Listen to the Sound… of Slipping: Auditory Habituation for Foot Slip Anxiety
Add this 1-minute practice to your route-reading or rest routine to reduce one specific trigger that can make foot slips feel scary: the sound.
What you need:
A large, low volume near the start of a boulder where balance—not pulling—determines success. Ideally, choose a problem where a foot slip would directly cause a fall and the situation already intimidates you. This could be slab, vert, overhang—any angle is fine. What matters is that your hands can reach the volume, and your feet slipping would be consequential.
The practice (takes literal seconds):
Stand in a relaxed, stable stance with one hand lightly touching the volume.
Softly focus your gaze on your hand—choose a target like a fingertip, knuckle, or wrist.
Tune in to the ambient sounds around you: chatter, footfalls on mats, shoes scuffing holds, breathing, brushing…
Then—swiftly slide your hand down the volume. Listen closely to the sound it makes.
Repeat a few times, focusing on what your eyes are seeing and what your ears are hearing.
Why this works:
Fear is cumulative. The more sensory stressors we stack—visual, auditory, proprioceptive—the more likely we are to tip into distress. Often, we’re unaware of how much a sudden sound (like a skidding foot) contributes to our panic response.
This drill isolates just that one variable—the auditory jolt—and removes all lower body demand. You’re training your nervous system to recognize and normalize the sound of slipping, so next time it happens for real, it doesn’t push you over the edge. With repetition, what once startled you might start to sound… ordinary. Like background noise at the crag.
Let the slip be a sound, not a scare.
