Rock climbing vs skydiving

[Airbender 0]

Climbing is way scarier. When you are 30' above your last peice of gear with only 50' to the ground you are at your freaking limit it would be nice to have an add to save your butt. I love skydiving but it is not the rush I tought it would be. Maybe when I get good enough to start swooping? You don't have to have balls to skydive I know because my wife jumps and she doesn't have balls. I love climbing too for being out away from everyone and it keeps you in shape. You can be a total lard and be a goods skydiver.

[beowulf 1]

"Skydivers once they realise skydiving is safer than driving"


This is the biggest line of bullshit in skydiving. I think it is totally inaccurate, driving a car in no way compares to the risks taken while skydiving. There are plenty of arguments for and against it here in Dropzone.com.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

depends on who is driving

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[beowulf 1]

Yeah thats one reason why it just doesn't compare. Driving on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere doing 20mph is hardly dangerous. But if you want danger you can drive 120mph on a 5 lane freeway in a big city. There is no "dirt road" scenario in skydiving.

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

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When you are 30' above your last peice of gear with only 50' to the ground you are at your freaking limit it would be nice to have an add to save your butt.

Trust me, I've been there! "Stay calm...visualize." It's hard, but those are the moments when you somehow pull out as much strength and inner drive as you can, that you didn't know that you had, from somewhere deep inside.

Still, I think that since I only have 200 jumps and wasn't so comfortable with my landings, at times, that I had more fear of skydiving. The fears in climbing, skydiving and scuba diving can be subjective to each person, depending on how far to your limits, that you take each sport. All three can be terrifying or relaxing from one moment to the next. Like I said, with climbing I would get lost in the climb and climb by instinct. I went wherever my body wanted to take me as it felt the rock, and how to groove my body into it...like dancing on the rock. It was when and if I stopped to think about taking a bad fall and hitting rock, that I have felt fear creep in. I tried to just climb & be in the moment...and to think later!

I'd also agree with some of the others, that scuba diving can be more frightening/dangerous, than either rockclimbing or skydiving. All three are dangerous activities, yet they are all beautiful and relaxing in their own way.

[boondock_saint 0]

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Ok, lead climbing overhung routes is a lot less scary for me. If you take a whipper on an well overhung route, you will freefall into the air and swing a bit. You will not hit anything. If you lead a vertical route and fall, your body will be swung back into the rock. Think about that one.

*swooon* Girls who climb overhanging routes = marriage material
You know what's even worse ... leading on slab ... when you fall you fall onto the wall (unless you can react fast and push your self off and then whip back into it).

About the scuba diving thing, a friend of mine is really into it and she told me how there is two types of licenses you can get. A NAVY?? one and something else. Well the non-NAVY isn't as good and I guess people aren't really prepared to deal with FUBAR situations.

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"Do ya know what we need, man? Some rope. Charlie Bronson's always got rope!"
- The Boondock Saints

[beowulf 1]

I think that when you reduce each sport to its most minimal risk. Skydiving is definitely the most dangerous. You can do really easy low key rock climbing. You can also do really easy low key scuba diving. But you can't exactly do really low risk skydive. The minimal risk skydive is way more risky then the most minimal risk rockclimb or scuba dive.

[goose491 0]

There's the Chemical Difference. Rock Climbers may be addrenaline junkies whereas Skydivers, who are considered such by the masses, are really more partial to the Dopamine.

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[Loonix 0]

I don't think that is right.. I've met far more adrenaline junkies in skydiving. Not so many who has many jumps, though, except those who are also BASE jumpers.

[livendive 8]

My first few skydives were WAY scarier than my first few climbs, but that reversed itself with experience.

Sometimes while skydiving things will just start clicking and it gets somewhat surreal to step outside myself/my group and kind of "watch" my body do everything right without me having to think about it. It's probably just self ego-stroking, but on those jumps I'm impressed with a feeling of "Wow, I can fly!" I've yet to experience such an "in the zone" moment while climbing, possibly (probably) because I'm just not that good at it yet.

They start differently. No matter what the jump is, I feel a bit skittish right up to exit, and leave only with the self-confidence that, come what may, I'll deal with it. In climbing, "on-belay"..."climbing" isn't such a point of no return.

There is no pause button in skydiving. When things get sketchy, you have to deal with them now. There's no stopping to catch your breath and consider what the best next move is. Of course there are similar points in climbing, where hesitation is a luxury you can't afford, but overall, it seems decisions must be quicker in skydiving.

Physically, there's no comparison. Skydiving is simply not a very physical activity. Any reasonably sized bag of meat can try skydiving, but climbing takes being in shape. I can get tired hauling tandems all day, or flying my wingsuit incorrectly, but it's nothing compared to what I feel a couple minutes into a challenging route.

Sense of accomplishment - Those zen-like moments I discussed above aside, I'll agree that climbing provides more instant satisfaction. Again, this may be because I'm a better skydiver than I am a climber. I'm still at the point where I feel a sense of accomplishment at the top of each climb. I definitely don't get that at the bottom of each skydive.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[goose491 0]

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I don't think that is right.. I've met far more adrenaline junkies in skydiving. Not so many who has many jumps, though, except those who are also BASE jumpers.

That's sorta what I mean. Someone posted earlier that skydiving can be a bit of a let down for the traditional addrenaline junkies. What you say here is that you've met a lot of adrenaline junkies in skydiving... but they may not have many jumps.

You see, I've done some reading on the hormones involved. Skydiving as a concept lends itself to an adrenaline rush. Anybody telling the tales of their first jumps will describe all the symptoms of an abundance of the stuff. But once you're in for a while and have become comfortable with the new environment, your brain no longer feels the need to enter "fight or flight" mode... the calling for a release of adrenaline.

However, the speed is still there, the altitude is still there. In the back of your head, all the calculations are still being made and the results are still indicative of a dangerous situation. The visuals you get and the sense of acomplishment never dull. And that's why when the skydive is over, you will still get a shot of dompamine. Dopamine is the Reward you get AFTER "fight or flight". It is what you are feeling after sex too. It's the sense of satisfaction, it's the "perma-grin".

Not sure if I've done a good job explaining but I've always found this to be very interesting.

Nick

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[outlawphx 1]

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My first few skydives were WAY scarier than my first few climbs, but that reversed itself with experience.

I have to agree with that.

For my first few skydives, my thought was "I better not F-Up, or I'm dead".

For my first few climbs on real rock, my thought was "I better not F-Up, or I'm going to get scraped to sh*t as I swing beneath my pro". Of course, that ended up happening anyway

I find that hanging onto a rock face with my forearms cramping and my legs shaking is a hell of a lot more scary

[Steel 0]

- Rockclimbers are a lot stronger
============================
How many times can you bench 225, 275,315?
How much can you leg press, squat, dead lift?

I am not saying that I think skydivers are stronger. But I don't think there is a correlation there to compare with. Now if you asked who is stronger power lifters or body builders, that would be legitimate question.

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If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[adamUK 3]

When I was in New Zealand (home of the skydiving, climbing, surfing, snowboarding, skating and all other X-treme sports, aparrently the most deadly sport was ROCK FISHING!

What happens is a kiwi fella cilmbs down a cliff with a case of beer, fishing rod and some bait. Then a wave comes along, washes him off and he's too pished to get out alive.

Bonkers.. Fishing is the new extreme sport.

Ad.

[adamUK 3]

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Ok, lead climbing overhung routes is a lot less scary for me. If you take a whipper on an well overhung route, you will freefall into the air and swing a bit. You will not hit anything. If you lead a vertical route and fall, your body will be swung back into the rock. Think about that one.

What about falling whilst climbing offwidth chimneys? It's like going 50' through a cheese grater! That's why I don't climb them fellas.

Mmm... some of the most satisfying days I have had climbing - I don't do so much these days - I got the fear!!

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[adamUK 3]

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When you are 30' above your last peice of gear with only 50' to the ground you are at your freaking limit it would be nice to have an add

Yeah... that reminds me.. with skydiving we trust the gear and there's no way I am trusting that RP0 I wedged into that last crack. And winter climbing is worse!

[Darius11 12]

I have never climbed but always wanted to.

I just don’t see any thing comparing to skydiving.
We fly by clouds over water I guess that’s why I love tracking. You can cover a lot of distance and fly by what you wish. It is a different sensation. Looking at coluds on a sunset high altitude hop & pop. Nothing like it. No engine no sound just you and a piece of nylon
Yes I can see rock climbing having the same rush but there is nothing like flight.

Now if you want rush I think BASE jumping is #1. Every thing else is not even close to the same level.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[kelpdiver 2]

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Skydivers once they realise skydiving is safer than driving home can tend to lose respect for the safety aspects as if they've subconsciously gotta make it more dangerous to get the same buzz.

Rock-climbers rarely forget that one mistake could be their last. Unfortunatley a lot of skydivers need constant reminding.

Gotta love them both as a worthwhile semi-extreme persuit...... but you want real danger ( the statistics back this up ) go SCUBA DIVING .
If you do try do it with people who know what they're doing not learning at your expense.

Sorry, the statistics certainly do not back that up. Scuba has about half the fatality rate per dive as skydiving*, and virtually no injury rate. So safe that PADI endorses 8 year olds for compressed air in pools, 10 yos in the ocean. Can't speak to the death rate for climbers, but the injury rate is also pretty good, be it in the hands for the technical gym climbers or the legs from falls outdoors.

A key feature of mountaineering is that a lot of the risk factors are out of your control. Bad weather, loose rock, avalanches, yahoos above you. Though many also exist for skydiving, the big sky doctrine often protects us. Underwater, there are virtually no risks out of control save the rare shark attacks. Skydiving and climbing both require quick response to bad sitatuations. It is rare underwater to have to solve a problem in even 60 seconds time.

* WAGs in the US have 30 deaths for 3 million skydives, and 90 deaths for 18 million dives. Cardiac arrest is a factor in many of the ocean deaths and the inaccessibility to medical care is the primary cause of death.

[Casurf1978 0]

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- Skydivers have bigger balls

I dunno, dude. Climbing a wall can be 4 days of total, abject terror. Getting through that takes a lot more than any skydive I've ever done.

Is it the heights that scare you? But youre a Base jumper, shouldnt you be acclimated a little to it though. Me perosonally scared of heights. Guess that doesnt leave much room to become a Base jumper.

[boondock_saint 0]

I dunno Cas, I have a friend who has done 20 or so jumps and is now getting a pilots license. He's afraid of heights but has no problem skydiving and flying. However he shakes like a dog shitting bricks when he tries to climb something even fairly easy.

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"Do ya know what we need, man? Some rope. Charlie Bronson's always got rope!"
- The Boondock Saints

[nate_1979 9]

That's me... 155 jumps, started working on a pilots license.. I have to force myself ot calm down climbing a ladder 1 story.. I am going ot a rock climbing wall this evening (if my friends dont back out) ... Should be interesting

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[Loonix 0]

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What happens is a kiwi fella cilmbs down a cliff with a case of beer, fishing rod and some bait. Then a wave comes along, washes him off and he's too pished to get out alive.

lol! that one reminds me of something we did at a boogie not so long ago.. we had been drinking at our cabin, and was then going to the party. This is at the 3-4 beer state. There were 6-7 of us, we carried 2 cases of beer, + some bags with us.. We could (in theory) just follow the shore to get there, so we did. It turned into rock climbing. I wish we had it on tape, there we were, half drunk skydivers (we took several drinking-pauses, both to gain courage for the climbs, and loose weight in the baggage), carrying cases of beer, singing, climbing on slippery rock just by the water, total darkness and no warmth to speak of (norway, not during summer)... Only one fell in the water, but that was early on, and with an easy return to a waiting taxi... On the hardest part, I (with some climbing experience) was helping the beer across.. so im hanging mostly by my fingers, there wasnt much grip for my feet, one guy hands me the case, i get it with one hang, support it on my knee, switch hands, and pass it to the guy on the other side. Damn, it was fun. It's just like they say, skydiving is mostly dangerous after the last load has landed.

yes, i set one of the cases at the party. It was meant for my A license, but that trip was worthy a case.

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[Loonix 0]

yes, very nicely put. Makes me wonder if I'll ever be the guy with 5000 jumps... I think I may like adrenaline too much.. Then again, I see no reason at all to quit jumping now, in fact I get withdrawal symptoms if I didnt jump for a week.. :) And these days I've been thinking that "damn, this only gets better".. oh well. just babbling :)

[Mike111 0]

At college, they offer scuba and rock climbing.

But not skydiving - that would be just as popular. If it was safer, why not offer it?

Makes me think skydiving is slightly more risky, although all have their own risks.

[kelpdiver 2]

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At college, they offer scuba and rock climbing.
But not skydiving - that would be just as popular. If it was safer, why not offer it?

The gear requirements (airplane, runway, LZ) are a bit steeper. Divers and climbers can use existing sites which are in the public domain. Regulatory requirements are much steeper as well.