New to 14ers
Hello Steph –
I was searching on the internet and came across your website while researching rock climbing. First off I want to say great work and you really are an inspiration to me. I love that you have found a passion and that’s something that I can’t say I have found, although I have recently decided to be more open minded to new adventures.
ABOUT ME:
I’m 31 years old and have been here in Denver for 10 years. This year I decided to hike up our lovely mountains since I have been putting it off for a while and have never been up there, except to Ski. I have decided to take up hiking 14ers since a friend of mine told me about them.
My question to you is about my fear of heights. I’ll first explain my situation and then ask my question after. I didn’t have a fear of heights when I was younger but somewhere in my early 20’s I realized that I had a fear. We recently went to Long’s Peak to do the Keyhole Route climb which is a Class 3 climb according to 14ers.com. Once we turned the Keyhole my fear of heights really kicked in. I was to the point where I didn’t want to go past the Keyhole. With some encouragement from 3 of my friends I decided to give it a shot.
After the Keyhole on our way to the summit there were several moments where I felt a lot of dizziness and shortness of breath. I took breaks when these moments came up. I managed to make it to the base of the Homestretch which is the last 250′ feet up. And thats when I just locked up. I became extremely frozen and just sat down feeling faint. Long story short I didn’t make the summit 🙁 and really thought after this far I would actually be able to do it.
On the hike back to the trail head I started really thinking if this was something I could do knowing that there are many other 14ers here in Colorado that are much more difficult.
THE QUESTION:
Is there anything you can suggest about overcoming this fear? Is it possible that I might not be able to do things like this?
Eventually I’d like to graduate to rock climbing, but if I can’t make it past these Class 3 hikes I don’t know if it will ever happen.
You seem so free climbing the mountains and thats a feeling I’d like to have someday god willing.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and good luck in your ventures.
Cheers!
Mike
Dear Mike,
Thanks for writing to me! First of all, I have to say that I was reading your story of the Keyhole, thinking to myself not “oh what a problem, poor Mike,” but rather, “of course he was scared and winded! The Keyhole is super exposed, and everybody gets winded at 14,000 feet!!” So you should absolutely not give up on this dream! Altitude is a factor for almost everyone, and you must acclimatize and train to feel comfortable and healthy at altitude. It varies for everyone, but what does not vary is the fact that training will make you improve. The best way to improve your performance at altitude is to climb high and sleep low, which fits in very well with living in Colorado and going out for day excursions where you come back down and go home at night. Improving your cardiovascular fitness at any altitude will also make you feel better when you go up.
Also, the first time you do something like this is bound to be pretty overwhelming. Again, I think that is 100 percent normal. So I hope you will keep exploring your mountains, and enjoy the motivation it gives you to train in the time between your adventures.
🙂 Steph
