New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #33

Needles 1978 , 1st place I ever climbed via a summer camp based in the gunks called Wilderness Bound, kind of like a degenerate outward bound;

I think Kahyyam  is the prominent needle in the center of this shot. Isa and I have climbed spire 1,2,3 and 4 in this formation. I think that leaves  east and west Gruesome and Kahyyam as the  major features in this group we haven't done???  so I just thought this was a variation of spire 2 but now I see that its called Balcony point.  5.9 hand crack in one book, 5.8 in another ;) 

Now I wonder which summit that is below Isa's right foot? 

and the summit of Balcony Point. We have done this every time we have been lucky enough to be here.

. . . it went where it always goes. Into power and greed. PACs and lobbies, walls and rails. Top down bottom feeders with a house on the hill.

Where did the air go? The trees and frogs . . .

Getting new climbing shoes, my old ones burnt.

Cleaning up a few leaves.

What size?

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

I think Kahyyam  is the prominent needle in the center of this shot. Isa and I have climbed spire 1,2,3 and 4 in this formation. I think that leaves  east and west Gruesome and Kahyyam as the  major features in this group we haven't done???  so I just thought this was a variation of spire 2 but now I see that its called Balcony point.  5.9 hand crack in one book, 5.8 in another ;) 

Now I wonder which summit that is below Isa's right foot? 

and the summit of Balcony Point. We have done this every time we have been lucky enough to be here.

That's Heck of a Note below Isa's foot. Really fun Conn route on that one! 

This subject, "climate change", is one of the few areas where I just bury my head and cry.  I leave it to the scientists to let us know if it is already 'too late'.  Every year we get the annual notice of CO2 increase, warming increase, glacier melting, growing areas of drought and famine.  It's only going in one direction. I understand that at a certain point, the heating trend is irreversible.  We may already be there.  

Apogee mentioned the difficulty in getting Home Owner's Insurance.  Farmer's pulled out and left me without a policy.  As of last year, there were two insurer's left in California, and they were wobblers.  That's because, obviously, this state is like a tinder box, and way too costly to insure.  So they can't say "climate change" but they know the state is going up in smoke.

Whether it has happened before (it hasn't), we could still try.  We could ATTEMPT to embrace this beautiful planet and save it.  We could pray for a miracle.  

Meanwhile, I fully agree with Kris and others who feel that there is theft, corruption and mismanagement in government. That doesn't prevent our love of this planet, and our pleas to adjudicate the best efforts for our environment.  

I went for a long hike this morning.  I just desperately want to be a good steward  I'd like to give my kids/grandkids something besides dealing with a planet too hot to live on.  Honestly, if Trump was the guy to do it, I'd back him.  If I thought Elon cared and would put his considerable brain to work to solve this, he'd have my support.  But so far... all I see is the most ignorant denial, the most shortsided greed.  

Tony seems to be making a comeback.  I wish he could see it because he still has moments of despair.  He's walking with a cane.  He met up with his friends for breakfast this morning.  He plans to get back to the gym on Monday.  His leg still swells up in a scary way every night... I seem to recall a warning about a blood clot that could break loose and lodge in his heart.  So, I'm freaking out... he's calm about it.  

Some things never change.  Driving down the grade to Palm Springs yesterday, I grabbed the arm rest during one of those S curves and gasped.  Tony said "Oh for God sake. I swear, if I get in an accident, it will be  because you are in the car.  I might as well turn on my 4-way flashers, and put a sign on the back of the car to let followers know I'm being held back."  It was a great laugh for both of us.  

I'm reading through the second book on lifting... 67 pages of instruction on just the FIRST exercise, the Squat.  I just need someone to show me. 

I'm smoking a pork butt today with hickory.  Anyone got anything tasty on the stove?  

Lori Milas wrote:

This subject, "climate change", is one of the few areas where I just bury my head and cry.  I leave it to the scientists to let us know if it is already 'too late'.  

I was a meteorologist for the USAF back in the early 1960s. The post-graduate program I went through at the U of Chicago included atmospheric physics, by consensus the toughest course, and then there was climatology, which by consensus, was the basket weaving course, almost laughable. So it's not surprising that the oldest generation nowadays might not have a lot of confidence in the subject, which was mostly statistics back then. However, climatology has been pretty much replaced by "climate science", a far more sophisticated endeavor.  I wish I could speculate that all that is being done now to halt or even slow the progression of climate change can make a difference, but I cannot. In my antiquated opinion the best that can be done is to plan ahead and try to adapt to these changes, while still attempting to mitigate possibly the worst outcomes. 

Early climbing gyms:  Hasenheide Turnplatz early 1800s

Round Hill School, Boston 1826:

American Turner Gymnasium 1860:

philip bone wrote:

What size?

46 EU, but my situation isn’t nearly as bad as some living up the hill. I just needed to remove trees and am getting new shoes.

John Gill wrote:

I was a meteorologist for the USAF back in the early 1960s. The post-graduate program I went through at the U of Chicago included atmospheric physics, by consensus the toughest course, and then there was climatology, which by consensus, was the basket weaving course, almost laughable. So it's not surprising that the oldest generation nowadays might not have a lot of confidence in the subject, which was mostly statistics back then. However, climatology has been pretty much replaced by "climate science", a far more sophisticated endeavor.  I wish I could speculate that all that is being done now to halt or even slow the progression of climate change can make a difference, but I cannot. In my antiquated opinion the best that can be done is to plan ahead and try to adapt to these changes, while still attempting to mitigate possibly the worst outcomes. 

Early climbing gyms:  Hasenheide Turnplatz early 1800s

Round Hill School, Boston 1826:

American Turner Gymnasium 1860:

I once visited a museum called the Higgin's Armory in Worcester MA ( sadly since closed) that focused on armor. and weapons, particularly from the Middle Ages. One exhibit included a description of a 'training program' for knights, that would have worked well for climbers--they did some very impressive stiff, including overhung ladder climbs in armor. Unfortunately this was before I had a cell phone, so didn't have the technology to take a photo of the exhibit

Didn't Bonnie Prudden build the first climbing wall in the US?

Or am I misremembering?

I believe that the first purpose built climbing structure in the US was Schurman ( probably have this misspelled) Rock in Seattle--an outside 'sculpture' constructed by the Civilan Conservatory Corps in the 1930s--so pre-dating anything that Bonnie Prudden may have made. I am unaware of what, if anything, she built in this regard. The oldest purpose built indoor wall in the US that I am aware of is at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA created by the late Dave Roberts in the late '60s/early '70s. That wall initially consisted of small rocks supplemented by wooded blocks glued to a vertical concrete wall in a campus gym building. It is definitely possible that similar walls were build earlier ", so it would be interesting to hear if anyone is aware of any. Also, I'm aware that some individual climbers  created similar  smaller home 'training devices'  in basements and garages in the same time period as the Hampshire Wall was first built,  and it is probable that there were earlier versions as well.

ca 1820     Probably German or Austrian

I was in England giving a talk at the British Mountaineering Council in 1985 when Dennis Grey (I think) took me to a new climbing gym in either Leeds or Manchester. I carried a small block of chalk and improvised a couple of dynamic moves on the primitive cinder block wall with squarish holds. That year alone some fifteen gyms came alive in the country.

Was a climbing wall built in a handball court at Montana State.  Can't recall the history...may have been late 60's or 70's.  Callis would know.

Speaking of Pat...

Piton - the Pat Callis story

I think Pat just retired from the Chemistry dept.  I took gen chem from him in 1981...

John Gill wrote:

the primitive cinder block wall with squarish holds. That year alone some fifteen gyms came alive in the country.

I spent my junior year of undergrad at the university of East Anglia in Norwich in the late 80s and they had a similar wall. I don’t know if it was new or not. It was certainly primitive. While the wall itself was fairly forgettable, the club that used it was where I made the most meaningful relationships during my time there. (Mostly rainy) trips to the Peak District and n. Wales with Berghaus-clad club members are etched upon my mind.

Still doing trips to the Peak District…

https://ueasport.co.uk/club/climbing/

https://youtu.be/z15pxWUXvLY?feature=shared

Not the worst thing to get stuck in your head now and then. 

:-)

Edit to add, if there's a "degenerate Outward Bound" for old people, sign me up!

I still think my bouldering area was used by kids 10,000 years ago, and it's a pretty good guess buildering has gone on forever. Gymnastics has been around forever, and, not climbing the way we think of it, but probably more dangerous then anything most of us do now, my elementary and junior high school had ropes attached to the rather high gym ceilings. No safety system at all except one or two of those useless 2" thick mats, and maybe -maybe- a teacher standing around somewhere. That was fun....when you only weighed 50 or 60 pounds, lol!

Colden Dark wrote:

I spent my junior year of undergrad at the university of East Anglia in Norwich in the late 80s and they had a similar wall. I don’t know if it was new or not. It was certainly primitive. While the wall itself was fairly forgettable, the club that used it was where I made the most meaningful relationships during my time there. (Mostly rainy) trips to the Peak District and n. Wales with Berghaus-clad club members are etched upon my mind. 

Though often just a lurker here, I’ll throw in a reminiscence of a cinderblock wall built in the 80s (?) by Jim Dey in the gym of my high school.  A crack he’d put in with, I assume, a concrete saw, and holds epoxied along the wall. Once or twice a week, he’d solo to the top of the wall and set up top ropes for the kids.  Hip belays and a few hand me down harnesses: good times!  I remember only climbing a little bc I was usually too busy with track practice.  But I’m pretty sure that wall, and that machine shop teacher, started hundreds of kids climbing over the years.

Regarding early climbing gyms, I believe that the one in Seattle is given credit as the first proper climbing gym in the country, and I believe that it opened its doors in ‘87.  Interestingly enough, Barry Loucks’ Albuquerque Rock Gym also opened in ‘87, and it was a true first gen proto-gym. They coexisted briefly with the first iteration of Bryan Pletta’s Stone Age Climbing Gym, but simply couldn’t compete. 

Ed Bannister had indoor climbing walls in his shop, The Art of Climbing, just down the street from Stoney Point, before 1987. It was a great asset for the locals, especially when the days were short.