Author Topic: Heights...eek!  (Read 17336 times)

robstubbs

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #30 on: 08:13:55, 24/05/11 »
I too don't like heights and in particular exposure.  I have got better though for 2 reasons;  I will now deliberately push myself more than I used to and will go places where previously I would have just backed off.  I know what it will feel like and I'm prepared for it.  Secondly I know what makes it worse and what makes it better.  I seriously limit the looking down and concentrate what's in front of me and where I'm putting my feet.  As mentioned above, going with someone with more confidence (and experience) than yourself can also be a great help.
 
Rob.

Bigdave73

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #31 on: 10:31:53, 24/05/11 »
It's the exposure that scares me more than heights :idiot2: . Tried to get back up Tryfan via North Ridge again last year but the exposure got to me again. Went round the heather terrace in the end and up the south ridge to the summit. No, I didn't do adam and Eve  ;D . Now get me roped up and i'm fine. Been on climbing walls and climbed outside and never had a problem. Think I need to get out and do more scrambling, maybe that'll help?
You're my wife now Dave !!!!!!

PistonPete

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #32 on: 10:48:59, 24/05/11 »
Are they 'brave'  or..................

......Did they have the Cohones to go (properly equipped and supervised) and face their fears and come back down better more confident people?  Oh Yes  O0

Very well done especially to Debs, Dave and Mark, who, although they creped themselves, had the strength of will and determination to do it  :)

Oh and Mark, the Snowdon Rangers want to know what you've done with the West side of the second Pinnacle that you tried to pop in your rucksack  8)
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amnesiacjimmy

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #33 on: 11:02:37, 24/05/11 »
......Did they have the Cohones to go (properly equipped and supervised) and face their fears and come back down better more confident people?  Oh Yes  O0

Very well done especially to Debs, Dave and Mark, who, although they creped themselves, had the strength of will and determination to do it  :)

Oh and Mark, the Snowdon Rangers want to know what you've done with the West side of the second Pinnacle that you tried to pop in your rucksack  8)
Thanks Pete. Knowing you were there and Mike and Graeme, meant i felt secure in the knowledge you could have carried me back down  :o :o :o
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PistonPete

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #34 on: 11:03:40, 24/05/11 »
Thanks Pete. Knowing you were there and Mike and Graeme, meant i felt secure in the knowledge you could have carried me back down  :o :o :o

If you'd got too scared Dave, you could have filled your trousers with hot air and floated down  :D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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yeti

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #35 on: 11:07:40, 24/05/11 »
If you'd got too scared Dave, you could have filled your trousers with hot air and floated down  :D ;D ;D ;D ;D
He can always slide down on his ass ;D . He's had loads of practice O0 ;D .
R.I.P. Dave.

Trenchfoot

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #36 on: 12:10:10, 24/05/11 »
......Did they have the Cohones to go (properly equipped and supervised) and face their fears and come back down better more confident people?  Oh Yes  O0


Pete,

Being properly equipped and supervised sounds good by me. Now although I'm quite tall, I'm still a wee bit fearful of heights and as I’ve also little experience of mountain walks, I’m in no way ready for anything like Crib Goch or similar. I'm not lacking the balls or anything, and I'd like to think with appropriate build up experience and guidance I'd give it a crack, who knows... but I'd be interested to know, from your standpoint, as the organiser of this event, as to what 'properly supervised' actually means.

cheers,
Rich.
roll on the weekend

yeti

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #37 on: 12:27:10, 24/05/11 »
I think most who attended the Crib Goch recently, were and are extremely capable persons. Together with experienced member for assistance. I don't think it was too risky. I think they made the right decisions in the field O0 . It is an endurance for even experienced walkers. How do you get experienced...by safely pushing yourself a little without being out of your capabilities? I don't think this good bunch did. Well done again to you all O0 . A hard walk and well achieved.
R.I.P. Dave.

guess who

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #38 on: 15:11:32, 24/05/11 »
I had a real fear of heights. I very broke my partners hand going up a cable car to mount tidy. All i could do was hold her hand and not look down.

My dad was driving a tower crane in Leeds. I was working as a labourer on the same site. He started to take the mickey out of me, for not having the bottle to go up the crane.

So one night i climbed up all 400+ of it. It scared the hell out of me. Said i would never do it again.
However it really got on my nerves that i was letting it beat me. So two days later i did it again. That night i walked out the front jib. Just like in this photo. 



With in 4 weeks of this i was driving the one the photo is taking on. 4 months after that i was erecting and repairing them.
Worked all over the country doing it.

I still have a great respect for heights. In the ten years i did the job 10 people died doing the job.

one thing i can say, is its better to walk away from something rather than doing something you are not capable of doing.

paulio3

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #39 on: 15:32:51, 24/05/11 »
Same here as a kid i was terrified of heights.
 
I had the chance to become a tower crane operater after driving mobiles for a couple of years. I though i would give it a go. The first day of the course was a pretty scary experience and 2 lads left the course  that first day. The tower cranes really sway in the wind. By the end of the course my fear of heights had gone. I think the more time you spend high up the more you just get used to it.

romaway

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #40 on: 15:51:16, 24/05/11 »
Paulio3

You are spot on!  Cognitive behaviour therapy gets you to do exactly that!   Familiarity breeds tolerance to the problem be it spiders, toilets  or heights! 

guess who

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #41 on: 15:55:56, 24/05/11 »
Same here as a kid i was terrified of heights.
 
I had the chance to become a tower crane operater after driving mobiles for a couple of years. I though i would give it a go. The first day of the course was a pretty scary experience and 2 lads left the course  that first day. The tower cranes really sway in the wind. By the end of the course my fear of heights had gone. I think the more time you spend high up the more you just get used to it.

My bit in bold, dont they just move about a lot in the wind.
I was on a very quite job in Nottingham. Fell asleep. The wind got up and as i woke up i saw the crane move. I nearly had a heart attack thought it was going to fall over.

alewife

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #42 on: 17:43:04, 24/05/11 »
Everybody has a "fear" of heights, me included, but what you need to develop is your confidence in what you are doing when at height.

Through years of experience leaping around on rocks and hillsides and doing more scrambling lately (plus having the right footwear) I know when I'm doing something that isn't going to involve me slipping or worse, falling, when I'm at height.

The main thing is using and identifying good footholds when scrambling.  Handholds are great, but the vast majority of the effort should always be being taken by your legs, as usual when walking, they are designed for it.  If you're constantly looking for footholds the size of your foot and using your arms too much, you will tire out quickly and start to lose confidence and then your "fear" of heights will kick in quicker, it's a self preservation thing.

Resting frequently and breathing (yes I know you have to, but just look at how often you hold your breath when you're making too much effort) will help relax you. Also, if a piece is exposed, don't hang around on it, just smoothly and as quickly as is safe for you, get to the next piece that you feel you could stand on for hours.

Hope that's made some sense  O0


Sorry to quote the whole thing, but, bloody hell Pete, that is just brilliant. That just makes so much sense and sums up exactly what my problem is (was on CG). I have never thought of it like that. 
Alewife


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yamyam

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #43 on: 18:05:48, 24/05/11 »
Fear of heights was never a problem for me i climb fixed ladders sometimes 4 storeys high as part of my job and i scramble up to grade 1 but on a narrow path with drops either side i have a problem and when i think back  this has only happened in the last 10 years.Two weeks ago i had to undertake a fittness test this is to qualify for climbing at work and i failed the balance test infact it looked like i was [censored]  when i explained to the nurse about a car accident 10 years ago and a toolbox buried itself in the back of my head one of the results of that was a 20% hearing loss in my left ear and she explained that was the problem of my balance and the possible course of my problem on narrow ridges.Because i know now what the problem is all i have to do is find a cure. ??? O0   
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swampy

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Re: Heights...eek!
« Reply #44 on: 18:10:21, 24/05/11 »
There's been some great advice on this thread. I'm also surprised at the responses, I didn't realise that so many people were affected by heights. I have to echo what alewife said about PP's post, some top advice there and also from others. Cheers peeps, thought I was on my own with this one O0
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