New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #12

Russ Walling wrote:

To speculate... because really that is what we do here (lol)... I would think better overall fitness would help that person out more than doing hangs or edge work etc.  The reality is that most routes in that range are going to have pretty big holds on them, and will not be steep... so, flexibility, especially the ability to high step and stand up, and good technique will be more important for that range of both age and grade.  Technique can take you a long way too... being rock smart is a big advantage, ie: knowing how to climb.

Another thing that might sorta get overlooked is getting strong is hard... especially when us fossils try it, but... losing some weight is a great way to get stronger without doing much in the way of strength workouts.  Lose x amount of pounds, maybe do some general fitness weights or easy hangs, and get some aerobic capacity to push juice to those muscles and you are in business.  Your tendons will thank you, your knees will thank you, and not being totally gassed on the summit feels pretty good.

that's what I thought you'd say. Thanks. 

Lori Milaswrote:...I do not mean to draw the conversation continually to my needs as a learner... there are so many accomplished and truly great climbers here.  You have your own stuff to talk about way over my head.  

...Or as Iggy said... :-)   "So let's take a ride and see what's mine"...

You need to keep drawing the conversation to your needs as a learner, otherwise the thread gets swamped with my self glorification, poems and Cosmic's tie dyed outfits... Good also to see you're quoting Iggy. I've had a bad back lately, my spine gets all out of whack and i end up being hardly able to get out of bed. It's at the point of either getting better or getting way fucked up, dude.

Carl Schneiderwrote:

You need to keep drawing the conversation to your needs as a learner, otherwise the thread gets swamped with my self glorification, poems and Cosmic's tie dyed outfits... Good also to see you're quoting Iggy. I've had a bad back lately, my spine gets all out of whack and i end up being hardly able to get out of bed. It's at the point of either getting better or getting way fucked up, dude

I know the feeling about the back, Carl. I went thru 4 years like that. My back surgery in February was a Godsend and I don't regret having the surgery. Being 60 to 70% out of pain is such a relief, and can't  wait to get back on the rock. I would have been back on the rock by now but plans and schedules are just not working out. I hope to get out with Brandt or Locker soon to do some climbing. I want to make sure I am in climbing shape by Sept so if the gathering at City of Rocks happens I will be ready.

I sure wish someone made a tie-dyed rope!!!

:-)

.

Cosmiccragsman AKA Dwainwrote:
I sure wish someone made a tie-dyed rope!!!

:-)

Edelrid Boa Eco is pretty close. 

Each year to celebrate Barbara's birthday we do something a little different.  This year it was attempt to climb the Steeple near Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.

We hit it perfectly, just as we got there the cloud cover started moving off.  A 5.0-5.2 climb we decided to free solo it. I love the alpine meadows with there blooming flowers this time of year.  


We did well in the scree and had just started on real rock when a piece broke off in Barb's hand, then mine, then a foot hold broke off.   Very crumbly shale rock.  Between her fall n TX and my recent fall on Burge MTN we decided that at 64 years old we don't need to push climbing in rock that breaks off. This stuff was way too thin and brittle to place any kind of pro so roping up was not an option. 

This is as far as we got...

So we bailed and went on up to the tourist area and mingled with some tourists.


I grew up in high country, so I guess; in contrast to Lori and the desert; I will always love high meadows and big mountains....

I grew up in the urban jungle.  And I like the desert well enough, but at the end of the day I'm a mountain boy too.  The meadows are, of course one of the reasons...

Speaking of conditioning, all the hangboarding in the world won't get you to these places; its all about aerobic fitness.  For that, nothing beats trail-running or fast hiking with challenging uphills.

Beautiful photos, RGold!

Thanks Dwain!  Lots were those came from...here's three more.

When it comes to deserts vs. mountains, sometimes, you can have your cake and eat it too...

That old Lovin’ Spoonful song, Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?  I guess we always will have to choose one place to be true Home (except Dallas) and leave the other behind.  But I think what can be said of all of us is that we share a love of nature and beauty of all kinds. I fall in love with every place I stay, and miss it a long time after I leave.

But since I first saw some of Rich’s photos thousands of posts ago I think of him in the mountains, with trails and wildflowers. We seem to see Dallas in forests. I picture Senor on a board in the ocean.  Erika and others nesting in Colorado. And a whole lot of people right here in this desert, calling it home.   

Nesting in Colorado.

My favorite Idaho photo. Very few know where this is, fewer still have been there. My son took this.

Dunno what you'd do with me, Lori! If I face the front window, the Boise front range foothills are right there. Face the back of the house, high desert and....canyonlands, not far away. I'd say "don't tell", but that boat has sailed. Idaho isn't a secret anymore, although rather huge chunks of it are still largely unknown to outsiders. "Outsider" being humanoids, as opposed to bovines. Yeah, I'm proud to live where we have wildness larger than some eastern states.

Training questions, again? What do you guys think about intervals between strength and cardio? In my case, this means TRX sets with a row in between. 500m is 2.5 minutes. 20-60 minutes total? Best of both worlds, or not doing justice to either?

Now that I'm trying to get back to training, I'm also not sure how much to push. I do get that too much is too much, but not pushing won't get me there either, correct??

Best, Helen

Look out!  Bunch of photos coming from me!  ;)

Just back yesterday from climbing for 2.5 days in Fontainebleau.  Arrived Friday evening and went in and climbed from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm and had the Rocher Canon area to ourselves.  Just magical.  Next day we climbed for 6 hours and then on Sunday for another 5 hours.  I did over 120 different boulder problems and even sent 4 Blue routes (hardest was a Font grade 5a which seemed even harder than that to me!!!)

So awesome!

Kiddos climbing.

One of the blue ones I sent.  Thought that I would not make it but did on the first go and then realized that it had no easy way off!  Had to jump from the edge on the right in the photo from over 8 feet up.  My knees were NOT happy!

I climbed this one and was psyched and then my 13 year old son came and climbed it barefoot!  Yeeesh!  What a punk!  ;)

Few more photos and then I'll stop!

One year ago I took my first ever trip to Bleau.  I hired a guide for half a day to learn the system and ropes.  Then on Saturday when I showed up to climb at Apremont I looked across the boulder area and there HE WAS!  Crazy coincidence!  100's of acres across so many miles and we happened to run into each other again. Such a great reunion!

My wife's first ever outside boulder problem!  Talk about starting out with the best!
Me getting ready to walk out on Sunday late afternoon after the last boulder of the trip was climbed.

And no trip to France is complete for me if I do not get a nice bottle of Sauternes!

;)

Wow, Buck!! That's fabulous, and yes, I'm very, very jealous!

Nice job!

The first thing my boulder guy always did, was figure out how we would get me off the thing, before he selected problems for me. I'm spoiled, he delivered actual catches! I really miss bouldering, but him becoming a new daddy bumped that. Maybe at some point in the future?

My boulder area (Swan Falls, Idaho) is a far cry from yours, too. Last year, this time of year? We did alpine starts, to be there at sunrise. No shade at all, in a very hot location. That said, we also were out there all winter, even with ice here and there on the boulders.

Best, Helen

Old lady Hwrote:
Training questions, again? What do you guys think about intervals between strength and cardio? In my case, this means TRX sets with a row in between. 500m is 2.5 minutes. 20-60 minutes total? Best of both worlds, or not doing justice to either?

Now that I'm trying to get back to training, I'm also not sure how much to push. I do get that too much is too much, but not pushing won't get me there either, correct??

Best, Helen

BITD and maybe still, what you're describing was called "circuit training."  I never really did it, but friends who did thought it was really great for the long rock routes in the mountains they were interested in.

As for pushing, I think I've become the prophet of less is more.  You'll get a training effect by exercising rather than being sedentary, in other words, anything you do is going to be a whole lot better than doing nothing.  On developmental physical exercises, I aim for stopping one rep short of momentary muscular failure.  Of course, this requires some knowledge, gained by going all the way, of how close you are. On the injury-prevention exercises, I  go for a nice burn and don't want or try to get near the failure point.  No doubt this attitude slows potential progress, but on the other hand nothing slows progress like overdoing it and having to lay off.

I'm a bit more of a pusher when it comes to aerobics.  Having done it for years, I have a good sense of when I'm at an anaerobic threshold, meaning that I wouldn't be able to continue for long at the current pace.  There's a sense that I'm "getting behind" in my breathing; I can't take in enough air, and that's when I back off the pace, usually just a little bit is enough.  I think I can titrate pretty well and keep myself at the maximum output my poor old body can sustain.  Such training as I do is on hilly trails, so there are always recovery periods built in when the going is level and downhill.  I pay particular attention to pushing the uphills in these environments.  I kinda shuffle down the downhills---faster than walking but nowhere near running.  Not only can my knees not take the impacts, but my trails are rocky, the tripping potential is high, and I am far less steady than I used to be, even with the poles I always use.

I had an ankle problem that kept me off the trails for a whole summer two years ago, and I used a rowing machine then.  I did it regularly, and it was far better than nothing, but when I got back on the trails I found I had lost a lot.  Besides which, I found it terminally boring.  It did its job at the time, but I'd never make it my primary aerobic exercise.

Helen, you have a rowing machine? I think those are great. Really work a different muscle set from most climbing and they provide good cardio without any impact.

I'm a huge fan of cycling. As in putting in real effort and miles on a bike, not just riding the cruiser down to the local Starbucks, though that's great too.

A very important distinction I see is between climbing specific training (ie hangboarding, rice bucket exercises, system board) and general fitness stuff that is complimentary with climbing. IMO yoga and/or pilates are AMAZING compliments to climbing. Aerobic fitness from running, cycling, hiking, etc are great because, first of all, most climbing I do involves some hiking or scrambling to get there. But also keeping the weight off and the cardiovascular system healthy really pays off on the wall. I've seen people totally gassed a few pitches into a 5 pitch climb and it ain't pretty. 

It’s really nice seeing everyone’s photos!  Esp thanks Buck for the vicarious climbing trip to France!  

I’m here right now - Newport Beach.

phylp phylpwrote: It’s really nice seeing everyone’s photos!  Esp thanks Buck for the vicarious climbing trip to France!  

I’m here right now - Newport Beach.

Oh man...I can't even remember what decade I last saw the ocean. Sometime when the 26 year old was a toddler...not this century.

This is pretty cool.  Climbers from EVERYWHERE posting great pictures... Wendy, I could get lost in your picture of Colorado!  I'm missing the beach, Phylp.  Tell me you surf.     And Buck, beautiful pics and stories, please don't stop!  (Throwing Carl a bone... we have the gym setup pic there... but it is from Australia!!!) 

Got out today for awhile, really cherishing these days.  Thinking about it one way, the desert itself does train the body.  The rock is forcing some discipline and strength on my frame.  

Today we had an 'incident'.  I had just asked Matt what happens if a rope were to get stuck mid-climb (like the one I watched that time on Double Cross where the climber was stranded on the wall for a very long time)?  He answered that it's just not a worry... it so rarely happens.  Not 5 minutes later the rope became stuck, somewhere high up on the route I was starting to climb.  We could not pull up, and couldn't pull down.  Just my very worst scenario (I'm sure there are worse).  Fortunately I was able to untie and back down... but it was quite something to watch Matt create a rappel up this vertical face.  It probably took 45 minutes, in full sun, for him to move on up to the place where it was stuck, loosen the rope and then rap back down.  What if it had been me there, already feeling nauseous from the sun, having a blood sugar crash.  What if I had been 20 feet higher, and unable to untie and downclimb?  

Fresh reminder for me that while I am trying to absorb all the intricacies of rope, anchor, belay, rappelling etc... I have another layer to worry about.  It has to always be on my mind to test my blood sugar, check my insulin levels, make sure I have extra sugar on my person... as well as water, salt... and understand at least the principals of self-rescue.  Brandt reminded me today that there is a bowling alley just a few miles away.    

This is the view down from Fun Stuff.  What a fun, perfect route!  A little challenge at the start, but then just one fun thing after another... a little slab, a little crack, a little dihedral... and whenever you think you need a hold, one shows up just in time.  I'm still looking at that opposing wall which was just going into shade... full of macho looking routes that look like a lot of fun.  

   

Hi.... to make a comment I’d need to know this: did it get stuck Top Roping?