I’m Gabiba and this is the first day of the rest of my hikes. I started hiking in 2009, but it only became part of my life in 2012. I mention this because I was/am sometimes, still, terrified of heights.
Probably, I was acrophobic in utero but I don’t really remember that far back. Suffice to say, I did not have a head for heights. This is apparently quite common amongst hikers.
I have an absolute memory of my 10-year-old self, on the third rung of a builders’ ladder, frozen, unable to ascend further. Why was I on a ladder you ask? Well, my brother and I thought our parents had some treasure (junk) stashed in the attic. With his fear of the dark and my fear of heights, we would never discover those treasures.
There is a picture in a family archive somewhere of me, sliding down a hill at a resort in Montagu (a small but beautiful town outside of Cape Town -a 3 hour drive, famous for their fruit and wine farms), too scared to walk down yet too terrified to climb a metal ladder to explore a cave. Ironically, in 2 weeks I will be climbing the highest peak in Montagu. I’ve come a long way in so many, many ways.
Does this mean I’m no longer afraid of heights? Nah. I still get vertigo when I get too close to the edge. But now I don’t let the fear stop me from climbing the mountain or jumping out of the plane. The views are too inspiring. The adventure to the top too precious.
Join me. It’s worth the ride. Promise.
“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’ – Sir Edmund Hillary