Old people climbing
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mediocre wrote: And dude, "old people" is not the proper nomenclature.Neither is "dude" in this case. Ha ha! Apologies to any seniors I offended by using the term "old." I use it self-referentially a lot, but agree I shouldn't use it to describe others. Mea culpa. |
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And as long as we have a nice list going (and nobody else chimed in with his name) I have to mention Robert Kelman, the author of "Rock Climbing at Vedauvoo, Wyoming." At 84, he's still leading trad a couple of times a week in Boulder and the Voo, telling great stories, and teaching by example. |
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A tip of the hat to George Hurley in North Conway who I believe is past 70 and still active, along with a number of older folks up there who are still climbing and doing new routes. |
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The "Beckey still skis" comment made me think of a 98 year old local still skiing at Bachelor. |
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Mark Meschinelli is 60 and my hero. |
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Rob Kelman who posts semi regularly here is in his 80's. Like 80 AD or something. Dude still speaks Latin. He wrote the guidebook to Vedauwoo that fanned my dreams when I was a kid. |
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And, Rob Kelman is still climbing. He was climbing at Eldo today. Awesome! |
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We climbed behind Tom Hornbein on Spearhead a few weeks ago. He's going strong at 84 and as nice a guy as ever. Robin Houston(son of Charles Houston) was climbing with Tom. Made me feel like a kid at age 67. |
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mediocre wrote:And dude, "old people" is not the proper nomenclature.Donny, you're out of your element. (Also kind of surprised that no one has mentioned Bridwell.) |
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80 year olds dude.. |
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I am not old-old, 59, just started climbing. |
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Dara wrote:Apologies to any seniors I offended by using the term "old." I use it self-referentially a lot, but agree I shouldn't use it to describe others. Mea culpa.Lose no sleep over it. I'm an old dude (though not one sending 5.12 - I wish!) and that's how it is. No sense fearing to call a spade a shovel. Getting old is a good thing. As my crusty old farmer granddad always said, consider the alternative. |
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I can still huck a lap on the Monkey Traverse, now get off my lawn you damn kids!!! |
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I agree with Hank, although the good thing with gym popularity is that the Monkey Traverse is less crowded than in decades past. I wish Open Space hadn't moved those boulders on the uphill end though. |
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I don't belong in a category with beckey & most others, I've only been climbing 2-3 years. I completed my 50th b'day objective by leading an awesome o/w in my grade. I'm curious if any of these old hard men came back from a climbing injury after age 50. |
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I'm going to the Gunks thurs with two climbers, 75 and 82, who have been climbing for 60+ years each. Don't know if they want their names posted, but they have a couple first ascents here and there. |
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I have a friend who is over 80 and started climbing in his 70s. He's an absolute crusher both on rock and ice, and it's not your average dad or grandpa who just goes top roping 5.easies, he actually leads pretty hard for someone who started so late in his life (leads ice too, which is pretty crazy). He was one of my mentors and inspirations when I first started climbing (fairly late compared to many) - it is never too late to start climbing and get good at it. |
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^^^ Wonderwoman, I have climbing gear older than you! 40 is not old! |
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This links to an article in the NY Times about aging. What I found interesting was its reference to Tom Hornbein as an exemplar of aging well. |