Dealing with fear

Steph Davis, a climber, author and wingsuit pilot, spoke to the KAUST community on January 15 as part of the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program. Photos by Lilit Hovhannisyan.​​

A long progression

Create value in climbing

Davis started skydiving and base jumping 10 years ago, which was how she met her husband Mario, who died in a wingsuit jump three years ago.“Learning how to go forward without Mario was the hardest thing I’ve done so far, but life continues to surprise me with beautiful gifts and with the joy that I find all around me,” she said.Davis is a calm and methodical person, which is probably the reason she is still doing what she does. She has learned how to deal with fear, which “controls us more than anything else,” she noted. “Intensity is what you came for—do not irrationally try to run away from it.”For the solo climber and the wingsuit jumper, every decision made has to be the best one “because we are dealing with our lives,” Davis explained. Hard work and experience are essential.“It’s a long progression: After you have done 200 hundred skydives, you can start flying in a wingsuit. Generally speaking, it’s a long road—it requires experience, a lot of skills and confidence to decide to jump off a cliff," she said. "What is interesting is that you get better at it over time and become a better risk manager. That requires a lot of honesty with yourself, as you must really assess yourself and the environment around you and your place in that situation."She now makes her living from her activities, noting that the outdoor industry has changed a lot and now offers more opportunities for sponsorship “even if you're not participating in golf or football," Davis said. "I want to create value in climbing, sharing it with people in a way that is inspiring or helpful or that enables community building, and then it has value. I work very hard to keep my path forward relevant."Davis captured the audience's attention with breathtaking photos and videos of her adventures and spoke honestly and humorously about her feelings and emotions about them, concluding, “All of us can choose to fly."- By Denis J. Boutry​