New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #6

Lori Milas wrote:

Sorry. It's been a morning.  It was the best word i could find... 

no reason to apologize.  sometimes it is the only word that fits.

Forget all that progession jazz......

Just go climb and have fun.

I'm taking 20 BSA kids (boys and girls) climbing May 3, It's a lot of work, but it's a fun day on the rock. That's why I do it. There's kids that will climb their whole lives because we took time to introduce them to it. It's not about a legacy or being remembered (it's nice to think I might be) it's about having fun.

I stopped in at the climbing store yesterday to replace webbing that was aged out before the trip. I was talking to the manager (of 20 yrs) and asked how his boys were doing. I taught two of them to climb. The youngest (Glen) had been out with us during his time in the troop. His dad told me he was all in these days. He's like 18 now.

I asked if he (the dad) was getting out much. He said "a few times a year." I said "Just to smell the lichen."
His face lit up and as he said "Yes! Exactly! To smell the lichen!" For a minute there we could smell the lichen and aluminum coming off a rope running thru an atc, cactus blooms and wet moss as if we were standing in the WMWR.

The musings about the desert is where it's at......forget the "did I start to late" BS. Looking for a feeling of completeness will have you missing all the fun.

Have a nice day!

Jeffrey Constine wrote:

Have a nice day!

Beautiful...

Is that from your phone, or do you use a camera?

I've said this before
 YOU GO GIRL ! 

Buck Rio wrote:

Beautiful...

Is that from your phone, or do you use a camera?

Sony a7 with 24mm 105mm F4 G glass lens. Thanks buddy Buck! 

Jeffrey Constine wrote:

Sony a7 with 24mm 105mm F4 G glass lens. Thanks buddy Buck! 

Nicccce rig.

Dallas R wrote:

Over the next 3 weeks we plan on skiing at Mammoth Mountain, climb (or at least hike and scout) Alabama Hills, and ski at Heavenly before settling in at Cove Palisades State Park in Oregon for the month of May. I'm trying to nail down RV parks near Alabama Hills, many still appear to be closed for the winter.

Boulder Creek RV Resort?  that's my favorite.  I think they are open all winter.

Ooops, Alicia posted the same info upthread.

Maybe I’m a little complainy today but... does this get any better?  I was doing so well today at the gym... but my hands got all “manky”.  I was sent home with advice to “ice and sandpaper your hands.”  NO. 

It gets better......eventually you'll have hands with skin the same consistency as an elephants knees..... ;)

On the plus side when the waitress at the Mexican restaurant says "careful the plate is hot" you'll be able to mess with her by taking that 1000 degree sucker right out of her potholders.... ;)

And lastly, change that manky tape..... ;)

Lori Milas wrote: Maybe I’m a little complainy today but... does this get any better?  I was doing so well today at the gym... but my hands got all “manky”.  I was sent home with advice to “ice and sandpaper your hands.”  NO. 

Oh YES, definitely sandpaper those calluses. You might even consider trimming them with cuticle scissors (hold the blades of the scissors flat against your skin and basically 'shave' the callus off). Calluses become flappers or crack and tear, and then you will have worse issues. If you don't want to use actual sandpaper, use an emory board or a sponge type sanding block (that is what I use - for hands and feet). Trust me - it's worth it and your skin will thank you and be stronger for it.

Thanks, John and Erika.  I've been laughing thinking of going for a manicure with the girlfriends and saying "Can you sandpaper my hands, please?"  

No one will ever want to hold my hand again.  I could be missing out on romance because of this.    

This tape is so cool... maybe you've already got some, but way better than the sticky white tape stuff--and not as easy to overwrap or wrap too tight.  It's like a gauze... just tears off, and sticks without any hassle.  BTW, John, the stuff on my finger was 2 hours old.  :-) 

I've never actually had a manicure or a pedicure.... sometimes I think it might be a nice treat, but as my husband *very kindly* pointed out I would need to go to a farrier. There's some romance for you!

Lori Milas wrote: I have ZERO confidence in my ability to lead at this point.  

Then you're disrespecting yourself Lori.  If you can top rope without falling then you are close to being able to lead those same routes and/or grades at least as a sports climb.  I top rope laps and laps and laps of a grade 21 (5.10d) as I think I've mentioned before each Sat morning.  Recently I've done 21 laps of it, in sets, with the last set being a set of 6 back to back.  I never fall off it.  I've also led it on trad but don't count that as my trad grade because I've done the climb SO many times (I trad lead up to grade 15).  The reason I do this climb so often is to work endurance.

If you're top roping, say, a 5.11 and not falling, you're close to being able to sports lead it but maybe not trad lead it.  Reason I say this is that there's more stuffing around tradding selecting protection placing it etc esp as a beginner.  An experienced trad leader selects and places gear more efficiently and quicker, then moves on unless a rest is needed or he or she needs to check out the next section. So it takes more effort and better endurance.  

For sports, there's less mucking around but still some.  So if you can top rope a climb comfortably with not being near to falling then you can most likely sports lead it unless you do something wrong (backclip/z clip etc).  The main consideration which MAY put you off sports leading is falling safely.  That is, am I in a 'no fall zone'?  'Will I hit a ledge?', 'Is there too much rope out and I'll hit the deck?' I think you could lead a sports route that is vertical and is close to your max top rope grade that you can climb without fear of falling.

In short, buck up, kiddo! Step up to the plate and SMASH it out of the ball park! Cut the mustard!!!

Lori Milas wrote: Maybe I’m a little complainy today but... does this get any better?  I was doing so well today at the gym... but my hands got all “manky”.  I was sent home with advice to “ice and sandpaper your hands.”  NO. 

LOL, if you're building up big callouses you're not climbing outdoor enough.  Go get on some granite and stop doing so much plastic pulling! I use a sanding pad from a hardware store, cut in two.  Fits nicely in my bag I keep my chalk bag in along with nail clippers, a TheraBand thingy (one of those stretchy things for warm ups), a small rubber bouncy ball that I use for warming up my fingers.

Lori Milas wrote: No one will ever want to hold my hand again.  I could be missing out on romance because of this.    

Horseshit!  Real men, the ones that live with life and nature understand work and hardship, those are things that make life valuable. Think about this song and the comment about hands of leather.  That summer, Gart Brooks, IMHO the truth and value of life cannot be found in a city, only in nature.

ErikaNW wrote: I've never actually had a manicure or a pedicure.... sometimes I think it might be a nice treat, but as my husband *very kindly* pointed out I would need to go to a farrier. There's some romance for you!

Erika

I had to laugh at your statement above.

My wife and I were both in gymnastics at college. She did the uneven bars and did high bar, rings and P bars. We would get huge calluses on the palms of our hands. We would have to cut them off routinely with a double edge razor blade. If you do not shave them down, you would then get a huge flapper doing your work out. It would then take a long time to heal over. My wife's hands were like sand paper, very rough. I told her that she had lobster claw hands.

You would scare people when you cut the calluses off doing class.

I have to also agree with Carl's statement about climbing outdoors. We never have gotten huge calluses from climbing outdoors. We usually get very sore or tender finger tips.

John

Ah ha , I  could have guessed ~ Like rgold,  the secret to you're strong feet, shoulders & 44+ year long climbing career?  Multi-discipline Gymnastics ! (did high bar, rings and P bars. )

Hope you guys are finding Happy Trails!