Comfortable with heights

L

luckyeddie

When climbing I focus on the area around me disregarding how high off the ground I may be. Can you freeze from being uncomfortable climbing and how do you overcome heights?
 
There was a thread a while back about this very topic. Heights always come into play in our industry, if not from a fear of heights, just from simple human nature.

I think you absolutely can overcome this fear, the more you climb/run a bucket, the more comfortable you will be.
 
As long as you do not start to get really freaked out after passing the 25 ft mark, you can defintiley condition yourself to go higher and higher, and be increasingly comfortable working at greater and greater heights.
It comes with more and more time in the tree, and gaining an integral trust of your gear.
This is where buying some of your own gear can be a real boon to your confidence. Trust me in that it is a way better feeling strapping on your own belt and spurs that you take care of, and chose too purchase 'cause you liked them or whatever your reasons, all that and you don't share them with climbers who might no share your same sense of care. Same with rope, INSPECT INSPECT INSPECT, first thing in the morning I hand lay my rope, using my eyes and hands to inspect the rope at the start of the day, and again at the end, learn to keep a good eye on your ropes, take care of them and they will return the favor.
Another rule of thumb a GREAT old climber told me a ways back for dealing with getting freaked out in a tree, slow down and take the tree ten feet at a time, dont think of it as a 70' climb but a series of smaller climbs , take ten-fifteen feet at a time, and before you know it your at the 70' mark.
If there comes a time when you do get a bit freaked, and it happens to all of us at one time or another, again just trust me on this, guys who say they have never been scared, or don't get scared ever, they are either lying, or too foolhardy too survive long in this game.
Fear is a natural part of the job, learning to deal with it in a calm and rational manner will not only make you a better climber, able to work in a safe and controlled manner, but it will also show up any time you are in a panic situation.
Anyways back to when you do get freaked out, first stop your mental process as best you can, slow your heart down as best you can, a series of slow controlled breaths, it can be tough at first, but calm down as best you can and assess the situation, then you come up with a plan of action, be it simply moving 5-10 feet more up the tree, whatever it is and then you move ahead with your plan.
When you reach your destined mark, you repeat, calm, assess, execute.

This is the way I was taught to deal with fear in climbing and it has served me well.
Good luck Eddie, and stay safe,
-Grais.
 
I have to say that I am fairly afraid of heights myself. Occasionally I have sort of a little mini panic attack where I suddenly (and irrationally most of the time) think that something bad will happen. I have experienced this both while climbing trees and once when I was in a bucket truck and a heavy wind kicked up. I think that most of us have varying degrees of fear when working at height. Six months ago or so I got to a job and the foreman said that the major climb was all me. It was a huge red oak, no central leader, seemed like there was miles of trunk before the first branch. I was real nervous about it and he told me that he would be happy to do it but I had to at least footlock up to where we had set the line. I did and once I got up there I figured I would make a few cuts that were close by. That turned into the next three hours in the tree, all over it, two or three resets of my line. I conquered the fear by breaking it down, like Grais said in his post. First, conquer the ascent. The only time I am really afraid is when I am standing on the ground staring up at 90 ft of oak in the dead of winter and over thinking the experience. I've learned to not think too much (other than basic safety precautions.) I just have to get up to the top and the rest is all basically gonna be a cakewalk.
 
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I've learned to not think too much (other than basic safety precautions.) I just have to get up to the top and the rest is all basically gonna be a cakewalk.

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Well said, and honest post.
And Crownless' I can relate to the mini panic attacks where you start thinking irrational things, I have experienced those.
Ive been both blessed and cursed with a vivid imagination, its great most cases, but other times I just wish I could turn it off.
I just started climbing after a long break away, figured it had been ten years since I had climbed, and the first couple of high climbs I had to do I was experiencing some 'unpleasantness', but just using the techniques I had learned long ago, and working through the scary bits felt GREAT.
Theres no better feeling than conquering something pretty damn terrifying to the average guy, and we are all just average guys after all.
Take er easy,
-G.
 
I think all of us have had some jitters at times, especially in the beginning. But that fear turns into a respect for the work and the trees it takes place in. As soon as my foot leaves the ground my mind is cleared of everything but the task and how to safely achieve it.I think about tree structure,defects,targets,my connection to all of it and I do it the same no matter what it is I am climbing. Keep your focus on your tree and your task and you'll be fine.
 
I use three diferrent spherical zones to control my emoytions :

The first is as big as my arms and legs can reach, it's my personal bubble that includes my rope connection, hitch, chainsaw, tree parts, hingewood, lanyard, etc. Anything I can touch basically. My personal safety is in this sphere.

The second sphere is the tree itself, it includes all the tree's parts, where i'm going, where i've been. It determines the order in which I work the tree.

The third zone is the entire worksite, coworkers, equipment noises, pedestrians. The tree is like a crow's nest from which you can watch and guide the JOB as a whole.


It's important to focus on your personal bubble. Often times while I'm repositioning a grounworker will speak to me and I will hear the words but if they don't register as IMPORTANT then my brain literally blocks them out so I can focus on more important things, like my dee ring.
 
Agree with all the above, first time I climbed a tree with rope and saddle I got maybe 25-30 feet off the ground came to a narrow crotch to rest and looked down and then up and said "this game is not for me" I just kept climbing and eventually built up confidence and trust in my gear. If you don't trust your gear you'll never be comfortable while working aloft weather its in a rope and saddle or up in a bucket truck. Granted is maybe not what a lot of guys want to hear but my first time climbing in the same tree with my old boss was a big nasty pin oak about 95 ft tall and he was on one side and I was on the other and had to climb out and get a 4 in branch right over a glass table and chair set with a grill under it(clearly couldn't be moved) I said to the boss man "wow this is the highest I've ever been" with a nervous tone His reply "Well Joe honestly if something was to happen at this height you would probably never feel a thing, anything over 40 and you're dead" My next thought "wtf true but not cool"
 
Familiarity breeds confidence; I used to be skeered chitless of heights.

Get and maintain good-quality gear. Learn to trust that gear at height.
 
I used a bucket for 8+ years before I started climbing, and to this day, I am more comfortable on rope. To me, heights are not as much of a problem as unknown or questionable defects in trees. Naturally, as you go higher in the tree, wood gets smaller and your leverage on the trunk gets stronger, so defects can become magnified as you go higher, which is what sometimes gives me the willies.

-Tom
 
In the beginning of the 90thies I had crippeling high anxiety, today I have a sound height respect. The process have been long and thorny but the only thing that helps is to face the fear and stretch your limits. Still have issues with ladders
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, scaffolds and whatever where I´m not attached to a rope and an anchorpoint. Trusting the gear is fundamental.
Whoever stating that they have no fear is either stupid or a liar.
 
I tell newbs to tie in low, go up a little, and get comfy with feet on trunk. Then lean back, look behind you, and flap your arms like an eagle. If your gear is good then you are good.

The higher the comfier for me, unless wood stability gets iffy. I was drawn to climbing as a youngun, as a way to escape the crazy world on the ground. Still an acromaniac.

Another technique to overcome acrophobia is skydiving--puts tree climbing in perspective.
 
Heights don't really bother me, but I'm not really comfortable until I get tagged in with my bodyline, whether its 30 feet up or 200+ feet up.

jomoco
 
Fear is a good thing, its what keeps us alive while doing risky work! Without it, there would be fewer of us around!

Fear is also a natural thing, the trick is to control it and not let it control you! Fear can be overcome with education & experience.

my .02


HC
 
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