Psychology of climbing

[Hot_blooded_300]

Hi everyone!! New to this site.

So, last year I fell in love with climbing and hiking. I get out every weekend when I get the chance and have come a long way. During this time I've noticed sometimes the mind can be a powerful thing when it comes to any sport.

I do lot's of climbs and sometimes I find that one day I'm completely motivated and really into it. Other times I start out okay only to find myself starting to doubt my ability to do the climb making it very difficult and challenging to finish. I find myself fighting thoughts of quitting, giving up or wanting to stop and rest all the time.

Do any of you out there ever have this happen to you to? What do you do to help push yourself and overcome that mental battle. Any tips are appreciated!!

[catbirdseat]

Sometimes I get intimidated leading up to a big climb, but once I am on the rock, usually the worries disappear. Your problem is kind of the opposite, isn't it? You are talking about more mountaineering type climbs aren't you?

[Hot_blooded_300]

Yeah, my question is more for Mounaineering climbing. Rock climbing it usually only happens my first climb of the season when I'm a little nervous. After that I get usually get right into my mental climbing zone when I'm on the rock. I become one w/rock

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Hi everyone!! New to this site.

So, last year I fell in love with climbing and hiking. I get out every weekend when I get the chance and have come a long way. During this time I've noticed sometimes the mind can be a powerful thing when it comes to any sport.

I do lot's of climbs and sometimes I find that one day I'm completely motivated and really into it. Other times I start out okay only to find myself starting to doubt my ability to do the climb making it very difficult and challenging to finish. I find myself fighting thoughts of quitting, giving up or wanting to stop and rest all the time.

Do any of you out there ever have this happen to you to? What do you do to help push yourself and overcome that mental battle. Any tips are appreciated!!

 

If I am worried about a climb (usually the night before or when resting before an alpine start) I envision myself confidently ascending each part of the route without problems. I put as much detail in as I can... "at sunrise, I'll be topping the ridge", etc. This tends to settle me down.

 

[jja]

Like KK said visualizing success helps a lot. also when you get those moments, just focus on one foot at a time. step. next step. and step again. step. step. step. step. focusing on a simple repetitive thing like your footwork will shift your attention away from your negative thoughts. in fact it's almost trance like - think of natives dancing around the fire before going into battle - they do that on purpose to focus the mind and crowd out thoughts of doubt.

 

also don't forget that EVERYONE has these doubts, they just happen at different points for different people of varying levels of experience, and also different people handle them differently .. some push through them and some don't. i can't count how many times I've gone to do something, actually started hiking up, and then said .. "ah, screw this I don't feel like it"

[Reid]

i can't count how many times I've gone to do something, actually started hiking up, and then said .. "ah, screw this I don't feel like it"

 

Bailing can be a good idea too. Don't always attribute it to weakness. If you're not into a climb and force yourself to do it I feel that you're more likely to make mistakes, move slower, and pay less attention. Or maybe you have good reason for wanting to bail or just a gut feeling. It's good to listen to yourself.

 

But I know what you're talking about especially when it's cold and dark at 4am and you'd rather be in bed. Partners are a great source of motivation. I find my partners are most of the time motivated when i'm not and vice versa. I'm much more likely to quit when I'm solo if I even get out of bed at all.

[jewels421]

What helps me is to mentally break the climb down into smaller pieces -- e.g., I'll take a break once I get to "x" point, or I'll just focus on getting to "x" for right now. I have a tendency to get a bit overwhelmed when I think about the entirety of a big trip -- little pieces are more manageable.

 

Also helps for me to think about the rewards/payoffs -- whatever they may be for you (the views, a candy bar, a warm sleeping bag).

[cartman]

The above advice and points are solid. Everyone has doubts at one time or another. I do mostly mountaineering, and overanalyzing/overplanning sometimes gets me sick of thinking about a trip before I've even left. Seems to lose some of the mystery and adventure.

 

Breaking a big trip down into smaller parts and visualizing what/where you need to do and go can help a lot. Occasionally I get a gut feeling about a trip; this actually happened this past weekend, so I didn't go. Today I feel like doing the same trip RIGHT NOW. Sometimes it's just how you feel that day. Also, asking yourself why you're doing that trip can help you decide whether you should go.

[marc_leclerc]

Breaking down climbs helps me a lot too. Instead of being like 'OMG its goiung to take 3 hours to slog up this cree slope', think, 'OK I can get to that rock in 10 minutes' that helps . Joe Simpson talks about this thinking when he was crawling out from Suila Grande with a broken leg...

[Bill_Simpkins]

I get bored when I go out sometimes. I think I would rather be at home watching TV. When I'm at home watching TV, I'd rather be out climbing. Sometimes climbing feels like going to work, it's the days it feels like a vacation that make it worth while to take the chance and find out.