Blog

Managing Pressure

• June 2011
• Fly Travel

Hi Steph-
I have to start off by saying you have truly inspired me… clearly as this is my first piece of “fan mail” EVER! When I first started climbing I saw The Sharp End and was totally blown away when I heard you talking about and acknowledging fear. This got me thinking about all the things I wanted to do that were scary, but that maybe I could push through. I think without your candid discussion of fear in The Sharp End I probably would never have started any of this!

Which brings me to my question…

I’ve been climbing for about a year and a half and recently started AFF. I’ve had no problems with fear in climbing; comfortable taking leads falls after a couple practice falls. Climbing is purely “fun fear”. Skydiving has been a completely different story for me. I only have one AFF jump left, so have made a few solo exits and honestly everything is going really well… except for my anxiety in the plane. I didn’t start out very nervous, but after a minor parachute malfunction (fixed it; didn’t need to cut away) the fear just got worse and worse. Everyone is telling me that this is normal and that it will get better, but I’m embarrassed to say I had to ride the plane down on my last attempt. I felt fine on the ground and was feeling really prepared for my jump. Free fall doesn’t make me nervous, neither does flying the canopy or even having a malfunction (I’ve proven to myself that I know my emergency procedures and am prepared to cut away if I need to). The only thing that scares me is exiting the plane; I couldn’t take my eyes off of the ramp the entire way up to altitude and as soon as the door opened I felt paralyzed. The exit is possibly the safest part of skydiving; why am I struggling with something so illogical? I know I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but if I’m having this much trouble with skydiving is there any chance I’ll be able to handle the fear of BASE jumping?

I know that I want to keep skydiving; I have a blast every time my feet leave the plane. I just need a little advice on how to get my feet to leave the plane 🙂

Any words of wisdom from an experienced “fear-facer” such as yourself would be so greatly appreciated! Thank you!
—
Lauren

Dear Lauren,
Thanks for your letter! Fear is a tough one. I know for myself, there are times when I’m not afraid of anything, and other times when I think fear is really holding me back. I am a strong believer in chipping away at fear, and sticking with it in a safe way, when you find yourself wanting to do something but being limited by fear.

I think for climbers, leaving the plane (or the cliff) is intimidating in a way that seems odd to non-climbers. Climbing is very slow and static–the rock isn’t going anywhere, and you are not going anywhere very fast either. When you’re in the door of the plane, there’s lots of noise, fast rushing air, and the intense feeling of time pressure. I remember when I was first learning to skydive, I always felt really rushed in the door. And being rushed can make you feel stressed out or nervous….and scared. I also noticed pretty quickly that the exit seemed very related to how the jump was–if I had a bad exit, the whole jump just didn’t go quite right. So I learned to stop in the door and take some time. It might seem like everything is rushed, but it really will not make a difference if you spend 3 seconds in the door taking a deep breath and just collecting yourself. Also, you know you should always look at the spot yourself, even if everyone else is exiting, and that is your first opportunity to take a little time in the door–it’s the right procedure to check the spot on each jump, and you should never ever leave the plane unless you have seen the landing area with your own eyes. If other jumpers make you feel pressed for time, let them know you’re checking the spot 😉 Remember too, that once you are in the air, you are truly on your own. So you should only exit when you are ready and when you feel right. Riding the plane down, just like walking down from a base jump that everyone else has gone off of safely because you just don’t feel right, is a sign that you are strong enough to listen to yourself and to your own gut. Which is the most important thing you can do.

So if you take a little time to make sure you see the landing area, and then take an extra 2-3 seconds for a deep breath and to visualize a great exit, I think it will really change your experience. This is adding about 6 seconds to your time in the door, but it can really make a difference. The key is just to stop. Give yourself a few seconds to just stop and center your attention.
I hope that helps!
🙂 Steph