New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #13

OldLadyH, thanks for all that you did at COR.  It was a pretty awesome thing. 

Erika gave me a pretty good 65th birthday present leading the third flatiron.  5 pitches, 800 feet, two free hanging raps, one on double rope.  Today she and her husband are out rebolting routes. Awesome people.  

Happy for you guys! The Third is wonderful.

Dallas-Happy Birthday to You!!!

Lori Milaswrote:

There’s a problem here. Our weekend has not begun yet! What day is it there? What planet are you on?

Are you an Adam Ondra screamer?  I believe this is why he climbs so well. He really uses sound and emotional release to great advantage in his climbing.  I would too, if it wouldn’t be ridiculous to be screaming on a 5.6 slab.   I wanted to try it at Pipeworks but was warned that management was already so paranoid about me climbing that they would frown upon my letting out a rebel yell on one of my 5.10 routes. They would assume it was a bad old-person injury.  “Ageism”.    

Ha ha. Its Sunday morning now. You're behind the times, keep up. Yes, I'm a screamer, a gunter, and a strange noise maker. Talking about ageism, a little while ago I was bouldering at a new bouldering gym that had just opened. I was packing up getting ready to leave and I spied a couple of guys I knew who were a few years older than me just arriving. So I walked up to them and said "Hi, the gym has a limit on the number of old people that can climb at once, so now you're both here I have to leave". I walked over to my bag, picked it up and left... 

Happy birthday Dallas. 

Happy Birthday, Dallas!       

We arrived.   It has been 6 weeks and a lot of changes so perhaps it’s fatigue—but this was a harder journey getting here than I ever expected, in every way.

I had waited to have my birthday dinner at our favorite restaurant here, La Copine.  This is a 4 star restaurant situated in a little dive out in the middle of nowhere. My plan had been to start at the top of the menu and work my way down through every item, week by week this year. The food is that good. Last night we got word that they have closed indefinitely due to COVID. They had been offering take-out for months but apparently can’t survive on that.  It’s a little thing.. but it’s just became a big thing.  

So, it’s war.  Being a decent cook, I’ll grab the menu and recreate some of those dishes myself. And I was thinking maybe some of the chefs here... like Helen?... might help me improvise some of the best recipes???  

Which reminds me about salmon.  I’ve been meaning to ask you all for salmon recipes. I don’t love salmon, I’ve learned to tolerate it. For health reasons sockeye is the preferred fish.  I was wondering about salmon cakes... salmon anything that might work?  
——

My daughter and her family drove down with us and that meant a lot. They brought the last of the stuff from my house, and came to see the new crib. She wanted to climb... it was 95 degrees and my shady spots were already in full sun. We went back to Locomotion Wall and the “easy” crack climbs there and the kids could stay shaded.

I decided to figure out the leaping part of Leaping Leaner. The only leap I could see was pretty certain death. I remember Bob saying there was another approach to the left... so I tried that and it was a vast improvement over muscling up off the deck.  

 

it was a real special time climbing some of these routes together with my daughter, with grandkids cheering us on.

But I have to be honest and say I wasn’t having fun. The heat, the total exertion, struggling to find a hand jam, thinking “I really should be in bed.” We finally quit early, sunburnt and hungry and arms hurting.

But after we got home, rested a bit... I started thinking about the next route, and the next.  That old wonderful feeling after a too-hard day when the body kicks into recovery mode and gears up for more. I’m so glad that happened. 

It seems 2020 is here to teach us patience and forbearance. 

Lori Milaswrote:

Which reminds me about salmon.  I’ve been meaning to ask you all for salmon recipes. I don’t love salmon, I’ve learned to tolerate it. For health reasons sockeye is the preferred fish.  I was wondering about salmon cakes... salmon anything that might work?  

Preheat oven to 375F. Smear some olive oil in a pan to keep salmon from sticking (probably not even necessary). Place salmon on oil smear. Put that whole thing in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Check with thermometer for doneness. I'm not going to say how hot is "done". Let's just say I'm a fan of sashimi. It's done, consume.

I'd recommend not eating salmon if you don't love it, though. Leaves more for the rest of us!

Glad to hear you're back in the saddle.

Yes to salmon! My favorite 1 dish recipe: put foil on a cooking sheet and place in the oven while preheating to 400F.

Prep salmon by smearing olive oil, salt and lemon juice on it.

Mix fresh green beans, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives and some fresh basil leaves in a bowl with lots of olive oil.

When oven is ready, quickly transfer salmon to one side of the sheet and put veggies on the other. I then put anchovy filets on top of the salmon and on top of the veggies - this is optional if you don’t love anchovies, but trust me it’s amazing!

Roast for 10-12 minutes depending on how thick your salmon is. I generally use 1 large piece of salmon rather than portioned filets.

edit - Wendy reminded me about the capers! Yes- also scatter a handful of capers across the entire mess before baking!

Recipe credit - Jamie Oliver

Lori, Bruce doesn't much like fish, but he's started baking salmon filets and they're simple, easy, and delicious. Various combinations of lemon juice, white wine, capers, olives, butter all work. I don't have the specific recipes handy, but NYT cooking and the WaPo are good sources if you have online subscriptions. Also Martha Stewart or just google it. 

Edit: Erika posted while I was typing. Pretty much what I had in mind. 

This is what I’m making tonight (but I’m using Arctic char instead of salmon). New recipe for me but looks good (and I am not coring or blanching the tomatoes!)

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6015-sauteed-salmon-with-leeks-and-tomatoes

Cook a big mountain of leeks down to a small mountain of grilled leeks ..... gently lay a Salmon fillet on top of the leeks, toss in a glass of white wine and cover. Turn up the heat and let the salmon poach for a few min.... when the fish flakes- barely- it’s done. Serve with the rest of the wine, bread and a salad.

Enjoy! 

Guy Keeseewrote:

Cook a big mountain of leeks down to a small mountain of grilled leeks ..... gently lay a Salmon fillet on top of the leeks, toss in a glass of white wine and cover. Turn up the heat and let the salmon poach for a few min.... when the fish flakes- barely- it’s done. Serve with the rest of the wine, bread and a salad.

Enjoy! 

Ding ding ding!  We started with your recipe, Guy. As salmon goes, this was pretty good. We liked the leeks. And the wine.  The bread. And a little more wine... finishing the bottle as we speak.   

We have fish shaped wire baskets. 

Build the camp fire up and let it burn down to good hot coals. Spray the rack with pam for easy cleaning, skin the fish ( or not).  Lay the fish in the rack and spread McCormick's Lemon Butter Dill sauce lightly over it.  

Lay the fish about 4-5 inches above the coals, I have a cooking rack to lay it on.  About 5 minutes or until the fat starts to fire on the coals, rotate, another 4-5.  Reapply sauce to taste while cooking.  

Us a BBQ grill if campfire is not available. We typically grill asparagus with it and microwave a sweet potato. 

What a great run we have had.  First COR with OldLadyH and the gang.  A super duper climb with ErikaNW in the Flat Irons. and anticlimactically finished off with Red Rocks Canyon.  No, not that Red Rock Canyon, the Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs, CO,  Talk about changing climbing styles, we got to climb a very wide variety in a very short time.  

Barb is slowly getting her mojo back. She started off leading a 5.9 but bailed when it got real skinny.  She led a 5.4 sport and then we swung top ropes across routes until we could TR the 5.9 we started out on and collected our gear.    Little short sand stone smearing routes on the Quarry Wall at Red Rock. 5.4, 5.6, 5.8, 5.9.  

Barb encouraged me to try the 5.9, I did good on the thin start but got to the thinner middle section and stalled.  After a short hand dog I moved 6 inches right, found a little divet and a fingernail ledge, instead of my usual big step ups I went to tiny feet, smeared.  4 inch, 3 inch, 5 inch, one finger pocket for balance, I was pretty amazed when I cleared the thin part and could cruise up the remaining easy part.  

Things have changed a bit in the Colorado Springs area.  I knew you needed to register to climb and the Garden of the Gods, but I didn't find out until the hike out that we were supposed to register to climb at Red Rock.  Here's your sign. 

If you like crumbly sandstone slab this is an excellent place to climb.  

Dallas Rwrote:

We have fish shaped wire baskets. 

Build the camp fire up and let it burn down to good hot coals. Spray the rack with pam for easy cleaning, skin the fish ( or not).  Lay the fish in the rack and spread McCormick's Lemon Butter Dill sauce lightly over it.  

Lay the fish about 4-5 inches above the coals, I have a cooking rack to lay it on.  About 5 minutes or until the fat starts to fire on the coals, rotate, another 4-5.  Reapply sauce to taste while cooking.  

Us a BBQ grill if campfire is not available. We typically grill asparagus with it and microwave a sweet potato. 

Sorry Dallas but any sauce that comes in a jar should stay in a jar. Salmon and most fish only requires basic seasoning. I marinate salmon in some extra virgin olive oil with salt, pepper, lime juice, because it is not as acidic as lemon and chopped garlic for about 30 minutes or so and toss it skin side down on the grill. We like it medium but not sushi so cook times vary. Turn when it seems ready and cook for another few minutes. It can also be done in a fry pan with good results. I cook with white wine but don't drink it as i think it tastes like flat 7-up but i will drink red wine with anything. I never worry about how the skin is done because I think it is disgusting but my wife's dog loves it.

Kevinmurraywrote:

Sorry Dallas but any sauce that comes in a jar should stay in a jar. Salmon and most fish only requires basic seasoning. I marinate salmon in some extra virgin olive oil with salt, pepper, lime juice, because it is not as acidic as lemon and chopped garlic for about 30 minutes or so and toss it skin side down on the grill. We like it medium but not sushi so cook times vary. Turn when it seems ready and cook for another few minutes. It can also be done in a fry pan with good results. I cook with white wine but don't drink it as i think it tastes like flat 7-up but i will drink red wine with anything. I never worry about how the skin is done because I think it is disgusting but my wife's dog loves it.

Hey, Kevin, your recipe sounds fine, but there's no need to dis someone else's. Or to make a broad generalization based on your opinion when I'm sure you haven't tasted every sauce that comes in a jar. 

I have tasted many jarred sauces and that is why the should stay in a jar. Read the ingredients and how many can you pronounce.