I stay calm on dangerous routes using this method

Repeating Symbiosis, a very poorly protected E8 trad route in Glen Coe.

[helloxyz]

I stay calm on dangerous route by not going anywhere near them, and switching off the telly if I see anyone else too close

[cheesecake]

I've told a number of people the speaking calm trick.though I usually say pretend to be calm and you might just believe yourself. Like you said it makes it easier to think rationally in a high stress situation.

[voidallyn]

I've started using the 'gonna go for a climb' mentality to send hard boulders as well

[darksoul]

Thank you for using safety gear. Please be careful.

[brianrodman]

@climbermacleod - Such a great insight into both technical and mental techniques/strategies used to increase (perceived?) safety and maintain composure. Always appreciate the depth and insightfulness in your videos.

[oystercatcher]

Nicely narrated. Having only climbed up to E1, E8 is pretty hard to imagine!

[davidstorrs]

I admire the heck out of what you do, but I'm very happy in the gym. You go with your big bad self.

[archstanton_live]

A man's got to know his limitations.

[cheesecake]

Another part of staying calm is controlling your breathing. And this can be used both ways. So sometimes to calm myself down il exaggerate my breathing. Long slow breaths with a pause in between to slow my heart rate.

However I have used the opposite trick on boulders that are at my physical limit. I will do short deep breaths just before I start a climb to raise my heart rate and build some extra psyche.

[srs]

It improves the probability of at least one of them staying solid if you fall, but it also distributes the load so that the force is reasonable for one sketchy mount to handle

[caedmonswanson]

Have you ever considered doing a drop test on these gear placements? I’d be very curious to see what happens if you dropped a 70kg bag of rocks to simulate a lead fall, would the gear hold or all pop out? Could be a good way of safely assessing the risks.

[rza]

Waiting for Alex Honnold in the comments 😂

[CLANK...]

What's your motivation to climb dangerous routes vs hard safe routes? The rush? Sense of overcoming death? Added tactical element? Ego?

[JMZ]

what is a 'rock and roller'?

[cyruskhalvati]

I dont understand why trad climbers insist on sketch ass protection placements instead of nice 45kn rated bolts. Climbing ethics is whack. Id even argue its not ethical.

[tom.]

Dave, you're the Jordan Peterson climbing. The articulate and eloquent wording in all situations.

Edit: NOC corp. Guardian readers in the comments showing extreme cope with the same repeated slogans.

[TG-pdft]

So you load a climb with bad gear to to try to feel safe? Dave I think you should take this down as it just makes you sound like a fool and may lead other - less talented people - to take too much risk