Are you afraid of heights?

Are you afraid of heights?

  • Yes

    Votes: 47 72.3%

  • No

    Votes: 18 27.7%
  • Total voters
    65
woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
9,342
Location
Out of a suitcase
Display Name
Display name:
iTravel
I don't mean while flying an airplane. I mean things like climbing ladders, walking on rooftops, peering over the edge of a cliff (even a small one) while hiking, etc.

When you ride the chair lift when skiing, do you always put the bar down in front of you, or don't bother? Do the cable cars to take you to the top bother you at all?
 
Scared to death of heights in every location except airplanes.

Get me to a tall building near a window and I'll practically **** my pants. Put me on the roof near a wide open fall to my death and I'll almost pass out.
 
No issue in the airplane.

I'm fine walking around on a roof

I'm most definitely not ok on ladders.

I pretty much can't watch someone free climbing.
 
I don't like heights. Perfectly okay with things like airplanes, ziplines, and other activities that take place at heights. I feel like it has something to do with balance or footing or something like that. The lower my center of gravity is the more okay I am with heights.

Scarriest thing I ever did was get back down from climbing the duomo in Florence, Italy. Tall, steep spiral staircases with no landings. Down is always tougher than up in climbs, for me.
 
Concern and caution but not really fear. I am not a fan of ladders but use them. I love going to the top of a tall mast. As long as I have a solid hand hold on something solid, I'm good.
 
Anything between say 8 feet and 50 feet scares me. I think that's the zone where my brain says "you'll go splat, wreck yourself, and survive in agony forever".
 
Yes I am. I will go up a ladder, or on a roof, tall building etc, but I am very careful, and I don't like it much.
 
I do have fears inasmuch as I don't climb up to heights for no reason. If I have a need to go up, I usually just do it, and be careful. I've climbed to the top of hundreds of drilling rigs to hang sheaves and put GPS antennae/small solar panels on a lots of pretty tall railroad cars (think double decker automobile carriers).
 
Don't like ladders, or being within tripping distance of the edge of a roof.

I seriously considered crawling to the edge of the Cliffs of Moher and looking down, but didn't go through with it. My wife walked up and looked over the edge.
 
Eh. 6 inches or 600 feet. No big deal. Just don't step into empty air without protection and you'll be ok.

Routine days for me: (no protection either place)
1: 600ft
2: 40ft
 

Attachments

  • GCD_9727.jpg
    GCD_9727.jpg
    181.1 KB · Views: 26
  • IMG_6276.jpg
    IMG_6276.jpg
    41 KB · Views: 29
Last edited:
I'm very afraid of heights where I must depend upon my own hands and feet. If I have a mechanical device to protect me--no problem. Airplanes, 198 parachute jumps, aerial buckets, etc OK

Paul
N1431A
N83803
2AZ1
 
The inside of a dome at some large Basilica?

And, yes, I'm terrible with ladders but manage if I have to furl the plane. I have rappelled from a mountain but I had on a harness and trusted the teacher... Wouldn't do it routinely however. Don't like the edge of ridges, roof tops etc. It's a balance thing with me, or I should say lack of balance
 
I'm not afraid of heights, just afraid of edges.
 
tonycondon said:
i'm more afraid of falling
Click to expand...

What Tony said...:yikes:

Never been afraid of heights but I definately am of falling! I just never liked that feeling in the pit of my stomach. Which reminds me, I want to get some aerobatic and upset recovery lessons this spring:)
 
Last edited:
I was starting to think about being afraid of heights when I was hanging out the door of a cessna 182...but then I jumped.

Turns out I'm not afraid of heights.
 
Arbiter419 said:
I was starting to think about being afraid of heights when I was hanging out the door of a cessna 182...but then I jumped.

Turns out I'm not afraid of heights.
Click to expand...


So you were trying to end it all since you are forced to live in Harrisburg, York, or some "G*d forsaken" place like that. Prolly a Penn State fan too. :D
 
Mine is very situational. It depends on how secure I feel at a given point in time. Cable cars are fine and fun, although if you let yourself think "wow, that's a tiny cable holding up all these people and the car..." it can cause some pause. I've been on chair lifts, no sweat, as long as the bar is down. Don't like ladders at all, although it may be more going down than going up. I don't like approaching dropoffs that don't have some kind of railing or even a tree to hold on to. Being in a really tall building looking down is no big deal at all - you're "inside".

I ask because my Dad (71 yrs old) was visiting over the wkd and painted my shutters for me. Second story. On a ladder. With a pail holding the paint can. He clambers all over with no fear. On rooftops, you name it. Yes, he's fallen off things before. I think he bounces. This is the guy who broke his hip (fall from his bike) and 4 months later we were hiking in the Alps (2010 - IE just before he turned 70).

I had no idea how high up those shutters were until I saw him on the ladder.
 
Anthony said:
So you were trying to end it all since you are forced to live in Harrisburg, York, or some "G*d forsaken" place like that. Prolly a Penn State fan too. :D
Click to expand...

You caught me...Hometown is Elizabethville. Not really a football fan, but I'm out in Western PA for school now...not sure which is better.
 
I'm terrified of anything over 10ft. I like flying though. If the engine fails or something ( besides the wings,control surfaces, or fuselage holding you to the wing) fails, I won't go SPLAT! Instead we can glide :D...kinda.
 
pmanton said:
I'm very afraid of heights where I must depend upon my own hands and feet. If I have a mechanical device to protect me--no problem. Airplanes, 198 parachute jumps, aerial buckets, etc OK
Click to expand...

That.
I've skydived, rappelled off 500 foot buildings (was a rope rescue instructor), ziplined, etc.

Going off the edge of a 500 free fall rappel is tough. Once I feel the harness take up my weight, no problem. But the initial climb out, holding on by fingertips to take the slack out the rope makes me want to cry like a little girl. :sad:
 
PilotAlan said:
That.
I've skydived, rappelled off 500 foot buildings (was a rope rescue instructor), ziplined, etc.

Going off the edge of a 500 free fall rappel is tough. Once I feel the harness take up my weight, no problem. But the initial climb out, holding on by fingertips to take the slack out the rope makes me want to cry like a little girl. :sad:
Click to expand...
I did a free fall rappel as part of a group exercise and remember that I was the one who volunteered to go first. It wasn't that bad.
 
I don't LIKE heights, so I put "yes" on the poll, but I've gotten USED to them, being forced to do tower climbing work for hanging antennas, etc. Give me a lanyard properly attached to something and a decent foothold and I'm okay. I just go slow and forget about everything but where my hand/foot placement are and where toolbelt is, etc...

I really don't like exposures with no guardrails and gusty wind, whether it's a bridge, a rock at the top of a mountain, or whatever. The variability of the wind gusts gets my heart rate going. I'll exit that situation as quickly as possible.

Often after a day of tower work, I have "falling" dreams for a night or two. I think I hate that more than the actual tower work. :)
 
I am afraid of heights. Ever since I fell off my road bike going about 15mph 4 years ago. Heck my CFI couldn't get me to climb up on the Cessna to check for fuel (I had to go get the ladder) I use a Piper Warrior now so it's not an issue.

Was at Coney Island and rode the Wonder wheel and was on the ones that swung around when it "paused". I screamed like a little girl! My sister was like "Oh it does make it more fun doesn't it". I was terrified. The funny part is that I was in a metal cage (much like an airplane) and I didn't like it. Yesterday went flying and I thought "crap I wasn't this high in the Wonder Wheel and I'm totally fine" I think it's about having control over the situation -- at any time the wonder wheel could have broken.
 
saracelica said:
I am afraid of heights. Ever since I fell off my road bike going about 15mph 4 years ago. Heck my CFI couldn't get me to climb up on the Cessna to check for fuel (I had to go get the ladder) I use a Piper Warrior now so it's not an issue.

Was at Coney Island and rode the Wonder wheel and was on the ones that swung around when it "paused". I screamed like a little girl! My sister was like "Oh it does make it more fun doesn't it". I was terrified. The funny part is that I was in a metal cage (much like an airplane) and I didn't like it. Yesterday went flying and I thought "crap I wasn't this high in the Wonder Wheel and I'm totally fine" I think it's about having control over the situation -- at any time the wonder wheel could have broken.
Click to expand...

That's the ride that sprays water on you right? A real insult to injury. My fear of heights ranges, sometimes moderate, and sometimes nonexistent. I've never been afraid of flying and have done electrical and construction work that required me to climb ladders. I've never had a problem with that. I also LOVE wall climbing. I think that when I'm by the edge of a cliff or roof with nothing to focus on except the idea of falling is when I get funny about it.
 
I can get the willies looking down from the plane, too, when looking down from over 5000 feet, especially out the open door (Don't ask.)
 
Danos said:
That's the ride that sprays water on you right? A real insult to injury. My fear of heights ranges, sometimes moderate, and sometimes nonexistent. I've never been afraid of flying and have done electrical and construction work that required me to climb ladders. I've never had a problem with that. I also LOVE wall climbing. I think that when I'm by the edge of a cliff or roof with nothing to focus on except the idea of falling is when I get funny about it.
Click to expand...
The Wonder Wheel at Coney Island doesn't spray water - it's like 100 years old and it feels like it!
 
Whoops, Luegerkirche.
 
Roofs don't bother me until they get significantly higher than around 25', and then, I'm fine as long as I am not standing on or leaning over the parapet.
Standing on steel girders, or over railings on the side of dams or cliffs, yeah --- waves of mushiness flow thru my legs at that point and my arms between the elbows and the fingers have problems working at that point.
Ladders don't bother me, nor do windows on skyscrapers (when I'm inside --- a window washer I would make, NOT!)
Buildings that sway give me the willies
 
I've always been a bit of an adernalin junkie.
As a kid I would climb up on my grandmothers roof and jump off to see how far out I could get.
The thrill would wear off and I would have find something higher.
I would jump off of bridges into the ICW as a teenager.
I learned to rappel in the Army and found a new way to satisfy my search for that adernalin high.
Then I discovered that hanging out of Huey was even more fun.
After leaving the Army I found that aerobatic flying would temporarily fill the need for the adrenalin rush.
Now I'm old and my bones take too long to heal and my family yells at me for taking what they see as risks, so I pretty much just fill the need with a flight around the pattern.

Man! I would have loved kite surfing if it would have been around when I was much younger and lighter.

When I taught rappelling, I found that many students mistook the pure adrenalin rush for fear and once the difference was made clear they too had become junkies.
 
flav8r said:
I've always been a bit of an adernalin junkie.
As a kid I would climb up on my grandmothers roof and jump off to see how far out I could get.
The thrill would wear off and I would have find something higher.
I would jump off of bridges into the ICW as a teenager.
I learned to rappel in the Army and found a new way to satisfy my search for that adernalin high.
Then I discovered that hanging out of Huey was even more fun.
After leaving the Army I found that aerobatic flying would temporarily fill the need for the adrenalin rush.
Now I'm old and my bones take too long to heal and my family yells at me for taking what they see as risks, so I pretty much just fill the need with a flight around the pattern.

Man! I would have loved kite surfing if it would have been around when I was much younger and lighter.

When I taught rappelling, I found that many students mistook the pure adrenalin rush for fear and once the difference was made clear they too had become junkies.
Click to expand...

I love the feeling of coming down a wall after climbing it. It's not the same technique as rappelling but it gives what I would imagine to be a very similar feeling. I really want to try rappelling someday.
 
"I don't know" used to be my answer until I climbed a "scary" set of stairs on a cliff top to an old fire lookout. Only later did I find out that all the women (and some of the men) in my BF's family refuse to climb those stairs.

Pictures (yes we went past the ropes and "dangled" our feet over the edge while eating sandwiches):

56813465_d7a69ca9cd_z.jpg




56813214_b657cc03cc_z.jpg




56816302_28ce171902_z.jpg




56815559_d5fcffc45d_z.jpg
 
When we last visited the Grand Canyon, we hiked the trail down into the canyon. I was absolutely terrified, hugging up against the inner wall of the trail, while my kids and wife skipped on ahead. After a mile, I couldn't go on. I've never been so happy as when we hiked back up to the rim.

The next day, I flew over the canyon for two hours. It was gorgeous, and I loved every minute of it.

I try not to analyze this too much...
 
PS - This is a very not so well known area. The photos are of the Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout and I think there is a GA airport (but airnav says in bad shape) called Sierraville.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top