New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #9

crewdog lm wrote:

Thanks Lori. I'd just about wager you're solid no kidding... And I find it humorous to consider the JT 5.8's that would severely damage the fragile modern ego conditioned by climbing gym grades. 5.8 isn't beginner climbing? What? ...and still no participation medal at the top of the Dogleg crack either right? Ouch.  Recall, King Ulysses made that speech after fighting the Trojan War and after killing all the little shits who tried to steal his bride and usurp the throne in his absence. His enemies underestimated the strength he still had and,  the power of his experience. This is the province of youth.  They sometimes learn, that old Lion still has claws and teeth. Get after it Lori...

Neque cedere - "and not to yield"

You make a valid point. Royal Robbins wasn't a 5.10 climber when he sent The Open Book, either. 

crewdog lm wrote:

Thanks Lori. I'd just about wager you're solid no kidding... And I find it humorous to consider the JT 5.8's that would severely damage the fragile modern ego conditioned by climbing gym grades. 5.8 isn't beginner climbing? What? ...and still no participation medal at the top of the Dogleg crack either right? Ouch.  Recall, King Ulysses made that speech after fighting the Trojan War and after killing all the little shits who tried to steal his bride and usurp the throne in his absence. His enemies underestimated the strength he still had and,  the power of his experience. This is the province of youth.  They sometimes learn, that old Lion still has claws and teeth. Get after it Lori...

Neque cedere - "and not to yield"

This is just so beautiful and has such dignity. I thought about your quote all day because it’s so truthful about our lives at this incredible moment of time.  

Also... anyone who uses the word “hermeneutics” has my total attention. What else haven’t you said all these thousands of posts? Say on!  

crewdog lm wrote: LOL Thank you but I haven't contributed much here Lori - probably a good thing. "Hermeneutics" ...ugh - side-effect of my theological education which I thoroughly wasted and defiled in rogue fashion.  I was gone from climbing for a long time - flying around the world in a big airplane. Retired from the Air Force in 2017. Climbing renaissance in progress...

Welcome home!  

So many times when I was in college (majoring in Classical Chinese) I would be challenged "What will you DO with this?" I did not have a proper answer.  We of course do not defile what we held dear, we just continue to evolve it wherever we go, whatever we do.  

Fortunately, because we get some extra years, we can recreate ourselves over and over.  Now it's time to experience being a real climber.     

crewdog lm wrote:

It was fun most of the the time - I think...can't remember anything but the smell of jet fuel makes me salivate. Weird.  Chinese: At least nobody can get any traction claiming you picked a cake major right? (Chinese is marketable to the GOV but of course you wind up getting polygraphed, living in a bank vault, and you can't say what you do - ever.) As it is, I just learned to read, write and speak which the Air Force apparently values. (We don't use grunting noises to fly airplanes usually...nerds in flight suits.)  

Actually, I chose that major because it worked with a Comparative Religion major... and somewhere midway I found 'hermeneutics' with some old Trappist Monks in Valeyermo, which taught me that I still had much to learn.      

Learning how to think can't be bad.  Especially today... where it might solve a whole bunch of problems in the world, and current problems in our nation.  

But a lot of poets and philosophers emerged from the rocks, too--some hold forth right here in this forum.  And lots of young people live it, without knowing the exact logic of what they're living.  They're just sniffing out something that is life-giving and doing it with dignity.  It's a joy to be a part of their lives, too.  

Today, with a trip coming up in a few days...  I'm immersed in thinking about puffies (thank you Wendy?), gloves, layers of clothing, thinking about the wonderland of rocks and grades and traverses and slabs.  And also, rodents, who apparently chewed up my car innards last time.  Also, bone soup...    

Does anyone here really, literally, file their callouses?  I've taken to carrying an emery board with me to the gym, to file down my palms and fingers... never thought I'd have to do that.    

Lori Milas wrote: Does anyone here really, literally, file their callouses?  I've taken to carrying an emery board with me to the gym, to file down my palms and fingers... never thought I'd have to do that.    

Yep - I use an emory board, sanding block and sometimes resort to trimming with scissors. Hands and feet! Kind of like going to the spa, but..... different?

Nivel Egres wrote: How are you all? 

Are you already starting to get outside climbing withdrawal out there, Nigel?  I’m hoping to get some days out in December. My requirements are minimum of 60 and sunny. Colder than that and I stick to the gym. But those conditions Are not too hard to find in December at our local crags, it’s just unpredictable. 

Lori Milas wrote:

...Does anyone here really, literally, file their callouses?  I've taken to carrying an emery board with me to the gym, to file down my palms and fingers... never thought I'd have to do that.    ...

Yup, from time to time

Everyone is so quiet!  Am I the only blabbermouth?  (watch how you answer that!!!)

Lori Milas wrote: Everyone is so quiet!  Am I the only blabbermouth?  (watch how you answer that!!!)

Silence is golden

Lori Milas wrote: Everyone is so quiet!  Am I the only blabbermouth?  (watch how you answer that!!!)

Yes, but I'm a liar... ;-)

Getting excited for my trip to Bozeman Ice Fest! Leaving Wednesday, and trying to round up all the stuff to start packing! I'll have more clothes for this five day trip than I did for the two week one, lol! But ice climbing is all about a huge shitload of noncarryon stuff, far as I can tell, and "layers" is code for just empty the drawers of a goodly percent of the clothes you own and try and stuff it into a suitcase with the pointy crap.....

Lori? You're dithering, dear. It's okay to scale back one locale and ramp up another. Just get that AC! I am currently going through every closet and box on the property though, so maybe not the one to listen to.

Have fun, all of you in the JTree meetup!! Wish I could be there. Our Airbnb in Bozeman doesn't even have AC, don't think overheating will be a danger next week! Except if I have to wear the ice boots on the plane for space in that suitcase. Sheesh, those things are BIG!

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote: Getting excited for my trip to Bozeman Ice Fest! Leaving Wednesday, and trying to round up all the stuff to start packing! I'll have more clothes for this five day trip than I did for the two week one, lol! But ice climbing is all about a huge shitload of noncarryon stuff, far as I can tell, and "layers" is code for just empty the drawers of a goodly percent of the clothes you own and try and stuff it into a suitcase with the pointy crap.....

Lori? You're dithering, dear. It's okay to scale back one locale and ramp up another. Just get that AC! I am currently going through every closet and box on the property though, so maybe not the one to listen to.

Have fun, all of you in the JTree meetup!! Wish I could be there. Our Airbnb in Bozeman doesn't even have AC, don't think overheating will be a danger next week! Except if I have to wear the ice boots on the plane for space in that suitcase. Sheesh, those things are BIG!

Best, Helen

Have fun, Helen!!!  Is this time of life cool or what?   

Helen's excited post (and other things) made me realise I need to get away.

So it's decided.

Going to The Gramps/Araps on boxing day for a week by myself.

I'll just hang out and either boulder by myself or maybe hookup with someone and take stock: get grounded, get high, get drunk, get tanned, get slim, get strong, get worried on trad clambers, maybe even get lucky?

Thanks Helen, you inspired me...
Now I have something to look forward to

Carl Schneider wrote: Helen's excited post (and other things) made me realise I need to get away.

So it's decided.

Going to The Gramps/Araps on boxing day for a week by myself.

I'll just hang out and either boulder by myself or maybe hookup with someone and take stock: get grounded, get high, get drunk, get tanned, get slim, get strong, get worried on trad clambers, maybe even get lucky?

Thanks Helen, you inspired me...
Now I have something to look forward to

This sounds like recipe for trouble.  Behave yourself, Carl.  But if you can't behave, at least take pictures and post them here!  Have fun! 

Carl Schneider wrote: Helen's excited post (and other things) made me realise I need to get away.

So it's decided.

Going to The Gramps/Araps on boxing day for a week by myself.

I'll just hang out and either boulder by myself or maybe hookup with someone and take stock: get grounded, get high, get drunk, get tanned, get slim, get strong, get worried on trad clambers, maybe even get lucky?

Thanks Helen, you inspired me...
Now I have something to look forward to

Make sure that you use "protection" on the rock and off of it, Brother!

:)

I'm taking a minute to reflect this morning.  Something troubling in 'the Force'.    

In a couple of days we head out to Joshua Tree to spend most of December there.  This is the longest stretch I will have been there, and I wanted to be ready to climb.  

Being 'ready' turns out to be a lot of work!  Maybe this life of an athlete is too hard.  Through all these threads I've been insisting that we are essentially as fit as ever, minus all the sitting around and junk food.  But maybe this is not the case.

Ryan wanted to send me off to the desert more able to climb so at the gym we've been climbing harder and harder, and working much more on endurance.  This week he had a fresh plan: to climb to failure on every single route.  He chose routes that he knew were over my head, and he instructed me to do what I could, climb as hard as I could, to whatever point I fell off.  Then, lower quickly, rest 60 seconds, do it again.  The goal was to fail on every route.  I discovered that there was a point on every route where I just couldn't muster another ounce of effort and I'd let go.  Ryan's goal was for me to find the place within that could try again, and push past that point.  This is, apparently, how you do 'power endurance'. 

Is this fun?  

After all the great advice on bikes I bought one a few months ago and have been riding.  Because of my diabetes I finally also bought a Garmin Vivoactive3 which happens to not only give incredible readouts on exercise, but also (supposedly) will read my blood sugar numbers for me.  So there's all kinds of exercise data now, including recovery times, VOX whatever that is.
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Now we're talking about 2020 and even more fitness, better climbing.  At this moment, I am not inspired (which scares me).  Maybe it does take hard work (in the gym) to be fit enough to relax and enjoy outdoor climbing.  Maybe all this endurance work will allow for easier scrambling outside with a backpack.  The hippie in me does not want to work, AT ALL.  

I was chuckling on my way out of the gym yesterday that all this impressive muscular climbing will not be of no value on those JTree slabs and chimneys.    

Has anyone thought about 2020, New Year's Resolutions and new climbing goals?  Is everyone inspired still to keep on keeping on?  Trips planned?    

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I had coffee with a very special woman yesterday, about my age.  We had a lot in common: kids who terrify us, an adventurous spirit in an aging body, and trying to discern a personal path at this age. We were talking about forming a "Masters" climbing group maybe at our gym?  And she wondered if I'd like to go the RedRocks Rendezvous this year.  I had heard it was crowded and kind of a zoo.  Anyone?

There's a lot to unpack in your post Lori... Everyone is, of course, different. Some people love training, some don't. When I was a competitive cyclist, I loved training more than racing (part of that was due to severe performance anxiety). Now, as a climber, I don't really think about 'training' so much, it's just climbing. At the gym I do drills and have some structured workouts, but that is mostly to keep from getting bored, and I know they will benefit me, but in my head it's not really training (fooling myself?). I keep up with weights, core workouts, etc at home - but I think of this more as rehab/prehab and injury prevention (maybe it is training?). It's fun to try hard, and the gym is such a low commitment place to do that, so it can be fun to climb to failure there. You don't have to worry about losing gear! :)

You will be in J Tree for a long enough period that you can start slow, gain fitness and confidence, have good days, bad days, and rest days (make sure you take rest days!). That's a wonderful thing about taking a long trip there. My trips often end up being 4-5 days in an area, and this is almost the worst - I don't want to waste a day resting, but I can't really climb hard 4 days in a row. I almost always end up climbing every day and have one day where it would have been better to just take the rest day instead of flailing and being frustrated because I'm tired or my skin is wrecked.

You will be happier going into the trip having some fitness though - my last trip to Red Rock was at the end of a rough semester where I didn't get out a whole lot. Jim and I were joking that by the end of that trip we were just starting to get fit enough to make a trip to Red Rock!

My sense is that you are still figuring out what it is that you want/need from climbing - and maybe it's a combination of a lot of things. Climbing harder routes might require training more, starting to get some leading experience requires a whole different mindset and a focus on 5.easy routes, doing long days requires endurance and getting a good handle on your diabetes management. Only you can really decide what it is you're after and what 'ready' means to you.

My personal goal for this upcoming trip is to climb some classics (don't really care what grades), get some good leads on (will see where my head is at), and enjoy being in a special place and disconnecting. That last one will happen regardless, and everything else is bonus.

Looking forward to seeing you out there and safe travels!

Erika

Good discussion of goals, Erika.

Lori, if you want to see what it's like to train to be the best climber in the world, the film Rotpunkt will give you an idea. It's also fun to watch and Alex Megos is eye candy (is that unacceptably objectifying?) and yells "fuck" a lot. 

Lori Milas wrote: Everyone is so quiet!  Am I the only blabbermouth?  (watch how you answer that!!!)

It's ski season...  rocks are bad.

ErikaNW wrote: 
My sense is that you are still figuring out what it is that you want/need from climbing - and maybe it's a combination of a lot of things. Climbing harder routes might require training more, starting to get some leading experience requires a whole different mindset and a focus on 5.easy routes, doing long days requires endurance and getting a good handle on your diabetes management. Only you can really decide what it is you're after and what 'ready' means to you.

My personal goal for this upcoming trip is to climb some classics (don't really care what grades), get some good leads on (will see where my head is at), and enjoy being in a special place and disconnecting. That last one will happen regardless, and everything else is bonus.

Looking forward to seeing you out there and safe travels!

Erika

Erika, Wendy...I really appreciate this.  

When I finished writing this this morning I thought about how it all began: with that first amazing experience putting on a harness and winding my way up a route in Joshua Tree, like a wide-eyed child just experiencing something incredible for the first time.  There was no fitness needed, just endless curiosity and fun, and the desire to do it again.  But with each excursion out, whether up here in the Sierra, or the desert, I find myself finding yet another route, and another... bigger, higher, more beautiful lines, more frightening or intimidating... and I want to do THAT.  And so the journey continues to try to find the necessary strength, balance, muscle recruitment to be able to do the next thing.  So here we go again...    upward and onward!