I highly recommend that people climb with me—Climbing will give you a deep level of power and courage you never thought possible.
There is almost nothing that a human being has not done. Seriously think about this…what is left undone? Okay so maybe there’s a peak that has not been climbed in the middle of Antartica or China, but so many people have climbed most of the worlds mountains and eventually, they will all get climbed. So suffice to say, many, many fellow humans around us and long before us, have faced challenges and their fears. So why would you not face your fears?? Climbing builds a strong body, mind, and spirit. You were meant to say yes to life. Say yes to rock climbing.
Ryan Howes, owner of Northern Vertical Climbing Guides, is a professional climbing guide and health coach who has returned to school to become a psychologist. Ryan loves helping people powerfully step into their best selves through healthy lifestyle and climbing. He’s worked with thousands of climbers and can’t imagine stopping there.