New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #33

I found out about Jonny Lang in 96 or 97. He was 15 when he released his first record.

Carl Schneiderwrote:

I was thinking about how great these tariffs are that Mr T has put in place to sort out all sorts of issues; drug running, all sorts of bad horrible things.

And I got t’ thinkin’ they ought to be used more.

Parkour type problems in my gyms are becoming a thing, horrible terrible things the setters are doing; really horrible things. Nasty.

They’re setting the jumping.
They’re setting the swinging.
They’re setting the jumping swinging.

So, why don’t you peeps ask Mr T to tariff route setters who set parkour problems? Or send them to somewhere else, for a small fee.  

On a SERIOUS note, I’m almost 100% doing indoor bouldering lately which, at my age, sounds odd. Anyone else transitioning to identifying as being an indoor boulderer at this ripe old age? 

My primary gym is a bouldering gym and I see older climbers there all the time, many over 60 and many climbing quite hard.

As for comp style problems, I'm finding I appreciate them more and more.

Unfortunately, I am not very good at them, and there are few easy ones, so it's hard to progress.

I suspect it's hard to make an easy comp problem that can't be cheated, but further, that setters don't typically think about setting easy ones.

Which is a shame.

The running , jumping and swinging is definitely an easy way to wreck the shoulders and elbows,  a good reason to not set like that regularly!

M Mwrote:

The running , jumping and swinging is definitely an easy way to wreck the shoulders and elbows,  a good reason to not set like that regularly!

A man’s got to know his limitations 

Alright, Joshua Tree here we come. Starting our annual southwest deserts van trip there. Then points farther east, including another 60 or 70 miles on The Grand Enchantment Trail. No other itinerary, just exploring and playing. 

Lori Milaswrote:

Alan, I don’t think it was Frank. I got to know Frank just a little before he died. The story I’m thinking of was posted here maybe five years ago so I might have to go back and do some digging.

Did anyone watch the Grammys last night? I am officially lost and I guess that makes me old now. Carl, I’d like to know what you are listening to these days.  Coming up through the 60s music was so important and I have continued to try to listen to some of everything and to stay current.  I’m listening, but I cannot help but recall a really pure time when music was barely produced, performed without a hint of commercialism. I guess that couldn’t last forever.

So at the halfway mark, I left the Grammys and found the old video of Crossroads 2010, which introduced me to Johnny Lang, and John Mayer.  Eric Clapton pulled together a whole host of musicians, including Ronnie Wood, B.B. King, and many others.  

On another happy note, Kanye West brought his new wife to the show, completely buck naked. She’s a dead ringer for his former wife, Kim Kardashian. So there is some kind of back at ya going on there, but way too deep for me.

You might be thinking about Steve Price. He wrote an eloquent piece about climbing Ellingwood Arete (I believe). The thread was Be Kind and I think has been removed after his passing. Helen would know more. 

Lori Milaswrote:

Did anyone watch the Grammys last night? I am officially lost and I guess that makes me old now. 

Actually, you got old first, then lost.

I wouldn't know anything about it all either, except that my daughter Sarah is a professional touring musician and has played with boy genius and Chapell Roan.  Since Chapell Roan was featured at the Grammies, I tuned in to see Sarah perform.

Sarah is a normal-looking woman most of the time, but Chapell Roan performances feature elaborate sets and outrageously costumed band members, and this is how they gussied Sarah up for the Grammy performance.

At the performance

In real life she looks more like this

Cool Rich, what instrument does she play?

Lady Gaga channeling Cher was an interesting look.  And California Dreaming should be the ultimate Lori song...

Both of those are wonderful photos. Very different though. 

rgoldwrote:

I wouldn't know anything about it all either, except that my daughter Sarah is a professional touring musician and has played with boy genius and Chapell Roan.  Since Chapell Roan was featured at the Grammies, I tuned in to see Sarah perform.

Sarah is a normal-looking woman most of the time, but Chapell Roan performances feature elaborate sets and outrageously costumed band members, and this is how they gussied Sarah up for the Grammy performance.

In real life she looks more like this

Keyboards in back left side of stage?  Really neat! (edit to add back in).

Couldn't help but think that when KRA was seated in the audience...I wouldn't want to be sitting behind her (that pointy hat was tall).

I watched the Grammy's and don't follow closely most of the current music...but...always find a performance or artist that I appreciate.  

Edit for Todd's challenge:  Billy Strings won for best Bluegrass album.  Another fav accepted the award on his behalf:   Rhiannon Giddens.  Watched a show a few weeks back with Sierra Ferrell and note that she won the Grammy for best Americana everything (ha ha...four Grammys!).  Crazy history of her life for sure.  Gillian Welch and David Rawlings won for best folk album.  Saw them years ago with Doc Watson.  Funny...when I play them for friends I ask where they think Gillian is from...they'd never guess she's an LA girl (born in NYC).  Fan of Molly Tuttle (Crooked Tree especially).  You can guess my genres of interest...ha ha.

Todd, I listen to all kinds of stuff from after 2020 that my 13 year old daughter plays in the car.  I have absolutely no idea of the names of either the artists the songs.

To her credit, she does like Black Sabbath, Steely Dan, and Rush as well when Daddy gets his turn.

Brian in SLCwrote:

Edit for Todd's challenge:  Billy Strings won for best Bluegrass album.  Another fav accepted the award on his behalf:   Rhiannon Giddens.  Watched a show a few weeks back with Sierra Ferrell and note that she won the Grammy for best Americana everything (ha ha...four Grammys!).  Crazy history of her life for sure.  Gillian Welch and David Rawlings won for best folk album.  Saw them years ago with Doc Watson.  Funny...when I play them for friends I ask where they think Gillian is from...they'd never guess she's an LA girl (born in NYC).  Fan of Molly Tuttle (Crooked Tree especially).  You can guess my genres of interest...ha ha.

Right there with you!  I saw Billy Strings in PA last summer and Molly Tuttle in Tarrytown just a few months ago.  Both such great shows!

Todd Berlier wrote:

Yessses!!!!

My kids, too! I do ask mine about the artists I end up liking. 

I ended up getting into 21 Pilots because of my oldest. Ended up taking her to their (and her first) concert:

Since we're boulderers we bought matching beanies 

She must not be 15 or older, or you are doing something amazingly right, as my 16 and 18 year old go climbing and to shows with me but would not be caught dead wearing the same hat/outfit as me!

And for new music, Lord Huron is AMAZING in my opinion.  They've been around since 2012 (I think) but just released new music and new album on the way.  My kids and wife and all all LOVE them!

Edit  for Todd:  I'm just picking on you!  My 21 year old that's in Uni in Scotland has the exact same Moon climbing "trousers" (don't call them pants in Scotland!) as me and she loves to go out with me and tells everyone that we're "Climbing Twinsies"!  You just never know!  

T Hockingwrote:

Cool Rich, what instrument does she play?

Mostly keyboards, occasionally violin, backup vocals.

Pretty wild stuff Rich. What a huge success!

Todd Berlier wrote:

Good Dirty Harry quote!

The running and jumpy stuff is fun, but I don't do it much. Sometimes my daughter will talk me into trying one. So much shock loading tho, to me, seems injury prone and more importantly not applicable to outside climbing, which is the reason I climb inside. 

Edit: missed your comment M M, what they said.

I've seen a younger (and very talented) climber at one of my favorite outdoor bouldering areas do the run and jump on a classic problem and completely break the normal beta. Think a less than vertical slab with a decent hold 12 feet up. Normal beta is slab and crimp your way up to the good hold. Comp style is run straight at the wall and rocket up it parkour style to latch the decent hold. Cool to watch but definitely not for me! 

Emil Briggswrote:

I've seen a younger (and very talented) climber at one of my favorite outdoor bouldering areas do the run and jump on a classic problem and completely break the normal beta. . . .

This is me leaping from the North to South Summit block of Chimney Rock at Joshua Tree BITD (early 80’s). 

I was a sprinter and long jumper in High School with springy legs. When I was in college, I spent the summers living in Yosemite Valley and enjoyed talus running on the expansive, stable fields of granite blocks below the Three Brothers and El Cap, which helped me develop kinesthetic awareness.

Doug Robinson described talus running like this: “…by the time you actually start running, speed and confidence will accelerate you like a hydrofoil coming up on the wing, until you're running along the tops of the blocks. Or, in really big talus — car-sized-blocks- you can end up ricocheting off a sequence of facing friction slabs in a sinuous dynamic, scribing an energy arc that is always leaning forward by tilting sideways.”

In 1980 I did a first ascent at JTree with Charles Cole of a route named Mission Impossible  with a parkour-style run and jump to the first knob. It’s about J4 on the Joshua Tree run and jump boulder rating system of J1 to J5, J5 being the toughest.

I used to love leaping around from boulder to boulder on the jumbled approaches so common at JTree, but as I got older and went through some back issues I quit jumping and focused on self preservation.

Does anyone have any footage of John Bachar climbing?

I was thinking about something attributed to John along the lines of wanting to have “more than enough” strength to tackle whatever route he is on.  I’ve seen a few short clips of him on rock, and he looked so solid and smooth – – effortlessly precise and more than capable of handling the physical challenge.  I scanned YouTube last night and found very little actual footage. There must be more.

I have focused so much on “technique“, on learning to read a route, how to maneuver over whatever is called for. Now I am seeing that technique only takes you so far. I’m newly all in with developing more strength and endurance—even though the gym is not my favorite place to be. I mean, what would it be like if I wasn’t fighting for the strength to pull up on that thin edge or do the next mantle?

this year I have climbed a variety of 5.5 to 5.9 – – to Alan’s point— but just observing the 10a that I was on a few days ago, the buck stops right there without more strength.  I’m going to get after it.   

—

So… NPR, PBS, the New York Times and NBC have now been banned from the Pentagon to be replaced with Breitbart, the NY POST and OAN.  Does this sit well with you?

Post 2020 music—Billy Strings and K Pop (a guilty pleasure)  

Erika… thank you.  That was it.  Steve Price.