How To Deal With The Fear Of Falling In Climbing

The fear of falling in climbing is something every climber deals with. It keeps you from pushing harder, from committing to the risky move, and a lot of the time it keeps you from sending the problem. Spend five minutes around the gym and you’ll figure out pretty fast that everyone goes through it.

So if the fear of falling is that common, you’re probably wondering how to actually deal with it.

There’s no magic mantra or one-liner that “heals” your fear of falling. But this article walks through what climbers, coaches, and mental-training experts actually recommend for working through it.

Why do we fear falling?

The fear of falling has been wired into us since the start of humankind. People who feared falling were less likely to walk to the edge of a cliff or scramble up high and drop to their death, so over thousands of years we learned to fear falling to stay alive. That means the fear of falling isn’t some irrational hang-up. It’s a healthy human instinct, and whether it’s a problem depends entirely on how it shows up in your climbing.

Some people feel it more than others, especially climbers who’ve already been hurt in a fall.

Either way, that fear changes how we climb, and it even changes whether we climb at all.

How the fear of falling affects your climbing

Most climbers connect the fear of falling with freezing on a route or downclimbing before they reach the top. Those are real, but the fear sneaks in a lot of other ways too. A mental block can make a doable section feel impossible, no matter how much physical or technical work you’ve put in. If the mind side of climbing is where you keep getting stuck, our guide to mental training for climbing is a good next read.

Here are a few of the most common effects experts tie to the fear of falling:

Over gripping

As Don McGrath and Jeff Elison point out in their book Vertical Mind, a climber who’s afraid to fall is far more likely to overgrip. That burns way more energy over the course of a climb, and it also ramps up your odds of a finger or tendon injury. If your hands are the thing giving out, some steady grip and hand-strength work takes a bit of that panic out of the equation.

Lack of flow

Flow is that state where climbers feel most confident and make the biggest jumps in ability. When you’re in it, you’re locked into both the physical and mental side of the climb, and it turns into this euphoric, zen-like feeling while you move. Being able to drop into flow is a huge skill for climbing hard routes.

If your head is stuck on “don’t fall” or “stay safe,” you’re not going to find that zen-like flow, and you’re not going to get the growth that comes with it.

Lack of progress

Progress isn’t just about getting up one climb. It’s about your progress as a climber over the long haul.

When you’re worried about falling, you’re less likely to take the chances that build strength, coordination, and technique, and those are the exact things that move you forward in climbing.

Self-deprecation or frustration

A lot of the time, once climbers realize their fear of falling is what’s holding them back, they get frustrated with themselves and start talking to themselves in a pretty ugly way.

That self-deprecation and frustration can wreck the fun of climbing, and it can flat-out stop you from reaching your goals.

How to work past the fear of falling in climbing

A while back I fell and split my chin open. It hurt, it rattled me, and it made my fear of falling way louder than it used to be, on top of a much more serious accident from years earlier.

After that I started hunting for ways to get past my fear of falling so I could “get back to how it used to be.”

What I found instead was that a lot of climbers spend years “overcoming” their fear of falling, only to realize later that the fear never actually left. They just learned to keep climbing anyway.

That got me thinking that focusing on “overcoming” the fear and fully working through it might not even be the goal. It’s a fear that exists to keep your whole body alive, after all.

So I switched gears and looked at what climbers, psychologists, and other experts actually recommend for performing while the fear of falling is still there, and which mental tools seem to work for them.

Here are the few that stood out to me the most.

Focus on the effect, not the fear

The most helpful thing I found came from Vertical Mind, a book I’d recommend any climber read (or listen to on Audible). 

Instead of trying to get past or over my fear of falling, a fear that’s literally baked into my DNA, I started focusing on the effects of the fear.

For example, when I’m scared of falling, I tend to overgrip.

So instead of telling myself the height is fine or the fall is fine, I’d check my grip and adjust it for better performance. This works as a belayer or climbing partner too. From the ground you can spot when your climber is struggling, and a simple cue like “check your grip” is way more useful than “you’re fine.”

That not only pulled my focus off falling, it also trained me to notice the cues worth reviewing and fixing my grip in the moment.

Focus on progress

We usually tie success to topping a climb or bumping up a grade. But it’s better to tie success to progress.

Focusing on progress instead of finishing the climb helps you get better and feel more accomplished, and it can quietly help with your fear of falling too.

When you feel the fear creep in, instead of staring at the top or looking down to plan a safe bail, just focus on getting to the next hold.

Reaching that next hold is a win, and a win is progress.

That little hit of accomplishment can drown out the fear and pull your attention back to the actual problem, which is getting to the next hold. And then the next. And then the next.

Breathe

Plenty of studies point to controlling your breath as a key way to lower anxiety and calm yourself down. Imagine how handy it’d be to catch yourself getting scared, take a breath, and actually feel steady again.

I read through a few breathing exercises while researching this, but one stuck with me. It’s a poem that’s easy to remember, and the first time I read it I felt calm and confident right away. That caught me off guard, so I wanted to share it.

In, out.

Deep, slow.

Calm, ease.

Smile, release.

Present moment,

Wonderful moment.

If you want small mental reps like this to actually stick, the trick is short and consistent instead of one big session. That’s the whole idea behind the free Send Edition newsletter, where we send you one climbing drill a week that takes about 15 minutes, including the head-game stuff like falling practice and staying calm on the wall. It’s free, and it’s an easy way to keep chipping at this between sessions.

Everyone has some level of fear of falling (literally everyone). And as climbers, we tend to notice when that fear starts getting in the way of how we perform.

Instead of fighting the fear, try climbing despite it. Focus on the symptoms of the fear, like overgripping or rushing, and then work on slowly rewiring how your mind responds to it. If the fear keeps stopping you from finishing routes, it can be worth reaching out to a coach who specializes in fall practice and climbing psychology. Steady mental reps help here the same way physical ones do, which is something we dig into in climbing endurance and mental training.

Over time your brain does start to respond differently (a bit like how Alex Honnold’s brain reacts to the fear of falling), and you get to a point where you can climb like the fear isn’t running the show.

Frequently asked questions

Can you ever fully get rid of the fear of falling in climbing?

Probably not, and that’s normal. The fear of falling is a survival instinct wired into your DNA. Most climbers who seem fearless didn’t erase the fear, they just learned to keep climbing despite it by managing its effects instead of the fear itself.

Why do I overgrip when I’m scared of falling?

Overgripping is one of the most common effects of the fear of falling. When you’re afraid, your body clamps down hard, which burns energy fast and raises your injury risk. Catching yourself and consciously easing your grip is one of the quickest ways to take the fear’s power away in the moment.

How does breathing help with the fear of falling?

Controlled breathing calms your nervous system and lowers anxiety, which makes it easier to think clearly and move instead of freezing. Catching yourself, taking a slow breath, and refocusing on the next hold is a simple reset you can use mid-climb.

Should I focus on topping the climb or on progress?

Focus on progress. Tying success to reaching the next hold instead of finishing the whole climb gives you steady wins, keeps your attention on the problem in front of you, and quietly loosens the fear’s grip.

When should I get help from a coach for my fear of falling?

If the fear keeps stopping you from finishing routes no matter what you try, it’s worth reaching out to a coach who specializes in fall practice and climbing psychology. There’s no shame in it, and structured fall practice with a pro can move the needle fast.

Sara Climbing Coach, Climbing Trainer, Writer

Sara is the founder of Send Edition, author of '77 Drills to Help You Climb Better,' the creator of 'Elevate Your Climbing: Training Planner and Tracker,' and climbing coach.

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