New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #10

Ken, Cosmic, anyone else who might wander my way, I'm pretty happy climbing not all that hard, just happy to climb and love meeting people! Not exactly intimidating...

COR is likely coldish, could be rainy, and any excuse for wind at all, it will blow hard there. Or, good enough if you are okay with whatever. I'm only 3.5 hours from there, so I can shoot over whenever I want. Late January wasn't doable for rock climbing, but it was beautiful, lol!

Here in Boise, though? We've climbed at least once or twice a month all winter. This week? It's approaching 60 on Friday, 50s all week. Game on!

As far as Aprilish, oldtradguy and Jean are coming through town, sometime in there, and we will try to meet somewhere, maybe do that climbing thing, at least eat. Also in that time frame, April Mayish, I will go to Cove Palisades (think Smith rock) and see Dallas and crew. Freeze my ass off trying my first kayak ride in spring snowmelt, lol! And maybe that climbing thing...

Did both sides of the lead test at the gym yesterday. Passed just fine. It's only a 5.7, but an honest 7. They are trying to match outside grades so people don't get in trouble. That said, it's a gym route, always easier than outside. It also happens to be reachy for me, here and there, so I was bumping off the wall now and then. My partner is quite a bit heavier than I, so I was pleased my evil self engineered a big enough "fall" to get him off his feet, lol! At the sixth bolt, with the fifth clipped, but not six. Didn't pull clipping slack (that would be too close to hitting him), but did jump with no notice. I've done lots of falls for people, it doesn't freak me out. A friend though, did his lead test at our other new gym. Way up toward the top, last clipped bolt at his feet....and it was super hard to take that fall! Well trained "Do Not Fall!" instincts, which is good! He climbs alpine and ice, on super scary shit in obscure, remote, bits of Idaho!

Best, Helen

Hi All! Just returned from 4 days as a Karting Official - my other life.

sorry about the flip.... frig IPhone update seems to have hidden what was an EZ thing to do in the past.
Anyway that’s my office and those are shifter karts! At the last race we had 2 ex F1 drivers, they like to stay sharp at the racing and this is the ticket.
Me....

Anyway I’m back recovering.  4 - 13 hour days can really take the starch out of you.
And last photo shows what real happiness is:
Ariel Jimenez, after winning the Senior Rox class.
Conditions were as bad as can be in Racin- on and off rain- then sun- then more rain!! If you run slicks you can hardly turn, stop or accelerate, it’s hard enuf on rain tires. But if a dry line forms you can really use slicks to a huge advantage. I have known Ariel sense she was 5 and racing Kid Karts, she is good and gets on the podium at these National events from time to time but no top step.
She made the very gutsy call to go with slicks! She barely was able to do the warm up laps and in the race she was about to be lapped- when a dry line formed up! She was able to go 5-6 seconds quicker then the others and she passed these two dudes on the last lap, Oliver got 2nd- he’s rated #1 in the world and races F3 in Europe and Drew is a pro who is part of the Red Bull ladder - doing the US F4. A well deserved victory!!! 

My point and how this relates to climbing. It’s all about being motivated to be the BEST you can be. That means training and suffering and keeping your eye on the prize.

Something I think we all can relate too no matter our age. 

Nice video Phylp, rocking the tights! 

Cool photo Randy!!!

Lori: I don’t understand why you don’t understand the allure of The Beaver. One needs to have “it” all together to lead that one- the stuff of dreams!

And Cosmic, when we go climbing. I only use a Grigri now or a hip belay .... but on 5.5D we won’t be falling.

Long winded.

Lori Milas wrote: Tony and I went to see Pretty Strong last night at the Bouldering Field.  I left with mixed feelings.  A hodge-podge of filming of various women climbers... some good footage of famous ones climbing in the 5.14's... but failed to capture my interest much.  

I just can't get past the title. I mean, I ASSUME they're trying to make a wry statement about how women are always judged on their looks, even when they're badass climbers, but it just doesn't work for me. 

Oh this is so cool!  Everyone is reporting in!  Thank you Guy, Helen, and all!  What great stories and pictures!  

Today was an “easy” climbing day for me at the gym and the session was about comparing 3 pairs of shoes on the bouldering wall.  Without trying to taint the jury, Ryan just asked me to “feel” any differences on the same routes. By far the smallest tightest shoes performed better. Most especially I was willing to use tiny nubs for my feet and rely less on my hands without even realizing it.  I guess Ryan knows by now that I learn by doing... even though he has been suggesting a shoe problem for months.   A truly amazing discovery worth an increase letter grade at least. So I’m sharing this news...

And I would not have brought this up but Guy might have a thought.  I’m still thinking about a car.  I knew this could take a long time because any car I buy now needs to serve so many purposes:  Easily make 1200 mile round trips... handle desert and mountain terrains and maybe even haul stuff.  I’ve been asking myself am I a Chevy truck girl?  A dirtbag van kind of person?  A 1953 Army Jeep kind of person? (Definitely the Jeep takes the lead).  What will hold all my ropes and gear?  

But on a whim yesterday we pulled into the Tesla lot, and I wound up taking one for a spin. DANG!  This thing moves!  It is a beautiful car inside and out.  Most importantly it uses NO GAS, NO OIL, and nearly NO BRAKES.  It’s the responsible thing to do. It’s the reason I’ve owned a hybrid since 2003.  It took a few minutes to get used to not touching the brakes but after that it just felt natural. Tony, the Chicago truck driver didn’t want to have any part in this Tesla thing.... it is very yuppie, but today it’s all he’s talked about.  And now every other car on the road looks SO yesterday.  I mean, they use GAS.   

Very hard to imagine this being my dirtbag desert car. Sleeping on it.  Maybe I could find my old Jeep cheap for cash and save it for tooling around town. Obviously that won’t work for trips to Sacramento.   (Btw, every Tesla and ecar owner I know raves about them. Car and Driver top ratings.)

Helen: Thanks for the info.  I'll stay in touch as my plans firm up.  It would be fun to tie in with some folks on the list. I expect to self-limit myself to 5.7 (or low angle 5.8/9) I mostly want to sample the area since I've never been there. Since I'm close to Smith I'd like to drop by and meet folks as well.

Guy: Good stuff. What track was this? Never carted but ran with SCCA in Spec Miata for about eight years.  Momentum racing rules!  I only ever raced at Portland and Thunderhill. Even crossed paths with Garth Stein for a year before he got famous (he's the author of "The Art of Racing in the Rain"). Mostly play with motorcycles these days but that is dwindling.

Lori: Been commuting 80 miles/day in a Chevy Bolt for the last year. Electric is great as a second car but for climbing I use my truck.  The Bolt does not even have a spare tire so even if I have the range to get somewhere if gravel roads are involved I won't use it.

I've got a couple thoughts on your Tesla question. First, they're definitely sexy cars. You're not going to want one for tooling around inside the park, though, or going to other climbing destinations. I'd also think twice about one for J-tree to Sacto just because at that point you're reliant on some sort of Tesla supercharger station in the middle of the San Joaquin valley. Over the holidays there were 4-6 hour waits for the superchargers out near Kettleman City on I-5.

I have a Toyota Mirai, which is a hydrogen fuel cell car. It's an experimental project by Toyota. About as green as a car can be. We use that one for as much urban driving as we can. I also have a 2005 Toyota Sequoia that is a total gas hog but holds 8 people and is an awesome adventure mobile. It goes to Mammoth and J-tree and Mexico. I think the model of having a very fuel efficient car for long trips and another offroad beater for adventure purposes is a great compromise vs. a do-everything car.

Guy Keesee wrote: Hi All! Just returned from 4 days as a Karting Official - my other life.

sorry about the flip.... frig IPhone update seems to have hidden what was an EZ thing to do in the past.
Anyway that’s my office and those are shifter karts! At the last race we had 2 ex F1 drivers, they like to stay sharp at the racing and this is the ticket.

Me....

Anyway I’m back recovering.  4 - 13 hour days can really take the starch out of you.
And last photo shows what real happiness is:
Ariel Jimenez, after winning the Senior Rox class.
Conditions were as bad as can be in Racin- on and off rain- then sun- then more rain!! If you run slicks you can hardly turn, stop or accelerate, it’s hard enuf on rain tires. But if a dry line forms you can really use slicks to a huge advantage. I have known Ariel sense she was 5 and racing Kid Karts, she is good and gets on the podium at these National events from time to time but no top step.

She made the very gutsy call to go with slicks! She barely was able to do the warm up laps and in the race she was about to be lapped- when a dry line formed up! She was able to go 5-6 seconds quicker then the others and she passed these two dudes on the last lap, Oliver got 2nd- he’s rated #1 in the world and races F3 in Europe and Drew is a pro who is part of the Red Bull ladder - doing the US F4. A well deserved victory!!!

My point and how this relates to climbing. It’s all about being motivated to be the BEST you can be. That means training and suffering and keeping your eye on the prize.

Something I think we all can relate too no matter our age. 

Nice video Phylp, rocking the tights!

Cool photo Randy!!!

Lori: I don’t understand why you don’t understand the allure of The Beaver. One needs to have “it” all together to lead that one- the stuff of dreams!

And Cosmic, when we go climbing. I only use a Grigri now or a hip belay .... but on 5.5D we won’t be falling.

Long winded.

NO, Gri gri, Guy. I'll take the HIP BELAY!

eLori Milas wrote: Oh this is so cool!  Everyone is reporting in!  Thank you Guy, Helen, and all!  What great stories and pictures!  

Today was an “easy” climbing day for me at the gym and the session was about comparing 3 pairs of shoes on the bouldering wall.  Without trying to taint the jury, Ryan just asked me to “feel” any differences on the same routes. By far the smallest tightest shoes performed better. Most especially I was willing to use tiny nubs for my feet and rely less on my hands without even realizing it.  I guess Ryan knows by now that I learn by doing... even though he has been suggesting a shoe problem for months.   A truly amazing discovery worth an increase letter grade at least. So I’m sharing this news...

And I would not have brought this up but Guy might have a thought.  I’m still thinking about a car.  I knew this could take a long time because any car I buy now needs to serve so many purposes:  Easily make 1200 mile round trips... handle desert and mountain terrains and maybe even haul stuff.  I’ve been asking myself am I a Chevy truck girl?  A dirtbag van kind of person?  A 1953 Army Jeep kind of person? (Definitely the Jeep takes the lead).  What will hold all my ropes and gear?  

But on a whim yesterday we pulled into the Tesla lot, and I wound up taking one for a spin. DANG!  This thing moves!  It is a beautiful car inside and out.  Most importantly it uses NO GAS, NO OIL, and nearly NO BRAKES.  It’s the responsible thing to do. It’s the reason I’ve owned a hybrid since 2003.  It took a few minutes to get used to not touching the brakes but after that it just felt natural. Tony, the Chicago truck driver didn’t want to have any part in this Tesla thing.... it is very yuppie, but today it’s all he’s talked about.  And now every other car on the road looks SO yesterday.  I mean, they use GAS.   

Very hard to imagine this being my dirtbag desert car. Sleeping on it.  Maybe I could find my old Jeep cheap for cash and save it for tooling around town. Obviously that won’t work for trips to Sacramento.   (Btw, every Tesla and ecar owner I know raves about them. Car and Driver top ratings.)

Get a Toyota Tacoma 4x4. They are the Best! Even a used one is good. 

I've had three and when I sold them The first 2 had over 300.000 miles on them.
The 3rd my 2006 I now have has 178.000 miles on it and is still going strong!

Senor Arroz wrote: I've got a couple thoughts on your Tesla question. First, they're definitely sexy cars. You're not going to want one for tooling around inside the park, though, or going to other climbing destinations. I'd also think twice about one for J-tree to Sacto just because at that point you're reliant on some sort of Tesla supercharger station in the middle of the San Joaquin valley. Over the holidays there were 4-6 hour waits for the superchargers out near Kettleman City on I-5.

I have a Toyota Mirai, which is a hydrogen fuel cell car. It's an experimental project by Toyota. About as green as a car can be. We use that one for as much urban driving as we can. I also have a 2005 Toyota Sequoia that is a total gas hog but holds 8 people and is an awesome adventure mobile. It goes to Mammoth and J-tree and Mexico. I think the model of having a very fuel efficient car for long trips and another offroad beater for adventure purposes is a great compromise vs. an do everything car. 

2005 Toyota Tundra Double Cab for me.  Just broken in at 145K miles.  I trust it to go anywhere it will fit.

Guy Keesee wrote: Hi All! Just returned from 4 days as a Karting Official - my other life.

sorry about the flip.... frig IPhone update seems to have hidden what was an EZ thing to do in the past.
Anyway that’s my office and those are shifter karts! At the last race we had 2 ex F1 drivers, they like to stay sharp at the racing and this is the ticket.

Me....

Anyway I’m back recovering.  4 - 13 hour days can really take the starch out of you.
And last photo shows what real happiness is:
Ariel Jimenez, after winning the Senior Rox class.
Conditions were as bad as can be in Racin- on and off rain- then sun- then more rain!! If you run slicks you can hardly turn, stop or accelerate, it’s hard enuf on rain tires. But if a dry line forms you can really use slicks to a huge advantage. I have known Ariel sense she was 5 and racing Kid Karts, she is good and gets on the podium at these National events from time to time but no top step.

She made the very gutsy call to go with slicks! She barely was able to do the warm up laps and in the race she was about to be lapped- when a dry line formed up! She was able to go 5-6 seconds quicker then the others and she passed these two dudes on the last lap, Oliver got 2nd- he’s rated #1 in the world and races F3 in Europe and Drew is a pro who is part of the Red Bull ladder - doing the US F4. A well deserved victory!!!

My point and how this relates to climbing. It’s all about being motivated to be the BEST you can be. That means training and suffering and keeping your eye on the prize.

Something I think we all can relate too no matter our age. 

Nice video Phylp, rocking the tights!

Cool photo Randy!!!

Lori: I don’t understand why you don’t understand the allure of The Beaver. One needs to have “it” all together to lead that one- the stuff of dreams!

And Cosmic, when we go climbing. I only use a Grigri now or a hip belay .... but on 5.5D we won’t be falling.

Long winded.

cool on the karts. theres an underground circuit here right up the road from me, super hard to get into, long wait list, but its dirt track. they just moved to a new track a few years back a few miles from the old one. private farm, banked track, money and trophy wins, etc. they are serious about weigh ins and handicapping. its pretty well run. lots of big names who used to race the local speedway that got taken down are always there, some even race karts there now.

the old track was demolished in 05, along with the fairgrounds. now there is a lowes and a costco sitting where it once was....

​https://3widespicturevault.com/FRONT%20PAGE%20STUFF/Flem_Memories_1.htm​​​

Ken Tubbs wrote:

2005 Toyota Tundra Double Cab for me.  Just broken in at 145K miles.  I trust it to go anywhere it will fit.

Basically the same car as my Sequoia just with a pickup bed. Mine is right around 145,000 miles too. 

Senor Arroz wrote:

Basically the same car as my Sequoia just with a pickup bed. Mine is right around 145,000 miles too. 

Maybe pictures would help me.   What is a Sequoia with a pickup bed?    BTW... thank you, Senor, for your thoughts on the Tesla.  It's not absolutely out, but your report of the lines at charging stations along the 5 startled me.  This Tesla has a range of 320 miles... with 35 minute charges to replenish.  But I wouldn't want to wait all day.    

I'm kinda thinking I'll wait until I am in Josh for a while to choose a car.  A few trips ago rats got under the hood of my Lexus and chewed through the cabling... disabling my car.  Apparently, rats like Lexus cars because of a soy coating on the wires, something I didn't know.  Tow guy laughed when he came to tow it... highfalutin cars get their payback in Josh.  The Lexus dealership in Palm Springs were real jerks, and 40 miles away.  

I trash cars.  I get dark chocolate everywhere, leave my shoes, hat, stuff everywhere... put my feet up.  I begged Tony not to remove the desert sand from the floor mats when he took my car in for a good clean. I NEED that Joshua Tree dirt!  Tony is used to a 'clean ride'.  We take his Hyundai for that.   If only they sold Lexus in camouflage paint.  

Also... when we were out looking at some property in Yucca, we almost had a run in with a dude with a big cowboy hat in a BIG white Chevy truck.  Chevy Truck Guy stared us down, wanted to know what we were doing 'in these parts', and looked like he was about to get out of his truck for a confrontation.  If I'm going to have to deal with Chevy Truck Guys... the Tesla is a no-go.  

Lori Milas wrote:

Maybe pictures would help me.   What is a Sequoia with a pickup bed?  

 

Sequoia is the big Toyota SUV. The Tundra is the same vehicle but as a pickup. 

A few new problems at the bouldering gym last night. Couldn't finish any of them. I hate it when the crux is at the top. On this one that I'm FURIOUSLY brushing the holds of one needs to 'pop' to the final hold.

Seems I don't 'pop'

Senor Arroz wrote:

Sequoia is the big Toyota SUV. The Tundra is the same vehicle but as a pickup. 

We have a Tundra with a popup All Terrain Camper.  Smooth on the highway, it has 4WD when needed, and comfy place to sleep at night.  Only downside is the mileage- about 15 mpg.  I'd post a pic, but can't figure out how to on my phone.

Carl Schneider wrote: A few new problems at the bouldering gym last night. Couldn't finish any of them. I hate it when the crux is at the top. On this one that I'm FURIOUSLY brushing the holds of one needs to 'pop' to the final hold.

Seems I don't 'pop'

I don’t know why this tickled me so much but I laugh every time I look at it.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been working in the bouldering room this week... on JUGS... and even so I fuck it up.   Maybe vigorously brushing the tops of the jugs on my wall would help? 

Hi.... yesterday I made a great post and answered all Q’s and tossed in my humble opinion on Tesla and electric vehicles in general- but when I hit the “Reply” MP went all crazy and I think I crashed it!!!

The salient points:

We were racing at “Cal-Speed” a Kart track, located on the Auto Club Speedway, property.
Proper Kart tracks are normally about a mile in length, with tight turns. One of the Best ones is “Pat’s Acres” in Clackamas County- Trees, green grass about 180 degree opposite from “Fontucky” as we call it.  And “Racing in the Rain” is a good book- the movie had me crying- hard- at the end!!

Lori- Tesla exists because it’s subsidized by our government and is now made in China. They can’t stand on their own merits as a good car, and some folks I talk to were more then happy to turn them in after the lease was up. 300 miles is nothing when you think about it.... you couldn’t make it across Nevada.
If you want something that will handle the rough stuff out in the desert, the toughest ones are modified Jeeps or Toyota Landcrusers, and even Lexus SUV... the ones made in the 90’s... but all modified. Off the shelf 4x4 like Jeeps -except the Grand Cherokee - are all good once you put beefy tires on them as are Toyota trucks and SUV. American ones are OK but I know people who are on their 3rd motor by the time they get to the quarter million mile point- something that Toyota can get if you take good care of it.
There are good dual- sport 4x4 SUV out there- Honda CRV, Toyota Rav 4, Subaru Outback’s, Nissan Pathfinder etc are all good for the dirt washboard roads you will find.

Good luck with the move, the next question you should be asking about after you move are these: What’s the best home defense gun? And what’s the best CCW gun for when we go looking for property?
Oh yea one more thing- pick a good cowboy/cowgirl hat. A trademark.

And Cosmic... I can work a Hip Belay but the Grigri is best! It allows me to have my hands free to open beers, roll smokes and eat a sandwich all at the same time!!!

Brian Wirtz wrote:

We have a Tundra with a popup All Terrain Camper.  Smooth on the highway, it has 4WD when needed, and comfy place to sleep at night.  Only downside is the mileage- about 15 mpg.  I'd post a pic, but can't figure out how to on my phone.

OK... here is how you do it. Tap that little icon that’s dead center when you go to make a reply. It opens up and you get a chance to “Drop Imagine”... tap that and you get 3 options- pick “photo library” this takes you to your photos.... tap the one you wish to show... you might need to resize it down some for MP to take it. 

Let’s see some photos of the Camper Truck, now. 

My  Astro is over  226k lots of  off  roading  and I live  4.5 miles from  pavement  so it gets miles of  dirt roads  every day like  it  or not.  I did have to replace the  body  mounts  last year  and  rebuilt the  front  differential  2 years ago right at  200k.

Nick... you obviously take care of it. Rust? A east coast issue?