Ros has been a climber since toddler-hood. She did things in the playground that made the other moms freak out. (Of the "Do you know your three-year-old has just climbed on top of the tube she's supposed to crawl through?" variety.) She was always careful, though, so after the first few heart attacks I didn't freak out as much.

I, however, suffer from a combination of your type of vertigo and the type that makes you shake when you get up too high. But I'm still toying with giving real climbing a go. I know intellectually it's entirely safe, and it could be a sort of acclimatization therapy. Or I could lose it and end up just belaying for whoever I go with. ;-)