New and experienced climbers over 50 #37

Dynamics (dynos) first appeared on the boulders, or very short pitches at ground level. For the period of time I was a trad climber I don't recall doing anything more than a minor use of momentum when up high. And certainly after that when I FS only I was very conservative. But in a bouldering environment one can become more athletic or gymnastic, and in doing so reinforce bouldering as a legitimate type of climbing. Being given Olympic status does that also.

 

Rock climbing was more a strenuous adventure than athletics during the 1950s. Especially on first ascents. The advent of sport climbing in the 1980s brought the possibility of a little bit of bouldering higher up. Age 45 in photo. 

Lori Milaswrote:

I promised myself I would not only play this summer, but would also somehow stay fit enough to climb.  This is turning out to be a real project.  I'm not quite sure I'm doing enough.  

The off-season for me occurs when it gets cold enough that I can't find anyone willing to climb with me. At that time, I retreat to the gym. The gym is where I usually wind up climbing a bit too hard, and then tweak body parts, so it's dangerous, but necessary if I want to stay in climbing shape.

If I had my druthers, in the winter, I would travel somewhere that'd be warm enough to climb outdoors. But typically 1 day a week of gym climbing keeps me strong enough that I feel good to climb at the start of the season. If anything, I'm stronger, because I mostly don't climb anything very difficult in the summer.

Bob has always said the best way to train for a route, is to climb the route.  But I think that implies a certain base fitness which I don't have.  My endurance is in the tank. My upper body strength is lacking.  It all seems to fade away SO quickly.  Is this anyone else's experience?  

I don't know what you can do since you don't have a climbing gym. At the end of last winter, I started doing a protocol where we did 4 laps on an indoor route a few grades below our max grade. I think it helped keep that base level of fitness. Again this was one day a week. Besides that, I exercise every day, either taking long walks, hiking, rucking, climbing (indoors or out), and weightlifting (free weights, at home). This keeps me fit enough, though of course "you can never be too strong."

I also looked at running shoes at REI in Roseville, got a little confused by all the varieties.  Do I want 'Trail Runners" or 'Street Runners' and what's the difference?  Does anyone have a favorite pair of joggers for trails?  My hiking shoes are too clumsy for running.  

I've sprained my ankles one too many times to do trail running. Sometimes I do a little jogging on a rail trail. Not enough to require a special shoe. I can easily do it in my hiking boots.

If I do get out on rock, I'm thinking of doing laps on longer routes...  just to get in that mileage.  

That's the ticket! What keeps you from climbing this time of year? Is it the heat, or something else? If I were you, I'd try to keep the outdoor mileage going.

Lori Milaswrote:

Ward, are you training hard for your boulder project in November?  If so, how?

Yes, but do you really want to know? Probably TMI (Too Much Information).

Anyway, I am generally climbing three days a week.  It has been four occasionally, but that is too much for me to climb and train and feel fresh.

Day one:  Limit bouldering.  I go into the gym and warm up on the set boulders, up to my flash limit.  Then, I go to the hangboard and do several progressively harder hangs, not too many, culminating in one arm hangs on a good flat hold and then two arm hanging on an 8 mm edge.  Then I do four sets of three fingers curls into a 20 mm edge with a half crimp.  Finally, I work on something with moves that I can't do.  If I am going outdoors (like tomorrow), I warm up on easy (5.8) climbs and do the finger curls then get on my limit boulder.  For the one I am working on tomorrow, I might just hang on the crux holds if I can't move off of them.

Day 2:  Endurance.  I either do: 1. 30 minutes of ARC (Aerobic Restoration and Capillarity) training.  This is best done on the auto belay.  30 minutes of climbing non-stop, climbing up and down routes, mostly easy but sometimes getting a bit  pumped on harder routes and then recovering on easier ones, or 2. Climb as many routes as you can flash with a partner, with a one to one interval of climbing and resting.  For me, in my gym with soft grades, that is mostly 5.10's and 5.11's up to 11d.   

Day 3:  Kilter Board.  I do the same boulder and hangboard warm-up as on day one, then climb on the board at 50 degrees and do as many routes in the barely flash or a few tries zone that I can. This is about V4 for me on the Kilter at 50.

I try to do weighted pullups, overhead presses, hanging legs raises, and feet elevated pushups at least once per week, the day depending upon how I'm feeling.  I also stretch as much as I can.

I walk a 2.5 miles loop at a fast pace or do a long hike at least three times a week.  

I am going to substitute kilter board problems on the minute for the endurance day.  This is more of a strength capacity workout and I think probably better than the easier endurance climbing that I have been doing for my boulder problem.

I am a bit heavy (161) but strength gains come easier when you are not trying to cut weight, and I'm still four months out.  My hang time on the 8 mm edge is the same as it was when I weighted 154 in the spring so I think that I will be much stronger when I drop the weight.

Two months out, I am going to drop the endurance day and do power endurance laps on kilter problems that are about the same number of hand moves (18). 

 

Fire roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa with 4 kinds of chilis and spicy arugula (squirrels ate the cilantro) onion , salt and lemon juice.  Everything but the salt and onion came from our yard.  I might be biased but it’s pretty good!

Ward Smithwrote:

Yes, but do you really want to know? Probably TMI (Too Much Information).

Anyway, I am generally climbing three days a week.  It has been four occasionally, but that is too much for me to climb and train and feel fresh.

Day one:  Limit bouldering.  I go into the gym and warm up on the set boulders, up to my flash limit.  Then, I go to the hangboard and do several progressively harder hangs, not too many, culminating in one arm hangs on a good flat hold and then two arm hanging on an 8 mm edge.  Then I do four sets of three fingers curls into a 20 mm edge with a half crimp.  Finally, I work on something with moves that I can't do.  If I am going outdoors (like tomorrow), I warm up on easy (5.8) climbs and do the finger curls then get on my limit boulder.  For the one I am working on tomorrow, I might just hang on the crux holds if I can't move off of them.

Day 2:  Endurance.  I either do: 1. 30 minutes of ARC (Aerobic Restoration and Capillarity) training.  This is best done on the auto belay.  30 minutes of climbing non-stop, climbing up and down routes, mostly easy but sometimes getting a bit  pumped on harder routes and then recovering on easier ones, or 2. Climb as many routes as you can flash with a partner, with a one to one interval of climbing and resting.  For me, in my gym with soft grades, that is mostly 5.10's and 5.11's up to 11d.   

Day 3:  Kilter Board.  I do the same boulder and hangboard warm-up as on day one, then climb on the board at 50 degrees and do as many routes in the barely flash or a few tries zone that I can. This is about V4 for me on the Kilter at 50.

I try to do weighted pullups, overhead presses, hanging legs raises, and feet elevated pushups at least once per week, the day depending upon how I'm feeling.  I also stretch as much as I can.

I walk a 2.5 miles loop at a fast pace or do a long hike at least three times a week.  

I am going to substitute kilter board problems on the minute for the endurance day.  This is more of a strength capacity workout and I think probably better than the easier endurance climbing that I have been doing for my boulder problem.

I am a bit heavy (161) but strength gains come easier when you are not trying to cut weight, and I'm still four months out.  My hang time on the 8 mm edge is the same as it was when I weighted 154 in the spring so I think that I will be much stronger when I drop the weight.

Two months out, I am going to drop the endurance day and do power endurance laps on kilter problems that are about the same number of hand moves (18). 

Definitely TMI but nice workout ethic!

My personal workout regimen is just try to climb a couple times a week, go sailing/biking/skiing once in a while and keep the weight off.

I did some finger strength workouts at Canada cliffs this morning, 75 degrees and dry enough to not need chalk. Then I went up and down a ladder at work about 50x .

Jim Uwrote:

come on by man I've got a huge re-fillable bucket.

this whole WSJ thing smells weird tho... I mean when was the last time you read of heard Trump use flowy language like that listed in the article..... plus you're gonna tell me if the biden regime had something salacious they wouldn't leaked it in a heartbeat???  did this letter happen before or after trump banned JE from mara largo?  honestly don't know.

My hand is still up for a wikileaks level dump of everything.  If that happens get ready for everyone whose about to be outed to "suddenly" announce retirement or start to PR campaign to "get in front of it"

Weird smell? LMAO 

Finally, a sunny day with 70f temps and low humidity. I played Hookey from work and Isa and I climbed a 700ft 5.7 on Mt Willard.  we looked for the new approach trail but did not find it so we did the old fashioned method and walked right past the no trespassing signs on the RR tracks.   It was a bit of an adjustment  after mostly sport climbing  this summer. Bolts a mile away and  climbing over funky  small gear placements.  The first 20ft on P1 to the 1st bolt sucked. Seeping and slippery in the absolute wheel chair no fall zone. Really shitty landing. The rest of the climb was delicious  but with serious runouts on every pitch.   Isa starting up P 2

Isa following P3

Isa arriving at P3 belay

Isa sitting at the top of P4 watching the train come. 

the long way down

the train heading back to N Conway

 we found a really cool gravel bar to cook dinner on and swim

Lori Milaswrote:

I also looked at running shoes at REI in Roseville, got a little confused by all the varieties.  Do I want 'Trail Runners" or 'Street Runners' and what's the difference?  Does anyone have a favorite pair of joggers for trails?  My hiking shoes are too clumsy for running.  

I believe that 'trail runners' have more robust and featured tread on the soles to grip the varied terrain of the trail.  Also, I think they are probably more resistant to general wear and tear than a 'street running shoe' when used on the rougher terrain of the trail.  

For example, when I started running again a bit last year I started off using some old street running shoes with a grip meant for asphalt or concrete.  I was sliding around on the grass and dirt of the trail whenever I had to change direction or decelerate on hills. And the soles started to break down faster because they weren't made to be used on the trail.

In my experience, street running shoes are made for linear running on the pavement or a running track, whereas the trail runners are made to handle the varied speed and change of direction of trail running while also having the tread to deal with grass, dirt and rock.

It is analogous to the difference between an off road tire on a car and a street tire.

Give thanks

apogeewrote:

Now Trump has directed Bondi to release everything Epstein, because WSJ says they have a creepy Bday letter he sent to Epstein?

I’m starting to run low on popcorn…

I've been busy with fun and interesting stuff this week and haven't been following politics all that closely. Looks like I missed some entertaining stuff!

I've been busy with fun and interesting stuff this week

There's your blessing right there. Headed up the hill this morning, gone hunt some rock. That's the news I'm interested in.   

GabeOwrote:

I occasionally climbed in comps, and definitely was inspired to new heights by them. That said, the last boulder comp i was in was probably close to 15 years ago, and a lot has changed. For one thing, all the problems are unnaturally "hoppy" now, which does not suit my style (maybe J. Gill would approve).  And for another, no-one has a master's category any more. So I don't expect to do well. But whatever, I'll see how it goes. 

GO

There are a fair number of outdoor bouldering comps in the southeast that have masters divisions. That usually starts at 45 which actually seems pretty young to me these days. I like going to them since having a lot of pads available gives me the confidence to try taller problems I would normally avoid. Also, depending on the boulder field the style outside may not penalize older climbers as much. I managed 48 V-points at the Float the Boat comp this year including a V6, a V5 and 5 V4s which was only possible because there were a lot of slab and crack problems to choose from. No way I could do that on steep rock these days.

Hey Ship! Thank you for this! How has it gone for you getting back into running?  Do you have a favorite shoe?

Ward and dragons, you guys wore me out just reading your descriptions!.   Ward, you are SERIOUSLY going to get that boulder this year.  I can feel it.  

Dragons, with regards to climbing here in the summer, we broke our “no climbing in temps over 90°” rule yesterday. I came prepared to suggest we call it off and go home, but it really was lovely in every way— it was about 93°. But yea, most days it’s just too hot. 

I have it in my head that this could be my last year of climbing – – at least of “climbing hard“ – – and whatever I want to do I should get serious about it now. I could be way off on this. Everything about climbing has surprised me so far so it could all end tomorrow or I could still be climbing at 80.  But I’m not taking this time for granted.  

So, as far as fitness goes, I have learned to rely upon my WHOOP to tell me how I’m doing. Specifically, I watch the Strain score at the end of every workout.  It sure sets me straight about what I “think“ I’m doing. I can hike hard for two hours, feel pretty worked, and get a strain of 6 or 7.  I can throw in some uphill scrambling, in the sun, and might bump that score up to 10 or 12 for the day.

Here was yesterday’s score.

21 being the theoretical max.  This amounts to significant Zone 4 and Zone 5 training.

After the last route, I wondered if I could possibly squeeze in one more route, just couldn’t muster the energy .

So my experience is that there is no exercise on this planet that I could be persuaded to do this hard. I don’t think any gym work out would take me there—I’d probably quit way before I was into the 19 to 21 range.

There is something about being on an at-limit route work inspires me to push hard. I was trying to observe my own thoughts when trying to decide if I wanted to go for a difficult mantle maneuver. I hadn’t planned on it but there it was. I tried to get my breathing to slow down and send some energy into my legs and then just do it.  

aside from climbing just being fun. I think we are supposed to be regularly hitting that zone four and zone five level of cardio. So I will be interested to see if getting back on a bicycle or even doing a little running will take care of some of that.  

—-

The other challenge I have is that virtually everything here looks fun to climb and most of it is too hard.  Bob has his hands full with my wandering eye. Of the routes I mentioned yesterday Bob carefully says “well that one’s pretty hard“. I already know it’s a 12d.    After seeing the picture of the Titanic at the needles I feel challenged to find a Titanic-like route here in the 5.8-5.10 range.

Nick, Isa looks so pretty in pink.  

John Gillwrote:

Dynamics (dynos) first appeared on the boulders, or very short pitches at ground level. For the period of time I was a trad climber I don't recall doing anything more than a minor use of momentum when up high. And certainly after that when I FS only I was very conservative. But in a bouldering environment one can become more athletic or gymnastic, and in doing so reinforce bouldering as a legitimate type of climbing. Being given Olympic status does that also.

 

Rock climbing was more a strenuous adventure than athletics during the 1950s. Especially on first ascents. The advent of sport climbing in the 1980s brought the possibility of a little bit of bouldering higher up. Age 45 in photo. 

The Gunks in the 70s had Double Clutch or the boulder problem that was a direct start to the climb Double Clutch. I remember thinking of it as kind of a novelty and not something that you would find on a route. 

Marco sticking the dyno on Foops that was first free climbed by Stannard.

Yesterdays slab climbing adventure reminded us on how critical it is to keep moving and keep your upward momentum on run out slab.  The worst thing you can do when you are half a mile out from your last crappy micro cam and still 10 ft shy of the bolt is to stop moving and start over thinking.. 

Steve’s project, some kind of low end 13.  Blue skies and rhino horns today.  Steve did  his biggest link yet on the upper section, my brother cleaned a new second pitch to the best 5.8 sport route in New Hampshire, and I did some moves that I couldn’t touch before on my boulder project.  You can’t ask for more in July.  

Ward Smithwrote:

Steve’s project, some kind of low end 13.  Blue skies and rhino horns today.  Steve did  his biggest link yet on the upper section, my brother cleaned a new second pitch to the best 5.8 sport route in New Hampshire, and I did some moves that I couldn’t touch before on my boulder project.  You can’t ask for more in July.  

Rumney? Curious as to what is the best .8 sport in NH (truly and respectfully curious!)

A large group of us had a work day at our local crag of Farley Ledge in memory of our friend Tony Gardner who passed away last fall. Tony was an avid cleaner and developer of routes and trails, and climbed hard into his early '80s despite a serious chronic health problem. We were building stairs and belay platforms at the last outcrop he and his wife, Alice, prepared before his condition finally overwhelmed him. It was a great day in honor of a wonderful guy--a few if us even got some climbing in afterwards.

Buck Rogerswrote:

Rumney? Curious as to what is the best .8 sport in NH (truly and respectfully curious!)

Not Rumney, but not far away, as I understand. Since the crag is still under development, I don't know how many details Ward wants to share--I'm sure he will chime in soon. The price of admission, though, as I understand it, is a steep one hour uphill hike!!!!