New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #15

Lori. its cool to have a home  area but the heart and soul of climbing is the road trip.   you should get to Red Rocks and hike up some of the long easys routes. group therapy, dark shadows,lotta balls frogland . etc.. see if you can get someone to bring you up DOWT,  Prince of darkness,triasic sands etc. etc...  

I wasn't negative in my comments to Phyps personally. But I can get negative towards anyone who suggests otherwise, if they want. I'm an alumni of the ol' ST days and therefore can hold my own in that regard. In fact I remember good posts back then from both Phyps and Solem and others. Thems was the days. LOL.

( Mr. Solem: do you still mix and master ?)

Donald Thompsonwrote:

I wasn't negative in my comments to Phyps personally. But I can get negative towards anyone who suggests otherwise, if they want. I'm an alumni of the ol' ST days and therefore can hold my own in that regard. In fact I remember good posts back then from both Phyps and Solem and others. Thems was the days. LOL.

( Mr. Solem: do you still mix and master ?)

Maybe it was a misread of the room as it came across pretty negatively to a few of us. There’s been a pretty cohesive group posting here for a few years now and we’ve tried really hard to maintain a very polite and respectful conversation. Sounds like Phyl didn’t take it personally, but without  all of us knowing you, it came across as a negative attack against her. At any rate - welcome to the group! 

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

 its cool to have a home  area but the heart and soul of climbing is the road trip.  

My calendar says I start a month long road trip next week, Cochise Stronghold, Jacks Canyon, Isolation Canyon and maybe Red Rock.   It's going to be hard to leave here, snow base over 10', fresh powder almost everyday, incredible tree skiing.  But I won't have to shovel snow everyday!

Donald Thompsonwrote:

I appreciate your statement Erika. My original  commemts were perhaps perceived as negative by those who are just a wee bit too thin in the skin and perhaps elevate the social and communal over the individual in a way that is diminishing to free discourse. Again, thanks. 

"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others"

                              George Orwell 

                               

Well that's even more insulting to the group. Thanks for doubling down. 

Donald Thompsonwrote:

I appreciate your statement Erika. My original  commemts were perhaps perceived as negative by those who are just a wee bit too thin in the skin and perhaps elevate the social and communal over the individual in a way that is diminishing to free discourse. Again, thanks. 

"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others"

                              George Orwell 

                               

Huh. Guess my first impression was spot on then. 

Idaho Bobwrote:

My calendar says I start a month long road trip next week, Cochise Stronghold, Jacks Canyon, Isolation Canyon and maybe Red Rock.   It's going to be hard to leave here, snow base over 10', fresh powder almost everyday, incredible tree skiing.  But I won't have to shovel snow everyday!

Sounds fantastic! Only climbed at the Stronghold once, it’s a very special place. Have a great trip- post photos! 

Donald Thompsonwrote:

I wasn't negative in my comments to Phyps personally. But I can get negative towards anyone who suggests otherwise, if they want. I'm an alumni of the ol' ST days and therefore can hold my own in that regard. In fact I remember good posts back then from both Phyps and Solem and others. Thems was the days. LOL.

( Mr. Solem: do you still mix and master ?)

Retired. I miss it, but the business changed fast around 2007-9. I saw the handwriting on the wall and got out while I was ahead. I had a good run though. I got in when analog was in it's prime, around 1990. Digital was around by then, but couldn't compete in sound quality. By 2000 digital was getting good, and the tools were amazing. And expensive. In 2005 I was riding the crest of a wave, but it only took a couple years before it all became cheap. Computers were obsolete by the time they were installed, and they were cheap. You can't capitalize a business on that.

Quiet Riot, Guilty Pleasures. That might have been the last album they did before Kevin DuBrow died from an overdose  . I dunno what just came down between DuBrow and me right then, but the record label guy in the white t-shirt is about to spit his coffee all over my console. (That's against the rules).

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I was walking around out behind Hemingway one time with Bob Kamps looking for something to climb. I'd point out a route, but Bob had either done it - he didn't repeat routes - or for one reason or another, he didn't want to do it. In the meantime, we got into some good talks about all kinds of stuff. Soon enough I realized we weren't going to climb anything, and we had a great afternoon walking around in the desert. The lesson? There's much more to climbing than climbing. I remember that day more than a lot of days spent on the rock.

LOL, Donald!  Perhaps you should have chosen a different animals quote:

"oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood" - Eric Burden and the Animals

I do miss Supertopo, I found a lot of great friends and climbing partners IRL from there.  But I don't miss the nastiness that could be slung back and forth.  Mountain Project is nasty-lite by comparison, but even here, this thread is an oasis of cordiality and friendship.

Be well, Phyl

Well Kris I could always use another set of ears on some of my developing stuff. I live up in Crestline not far from some crags such as the one in my profile avatar (Sphinx Rock) we can dink around if you ever get up this way..

And the Kamps story reminds me of  another climber who after a long career looked back upon it with the certainty that it was all about the people he climbed with after all. Long after the routes became a blur in the rear view mirror he could still remember their faces, a kind word, a compliment , an anecdote, a smile, a final goodbye.

And Phylps you're right, ST could be unbelievably nasty -- and childishly vindictive. I heard perhaps several apocryphal story about there being individuals hiring Private eyes to dig up dirt on their enemies. On many occasions people were constantly being threatened with lawsuits-- including of course CMAC himself. 

I really miss it though . Like climbing, in the end it was all about the people.

If you miss the madness, give WideFetish a shot...  

Its a  rough crowd  on WF  they  boul  overhand. 

We had a day scheduled, I misread the meeting place and was way late, misread my own physical and emotional readiness to climb and considered calling the whole thing off.  
The day started turning around when I dropped my phone down a hopeless chasm and Bob said... no problem! as he slid down that hole to fetch it. There’s a talent I’d like to learn—shimmying down thin holes, maybe a little like cave diving? I was prepared to not see my phone again. Actually I was prepared to not see Bob again!  

We climbed Bobcat on Cathouse.  The first attempt was awkward and troublesome. The second and third were totally easy.  It has to be sequences.  Night and day when moves are worked out in advance. 

Glad I stuck with it today. You all are right... people/friends make all the difference.  And, a personal lesson, there are days when it ain’t working but it all still works.  Just show up and try. 

EDIT: A thought on sequences. Bob has a killer memory, but I’m finding that mine is rapidly improving. Five years ago I couldn’t memorize a series of 5 numbers. Now I can work my way up a wall with the minimum of coaching. This stuff (climbing) is good for the brain. Good for all the things that fall apart with age . Good for working out puzzles.  Good for fast decision-making.  

Lori Milaswrote:

I suffer!  I SUFFER!  I suffer every day for my art.  

For one, I put up with you guys! And the continual references to “just a toprope “.  I also suffer with Tony.  And there’s heat, ice and windstorms here.  This life is pretty much only suffering.

I've got permits for a 4 day trip in June to bag Mt. Langely (14,026), Mt. Muir (14,012) and Mt. Whitney (14, 498) plus about 45 miles of backcountry hiking and camping. It sounds like you're all trained-up and I've got an extra spot, too. You in?

Andrew Ricewrote:

I've got permits for a 4 day trip in June to bag Mt. Langely (14,026), Mt. Muir (14,012) and Mt. Whitney (14, 498) plus about 45 miles of backcountry hiking and camping. It sounds like you're all trained-up and I've got an extra spot, too. You in?

This is so generous of you, Senor, but I would hurt your feelings when I outpace you and then ask for more.   

Meanwhile, I just learned that I have missed a big piece of training here... talus hopping.  Yesterday I noticed that Bob, who is no longer 20, was easily walking/hopping from boulder to boulder where we were climbing. There are craters in between these huge rocks!  Any slip could break something, but he didn't seem to mind.   Meanwhile, I was on my butt most of the way, ripping the backside out of my pants.  So Bob went on to describe a pasttime he had bitd, of ... hopping? leaping? through talus fields.  Just another fun thing these guys did when they weren't busy doing other fun things like free-soloing ridiculous routes in Yosemite. 

I'm guessing this (talus hopping) is no longer an option for me, although there are plenty of talus fields around here.  And I was starting to feel so proud of just being able to WALK up a trail.  I've been watching younger folks as they descend off of Ryan's... some jog or run, it would be so nice to reclaim this level of balance and agility.  Working on it.   And that is ANOTHER reason I won't be able to join you on your trip.      I have work to do right here.  

https://movingoverstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RUNNING-TALUS.pdf

Simple balance work. 

Get 6 or 8 2x4's 4 ft long. Lay them out flat in a pattern you will walk. Keep it simple at first, a few turns, 90 degrees max. Go both ways. As you improve, add tighter turns, fewer straights , etc. Eventually you can have a course that ends where it started. Eventually you'll be able to turn around on the beam without stepping down. Also as you advance set wider gaps to step across. T intersections are cool to. Step the gap, then go left or right as the whim strikes you. 

A lumberyard will cut the pieces for you. You might have to sand them down for splinters. 

This is best done barefoot if you can. Or maybe climbing shoes?

It's like a balance beam, but less than 2 inches from the ground.

You need pavement, or maybe very well graded dirt (I never tried that). If you don't have that at home, maybe the far end of a parking lot will do. Smooth matters more than perfectly level.

Kristian Solemwrote:

Simple balance work. 

Get 6 or 8 2x4's 4 ft long. Lay them out flat in a pattern you will walk. Keep it simple at first, a few turns, 90 degrees max. Go both ways. As you improve, add tighter turns, fewer straights , etc. Eventually you can have a course that ends where it started. Eventually you'll be able to turn around on the beam without stepping down. Also as you advance set wider gaps to step across. T intersections are cool to. Step the gap, then go left or right as the whim strikes you. 

A lumberyard will cut the pieces for you. You might have to sand them down for splinters. 

This is best done barefoot if you can. Or maybe climbing shoes?

It's like a balance beam, but less than 2 inches from the ground.

You need pavement, or maybe very well graded dirt (I never tried that). If you don't have that at home, maybe the far end of a parking lot will do. Smooth matters more than perfectly level.

Oh this is perfect!  Thank you for posting this!  I was having a laugh this morning to think that the sure way to take out our entire “over 50” climbing community in one fell swoop is for us all to head out to run a talus field. Naked.   We’d either be dead or in jail by end of day... I’d prefer the later.

This is a great solution Kristian.  A happy compromise for now.  

Haha I used to run down talus fields BITD,  Nowadays it is a very sedate walk, and yes a butt skooch too if the alternative is jumping more than a foot or two.  Don't wanna mess up that expensive cadaver tendon installed nine years ago with consequent pain and suffering, or subject the one that's still original equipment to an analogous indignity.

The sad reality is I can't begin to keep up with the younger generation going up or going down.  I'm still in motion though, which is consolation enough.