Regaining confidence?

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Widow Shooter

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As some of you know, 2 weeks ago I took a pretty good fall, lived so it went well, as falls go ;)

I find though, I'm have an on-going trepidation-thing...:(

I just feel a bit more wary and feeling not-so-confident.


any tips?

anybody go thru this?
 
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it is affecting my work though, worrying about trying to get to a spot that 3 weeks ago, I would have never questioned.

it is shitty and I hope it goes away.
 
Never out of a tree but I skined a pole and got tossed off a ladder before a few times .Get back at it is about all I can say .Another thing I can add is that after a while a few of us get over confident and real comfortable with our methods .Unfortunately that's when we get hurt .
 
damn dude, what happened? fwiw, you will get through this. dont expect to be 100% again straight away. it will take a little time.
 
Widow Shooter said:
any tips?

anybody go thru this?
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Been there done that.

I cut my safety lanyard a couple of years ago and fell a ways. Thankfully only pride and confidence got hurt that day. I just kept climbing and eventually my confidence came back a month or two later. It just takes time.
 
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climbing scared sucks, and Al, that is exactly what happened, why I fell, complacency...
 
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Read Burnham's signature, thanks Brian, hit the nail right on ;)
 
It doesn't just apply to climbers .Anybody can get over confident .Most cabinet makers that carve a finger off in a table saw are old hands at it .Electricians that get zapped are old farts like me that think they are immune to the stuff etc etc etc .
 
Probably a natural thing, Cary, so instead of fighting with it, go with the flow and it will mend itself. It strikes that confidence is more than just a mental assimilation towards what your are doing, also are the physical and spiritual aspects. Out of balance now, but when it clicks into harmony, you'll be yours old self again. We have confidence in you!
 
I have always told my students that you don't become a good, efficient climber until you have taken a significant fall, drop or swing when it was least expected. After that you seem to pay more attention to the basics, at least for a while. I climb much slower than I did 30 years ago, but generally more efficiently and much more safely-- I think!! Dang now I am going to get in trouble again. If you truly enjoy the work and have the desire to constantly improve, you will come back, maybe even better than before. Good Luck.
 
Cary talk to Dave Lutes out of Winnipeg, he fell 50 feet plus got his fiberglass pole through his guts in the process, he's still going strong today. Here's his site www.treewise.ca click on overview
 
Williard: Is that the dude who fell off the end of his rope?

Cary: "Has this ever happened to any of you guys...":lol: Only every other month for me! :lol:

You'll get through this, man. Fear sucks, but I live with it almost every day. I love really big trees, and I'm scared in about every single one of em'. I've taken two or three really nasty swings, and after each of them it takes me a good little bit of time before I feel my old self again. Don't sweat it, just keep on truckin'.
 
Widow Shooter said:
Read Burnham's signature, thanks Brian, hit the nail right on ;)
Click to expand...

It does have the ring of truth, don't it.

If you have to, take a step back with your climbing system until you recognize it is not a lack of skill on your part that caused the fall. Gravity never makes a mistake so it is going to win occasionally. You fell because the mistake you made was not within your experience. We will never have enough experience to cover all situations, but the more experiences we have, the more we will be able to recognize the moments of peril. Then it becomes a choice or a calculated risk that we all have individual tolerances for.

Dave
 
You never forget it. The result is, I feel, the experience just makes you more careful. I know this because I fell twice. And it stuck in the back of my mind every climb since, and the memory made me a lot more careful.

I'm a lucky mofo forsho
 
Cary, here's what I think: if you go right back to the same place your head was at before the "incident", you are dumb as a box of rocks. And I know you are most certainly not.

Something like this needs to change the way we view climbing, or we have not taken wisdom from any real world lessons at all.

There is a difference between climbing scared and climbing wiser...I bet it's the latter spot you are in, but are not quite able to see that clearly yet. Comfort will return...but probably not the exact same level of aggressiveness, which is likely a good thing.
 
Any knot on the end of my climbline just gets hung up in a fork somewhere. No knots on my rope, for sure. I guess when one becomes an "advanced climber," that means their knots won't ever get stuck. I'd like to know the physics behind that, for sure.

I "use lots of redirects while limb walking pruning," too, but I'll do it sans a knot in my rope.
 
MasterBlaster said:
Any knot on the end of my climbline just gets hung up in a fork somewhere. No knots on my rope, for sure. I guess when one becomes an "advanced climber," that means their knots won't ever get stuck. I'd like to know the physics behind that, for sure.

I "use lots of redirects while limb walking pruning," too, but I'll do it sans a knot in my rope.
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A little snag in a fork wouldn't be a problem, but without it sliding through your friction hitch would be a big problem.
 
Cary.... eventually, the fear becomes more of a respect of the heights and work we do there and what can happen... Respect keeps our testosterone levels in check :D
 
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