I have always hated heights but I am a thrill seeker which is kind of interesting. I even hate roller coasters and bitch through the whole line but once I am on them I love it and want to go on it again.
I have invested a lot of money into Snowboarding and I just want to hit the slopes every day! My only problem is I HATE heights and the declines on some of the trails freak me out. I just got over my fear of some of the bunny hills.
How similar are bunny hills and green trails like lets say sunbowl and coolmor at camelback. I also hate the lifts lol I always freak out on there to everyones amusement.
If you're looking for a good first green to try after the bunny hills you mentioned at Camelback, I think the Laurel Glades one is probably a good first one to try. It is steeper than the bunny hills, but not by much. At the end, it funnels into Coolmor and is a short run (so if you start to freak out you'll be at the end and on a bunny hill sooner). I don't think that lift is all that high, either.
As for the lifts, don't look down haha. Really though, chat with the people on the lift, look around at eye-level if you need to look. Pull the chair bar down so you feel more secure in the chair.
It's funny for me because I'm cool with heights, except when at the edge of a straight drop cliff or roof (I get a little twinge of height perspective). It never occurred to me that being suspended on a moving chair at height could be frightening, until last season haha. I suppose I never gave it much thought because chair lift=getting to top of runs to ride. Maybe you can focus on that perspective? It's like a means to an end
Good tips in this thread I am going to try some of these on my next trip to camelback this coming weekend.
I wonder if going at night would help me? Also I think my fear is compounded by the fact that on my first time on a board my ex took me to a diamond trail. Needless to say my face took quite a beating right away. I walked down the rest of the way took me a good 20 minutes and I was still scared of the descent LOL
Good tips in this thread I am going to try some of these on my next trip to camelback this coming weekend.
I wonder if going at night would help me? Also I think my fear is compounded by the fact that on my first time on a board my ex took me to a diamond trail. Needless to say my face took quite a beating right away. I walked down the rest of the way took me a good 20 minutes and I was still scared of the descent LOL
Idk...Camelback can get icy at night. If you start to freak out from pitch, you might encounter ice and that would be worse (since you might be tense). Also, visibilty is different, of course. You might feel more confident being able to see everything, including height.
Where is the fear/anxiety coming from...perception/anticipatory anxiety or physical signals/symptoms? If its the former there is approximation, desensitization, imagining, hypnosis interventions. If its the latter something like learning diaphragmatic breathing, bio-feedback or a beta blocker medication can work really well. It might a bit confusing to sort out...but a backwards approach called...psychopharmacological diasection using a beta blocker could be an easy rule out/in approach or just try the diaphragmatic breathing first. Often using a combination of both approaches can work really well. Go see a professional if its that big of issue.
I'm like you, I hate heights. The incline on the slopes usually doesn't bother me unless it's really steep but lifts are the bane of my existence and so are planes. Hell, I even hate elevators.
But I found that the more I went, the more comfortable I was. It may take a while but you'll eventually get used to it.
Once you become a competent rider, maybe try park? Less steep, equal thrills.
But don't go into the park until you're riding at least an intermediate level.
Look across the hill, you aren't going to be going straight down. You will be traversing across the slope so look there. Why look somewhere you aren't going to freak yourself out.
I don't think that this fear is all that uncommon even among,.. as you put it, "Thrill Seekers"!
I'm scared shitless of heights, yet I do Love to do some rock climbing! Top rope, bouldering, and LOVE rappelling!! But I'm fuckin' paralyzed up on a ladder! I did Roofing in S.Cal. for 5 years after getting out of the service. Used to climb 2-3 stories up 'n' over the back of the forklift to get up on the roof. But standing at the edge, made me freak!
My first 5 or 6 rides up the high speed @ boyne, I nearly shit myself cuz NOBODY was putting the freakin' bar down! Not even little kids!!! All I could think about was how many bones were going to shatter if I slipped or fell off this thing! And near as I can tell,.. Boynes lift ain't SHIT compared to some of the lifts in places out west that I'm dyin' to get to! But you know,.. after the first 2 or 3 dozen rides, I don't even notice it anymore!!! If it stalls, I light a smoke & enjoy the scenery! (...for about 3 min. then I'm screaming 'n hollerin' that they're wasting my ride time!!!)
As for the steeps,.. so far nothing I've been on in MI. has been high or steep enough to freak me just by looking down it. Now RIDING down it, that's a whole other type of (mostly newbie, not got the skills kind of) "Freaked"!!!!
You seem committed enough to the sport to keep at it, So I'm sure time & experience will get you past the fear.
try skydiving this spring - "the most fun you can have with your clothes on" - its hard not to conquer the fear when you are standing on a small piece of landing gear at 12,000 ft
My buddy is afraid of heights, but declines/drops don't bother him.. and you won't see him getting big air on purpose.
He just says you get used to it over time, he's been skiing for thirty years and still hates chairlifts, but he is confident enough to go down steep no fall zones.
I've been skydiving a few times, I thought it would be really fun.. afterwords I felt like it was an epic waste of money, I'd had way bigger rushes Snowboarding/Mountain Biking for sure. I think it's stupid. I went on two tandems from 15K, and once alone.. I mean it's fun for 45-70 seconds, and that's about it..
If I ever get roped into going again I'm going to eat some shrooms or take acid before hand. maybe it would be a little more exciting..
i dont get how you can be afraid of heights...you are still on the ground, and unless you jump, you never leave the ground. Even more confusing to me is how you can be afraid of the bunny hills/ green runs. they are practically flat anyway. the slope is about 9 degrees. Unless you start hitting 40 degree black diamonds on a super icy day you wont fall and keep falling, you can always stop. there is no "height" involved at your level. so just forget about it completely. just do it and dont think about it, because there is nothing to worry about
My buddies' ex was afraid of clowns. I thought that was only something you see in the movies but when a clown was near she freaked out even though it was embarrassing and in public.
just go for it my second day riding 3 years ago my freind made me drop in on a black diamond and bam all my fear was gone now i rip down the mountain at mach speeds as for the lift when you unload dont try to stop right away ride it out a ways and dig you heel into the ground
On a similar note, my wife has a totally irrational fear of snakes. Not a healthy, natural fear of venomous ones, a total freak out over the top reaction to even a harmless garter snake. I have a screen saver of the desert southwest and one of the pictures is a huge coiled up Western Diamondback. That screen saver came up and she literally freaked out and jumped away from the computer. I have tried to "desensitize" her by exposing her to snakes but had to give this up as my food began to have a strange almond taste that brought on a strange tiredness......
My wife is deathly afraid of snakes as well. Every once in a while the Discovery Channel has 'snake week'. During those times my wife maintains rigid control of the remote.
So your wife has a phobia of snakes, AND thinks her husband is conspiring with an international snowboard company to mess with her? We should coin a new phobia for that.
I have tried to "desensitize" her by exposing her to snakes but had to give this up as my food began to have a strange almond taste that brought on a strange tiredness......
I think everyone has a fear of heights to an extent, no one wants to fall off a cliff, but in others it causes a panic reflex that they can't just "get over it". Since you (OP) like roller coasters I'm guessing it's not the real bad fear of heights. Almost everyone riding a large coaster for the first time has some fear, it's normal (I live about an hour away from Cedar Point so I see it alot while I'm there). With the fear of declines, it's probably something to do with the fear of not being able to stop if you fall or the fear of going too fast. It's normal, and that's why you see beginners tense up and fall when they go past their comfort speed. Unless you're riding backcoutry stuff, there's really nothing to worry about with the steeper slopes.
Your first post really summed it up though, you said you just got over your fear of bunny hills, that means you made progress. The same thing is going to happen with the intermediate trails, and eventually, the blacks. I remember when I was younger seeing the start of the black diamond trails from the top, it looks like just a drop off because you're viewing it as a horizon.
I have tried to "desensitize" her by exposing her to snakes but had to give this up as my food began to have a strange almond taste that brought on a strange tiredness......
I lol'd at this. My ex girlfriend had a horrible fear of spiders, I mean fear--->anger---->yelling. I've never seen someone travel such a distance from just 2 steps before, honestly it had to be some kind of world record. "there's a SPIDER over there!!! (points angrily)
I think everyone has a fear of heights to an extent, no one wants to fall off a cliff, but in others it causes a panic reflex that they can't just "get over it". Since you (OP) like roller coasters I'm guessing it's not the real bad fear of heights.
OP, do have a fear of FALLING and getting hurt or the actual height/steepness of the trail. To me that seems more logical in this case. If you were to just stand/walk up the scary hill in question say, during the summer on a hike, would you be equally as scared?
The decline makes me FEEL like if I fall I am going to be rolling quite far and will get hurt pretty bad. Also I don't know how to carve yet I can turn but can't really slow myself down much doing that so I am obviously scared.
The bunny hill I guess is not really a bunny hill but a trail in itself although short that I have been on...According to the guy who works at the hill station there is only a little more decline on the real green trails and that I am okay enough to give them a try.
The decline makes me FEEL like if I fall I am going to be rolling quite far and will get hurt pretty bad. Also I don't know how to carve yet I can turn but can't really slow myself down much doing that so I am obviously scared.
Its relative, I was on the bunny hill for far too long and then a skier friend took me on the tour down a double black chute that I did heelside on my butt...however after that...I didn't die and the blues and greens looked much more manageable.
Everything you write suggests that you are just not ready to be on anything steeper than the small hill you describe.
Your anxiety stems from your inexperience. I distinctly remember having that same fear years ago, but I quickly attributed it to the fact that I could not link turns and control my speed at such a steep pitch.
Once I improved, my confidence grew and the fear went away( on that hill). I still look down and get anxious, but its on steeper terrain than before. Get it?
As for the lift, I feel anxious nearly everytime I get on one. I have a fear of heights. I have found that riding the lift with a friend, or even talking to some random on the chair with me helps.
As said before too, do not look out too far. I focus down or on someone or my gear. I always hang on too, even when there is a ski bar.
Haha. Considering your attempts to desensitize her (AND putting a rubber snake in the bed), I can understand her suspiscion! :laugh: You might want to consider take-out if you ever have Vince over for dinner
She'd most likely hate my board, especially with its snakeskin textured top sheet!: View attachment 7140
Hahaha. Here, show her this picture. I have had this thing as a "pet" for about 3 months now. It is either a Giant Brown Garden Spider or a very venomous Hobo Spider. I really cannot positively identify it. Found this beastie in the wood pile in the back yard. We nicknamed her "Shelob" from the Lord of the Rings...:laugh: She is living high on the hog feasting on fat juicy crickets that I buy for our frogs we have in a tank. She is about the size of a half dollar. It is really creepy to watch how fast she can move to sting a cricket. Then she sucks all its innards out....
The wife HATES the fact that this thing is on our kitchen counter....:laugh:
That statement made me laugh..."our pet, it can either kill us, or not." :laugh:
Incredible pics, though! The web is amazing!
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