Post Climb Anxiety

“In approximately 4 hours I will be heading out to solo climb Mt. Evans. I can't sleep. My eyes are wide ope and it's driving me nuts. If I take something to make me sleep, I run the risk of being tired during the ascent. It's going to be hard enough as it is. I think I am just excited but at the same time I'm a little nervous. I know where the route begins, however, I am a little conerned about my navigation skills and if I will manage to stay on the right summit. Anyone out ther ever get like this the night before a great climb? I'm actually thinking about heading out now.”

“Yep, it's happens here too. When it does, I usually just throw myself at it. Everything just begins to work itself out.

Wrt navigation, think carefully about the risks you take. If anything gets dicey, back off. It's not worth it. Think about that next trip you want to be around for.”

“Listen to your "little voice", if something seems bad wrong, it probably is.....trust yourself, you'll be fine.

I get like that on every climb, for the last 32 years, it's kept me alive.

Stay frosty, be safe, have fun.

Steve”

“I think you're having a PRE-climbing anxiety. You'll be fine, if things go bad just go to the road and hitch a ride home. What trail are you using?

There is a post-climb anxiety associated with summits not attained. I got snowed off of Sierra Blanca in NM one spring, couldn't see the summit. I had dreams about climbing that little mountain for the next year. Dreamed up all kinds of weird things being on the summit. Right now I'm tempted to go to New Mexico on a 3-day weekend to finish bagging South & Middle Truches Peaks, which is a dumb idea but I just can't keep the thought from coming up.

Your risk-taking threshhold has to be less when you are solo and you can't always do what you've planned. A Mt. Evans climb is a fairly low-risk hike. Enjoy the view and come home to your kid!”

“Hey Toejam. What's so dumb about bagging Middle and South Truchas? It's very straightforward "climb" if you select the correct route. I did a traverse last October starting from Chimayosos, westward to North, then Middle, lastly South. The worst part was the descent down from North Truchas and the knife ridge leading back up to the peak just to the East of Middle Truchas.”

“My expectations, keep ME on edge, Climbing,Scuba trips, Island trips. When my adrenline gets boiling, not much to do but ride it out. You will be fine and remember, Know your limits! Its just another mtn.Negotiate the climb and there is more than one way to skin a cat!”

“Don't you mean PRE Climb Anxiety?

I get Post Hiking Anxiety driving home from every hike...just knowing I have to head back to the same old same old grind :(

Happy trekking...and listen to that "little voice", if'n it speaks to ya!”

“Ya Buddur, Post climb anxiety is what you get if you had M-chicks boss.”

“I just get little kid excited before a climb. Lack of sleep does not seem to matter though, I always do fine. You will sleep GREAT tonight.”

“A 3-day Truches bag would go like this:

Drive to NM Thursday evening, arrive at trailhead 3-4 a.m. Up with the sun, hike to Pecos Baldy lake. Because it won't be dark yet, climb Pecos Baldy. Return to camp with a killer headache and the beginning of blisters on both feet. Get up the next morning, apply foot armor, filter enough water for a whole day, hike over Trailrider's Ridge to South Truches. Weather & AMS permitting, traverse to Middle Truches, back over South Truches, drag myself back to camp, if my head is clear enough attend to my wounded feet. Hike back to car the next morning, drive home, be in bed by 2:00 a.m. Limp to work the next day and fall asleep.

That's how it would go. I haven't totally discounted a trip like this yet. It would be a lot more enjoyable if I waited til next spring and took a week to enjoy it.”

“Ok. Now I understand why you said dumb. But I wouldn't call it that. Maybe crazy, but not dumb, unless you fall asleep on the drive back home... Nevertheless, given the chance, I'd still do it and then catch up on sleep at work. Wait a second, I'm a flight instructor, so my students wouldn't like that too much”

“Our anxiety is there for good reason. We would probably be a danger to ourselves if we didn't have it.

Here's an article picked up from another board:

A recent Colorado 14'er fall

There's a segment in the article that got my attention: "Nancy tells me, 'God didn't save you. He threw you down that mountain to teach you a lesson.'"

Be careful out there. You are worth much more than your achievements.”

“I yell at my roommate. That always makes me feel better.

I only slept 4 hours before my climb last weekend and I did fine. You'll be fine. It's when the adrenaline doesn't kick in that you should worry.”

“That's a very good article Tekapo, hope it doesn't spook MountainChick.”

“The article kind of reminds me of a skiing trip I was on years ago in Austria. While downhill skiing with an instructor on a blue diamond run, I remember taking a fall on a steep slope and end over end watching the horizon flip upside down again and again. I'm not sure how far I slid.

Half the time I could see the instructor trying to catch me. The other half, I just watched myself approach some drop off.

Eventually, I fetched up on something, picked myself up, brushed off the snow, and continued on.”

“He was in the best shape of his life at 48?”

“Good article, tekapo. I've seen similar ones about middle aged guys discovering their second childhood bagging 14ers til they fell. Going solo off the conventional route is a common theme. There have been a few times when I've carefully assessed a bushwhack above treeline and gone off the trail, but a whole lot more when I've said "this isn't worth trying solo."

Most CO 14ers have well beaten paths to the summit and plenty of company on weekends. Mt. Evans has a paved road to the top, but several backcountry trails too. I'm looking forward to the trip report.”

“I don't remember much of a trail on Truchas Peaks. We entered from Truchas and hiked up watershed to the base of the three Truchas peaks, where we camped. From the lake we hit all three Truchas peaks in a day.

”

“That was weird. I never wrote a link to my profile.!? Had a link to a topozone map.”

“Biz- either he had very inactive younger years, or mentally he thinks he's in the best shape of his life. Whatever, hope he recuperates well...sounds like a real trooper.”