New and experienced climbers over 50 #37

Alan Rubinwrote:

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!!!!

Not that long.  Feelgood took me years ago.

another shot from last night..  I think I was playing Neil Young's  Old Man when Isa took these. 

Alan Rubinwrote:

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.

That's something we don't have much of around here with the feds controlling most of the crags, some of the crags up north that are on private/trust land get some group effort days but not here. Good times with the locals outside of the gym is always good!

Lori Milaswrote:

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

No favorite shoe. I just switched to a shoe that I already had that was less smooth on the soles and had more tread and ankle support.  Sometimes I still run with the old street running shoes because they are lighter.

As far as returning to running, it's gone ok.  I try to run twice a week, but sometimes only get out once a week.  I also try to climb at least once a week so that gets in the way of the second day of running sometimes.  It's been hot out lately so I have to try to run before the sun is up.  I've also realized that I find running more boring than I used to.  Before I would put on a podcast and get in the zone and just go.  Now I seem to always be thinking about how long until I'm done.  Hopefully I can get back into the running groove.

No climbing pics. Some Sierra scenery for you. 

Rgold and I enjoyed bouldering together. Here, ca1900, I watch in consternation as Rich negotiates a problem I had graded B3, but which he forced the grade down to B2 by simply solving it. I am not spotting Rich, since Hartley Price, the Gym coach at the U of Illinois didn't invent the term until the 1930s. 

John Gillwrote:

Rgold and I enjoyed bouldering together. Here, ca1900, I watch in consternation as Rich negotiates a problem I had graded B3, but which he forced the grade down to B2 by simply solving it. I am not spotting Rich, since Hartley Price, the Gym coach at the U of Illinois didn't invent the term until the 1930s. 

I clearly remember having to wait in mid-crux for 30 years for Harley Price to invent spotting so that John could give me one.  It was lonely at times, and I got very hungry.

LOL   

I heard a podcast recently, where some climbing professional advised not to give up on a climb before you’ve tried 100 times. How many attempts do you make on your project routes before giving up?  I may have tried this one 10 or 15 times so I have a ways to go.

It’s Sunday morning and I’m visiting this formation and studying the moves.  It’s been a really long time. The route, Dog Day Afternoon, was one I had my heart set on several years ago. There were just a handful of moves that I couldn’t do. I finally decided to let it go for a while.

Bob has said that once you are climbing in the 10’s everything has to be firing.  It does seem that there is a real shift in intensity once you enter that 5.10+ threshold and this is no exception.

Dave Houser‘s story was that he and Charles Cole were putting up a couple of routes over at Cave Corridor and looked up to see this beautiful formation and decided to head on over to see if they could do a First Ascent. I wish I could’ve been here for that.

So it’s a Dave Houser route and I’m drawn back again. If ever some pull-up strength and finger strength were necessary it’s here. There’s also an intimidation factor – – it just looks impossible. That’s on me I guess. 

But once you get past the crux the ride to the top is thrilling.

I’m going to be thinking about this route as I bump up my workout in the gym and try to get some calluses on my fingertips. Another thing I recall is that it helps to move through that opening sequence quickly, and I could never memorize those moves. I’d wind up trying to figure it out on the fly and pump out. I think my memory is sharper now.

As I sit under this magnificent rock and ponder my future with it, I have to stop in say wow, I never saw myself here when I was contemplating retirement. So my gratitude is overwhelming for the opportunity to live and climb in Joshua Tree.

Is it weird to come back three years later and try again because that’s what I’m thinking,  

CARL: where are you??? 

Ship Twrote:

No favorite shoe. I just switched to a shoe that I already had that was less smooth on the soles and had more tread and ankle support.  Sometimes I still run with the old street running shoes because they are lighter.

As far as returning to running, it's gone ok.  I try to run twice a week, but sometimes only get out once a week.  I also try to climb at least once a week so that gets in the way of the second day of running sometimes.  It's been hot out lately so I have to try to run before the sun is up.  I've also realized that I find running more boring than I used to.  Before I would put on a podcast and get in the zone and just go.  Now I seem to always be thinking about how long until I'm done.  Hopefully I can get back into the running groove.

Finding the right running shoe always boils down to trial and error.  If you can try them on in a store with a treadmill do it, but even that doesn’t mimic the true impact of running outside.  Both REI and RoadRunnerSports have awesome return policies (even if you take shoes for a test run…or two). Use their shoe dog function to get you at least into the right style of shoe, after that try them out.

I ran in Newtons for the 15+ yrs I raced triathlon, but in the last yr or so my ankles needed more cushioning than they provided (and that’s even with a solid forefoot style of running the minimizes heel strike)  Hoka has me maintaining 20-26 miles a week pain free.  Experiences may vary.  

Take your time figuring out what’s best for you.  This was one of my NCOs during a clinic I ran.  Notice his heels, all I did was tell him to take his shoes off close his eyes and run.

Jim Uwrote:

Finding the right running shoe always boils down to trial and error.  If you can try them on in a store with a treadmill do it, but even that doesn’t mimic the true impact of running outside.  Both REI and RoadRunnerSports have awesome return policies (even if you take shoes for a test run…or two). Use their shoe dog function to get you at least into the right style of shoe, after that try them out.

I ran in Newtons for the 15+ yrs I raced triathlon, but in the last yr or so my ankles needed more cushioning than they provided (and that’s even with a solid forefoot style of running the minimizes heel strike)  Hoka has me maintaining 20-26 miles a week pain free.  Experiences may vary.  

Take your time figuring out what’s best for you.  This was one of my NCOs during a clinic I ran.  Notice his heels, all I did was tell him to take his shoes off close his eyes and run.

Thank you Jim! Appreciate it. 

OK, I promised some Montserrat photos awhile back. Here ya go, along with the story of the last time I was able to get outside onto real rock (July 5)... Hopefully I can get out there again this week if the doc gives me the ok... (foreshadowing here)...

We climbed a 5.8/5.9 three-pitch route called Ratanplan on Magdalena Superior and had a great time, except...

I'm racking up for the first pitch and am ready to go... then I glance down at my partners climbing shoes--not yet on his feet, and I see two DIFFERENT shoes--AND they are both for the right foot and were of slightly different sizes. 

"Hey, Howard... uh... your shoes?" 

"Oh, SHIT!" 

It turns out he accidentally grabbed one of his shoes and one of his wife's shoes as he packed his backpack for the day. What to do? What to do?

Well, he bravely followed all the pitches flawlessly (didn't really want to lead under the circumstances) with one TC Pro and one Teva-like sandal. He actually did great with nary a slip--perhaps because he had to really think about the moves through the thinner sections? Anyway, here's a pic he took of himself at the top of pitch 1 to memorialize the situation...

Parallel to our route is another, similar route called La Que Hi Faltaven Spits ("That which lacks bolts", roughly). There was a husband/wife team from Louisville, Colorado on that with their 11-year-old daughter Merrick... she did awesome! This is her on the second pitch. Here you see what the unique conglomerate rock is like... fields of "potatoes", large and small... (photo by Howard)

Oh, I forgot to post up the pic of the mountain goat we saw on the approach. These guys are cool to see but they have no predators and are not hunted, so they are slowly changing the ecosystem--and they sometimes knock rocks down on us... and humiliate us by traversing across 5.8 rock, unroped, as if they were on a sidewalk (dragging their kids along as well)...

Well, after Howard's shoe incident we thought we had overcome the big challenge o' the day, but... on the hike down, I stepped on a rock one would have thought secure as it was part of the trail "stairs"--but it rolled and I took a really, really hard and awkward fall... and I felt awful things happen in my left knee (Be careful out there, Lori!). I had to lie down for a good 15 minutes to avoid passing out... then it was a slow hobble down to the funicular to get down the mountain to the Monastery and the parking lot. I have now, after a couple of weeks, been able to climb a bit in the gym (easy stuff) but the knee is not yet healed (likely miniscus issue as well as strained medial collateral ligament, and general aging. Going back to the doc this week.) Damn. Here is a pic of the crime scene...

On a lighter and more hopeful note, one of my climbing partners, Joan (pronounced Joe-AHN), turned 80 last month and is still at it. Here he is on a couple of our recent climbs...

Finally... I sometimes go out to Montserrat before/during/after storms with my big camera and a tripod to do some "real" photography. Some images I'll actually print, others I just post on my blog/website. For me, Montserrat has become a very special place, a welcome refuge from the perpetual bustle and crazy din of Barcelona...

Great pictures Daniel, thanks for posting them. I remember how impressive Montserrat looked in the distance driving to Barcelona. I would love to climb there, but that trip we were focused on the Prades ( nothing to complain about) and haven't been back to that region since.

Sorry about your knee, hope you recover quickly.

Thanks, Alan. Maybe someday we could all do a Spain meet up. Not necessarily at Montserrat, but somewhere. (I know Richard A. would vote for El Chorro, down south near Málaga, and it is indeed a pretty nice place.)

Count me in! Those black and white photos make me want to jump on a plane to there tomorrow. Thank you for opening my eyes to a new (to me) beautiful place. Wow.

Daniel Joderwrote:

Thanks, Alan. Maybe someday we could all do a Spain meet up. Not necessarily at Montserrat, but somewhere. (I know Richard A. would vote for El Chorro, down south near Málaga, and it is indeed a pretty nice place.)

While I love El Chorro ( been there 3 times)---and Spain in general, over the years I have somehow developed a strange but significant allergic reaction to something in the Mediterranean environment, so am sadly no longer able to visit one of my favorite regions, so I would not be able to join in what would/will be a great time.

But, if folks are still interested, as floated a month or so ago, in visiting the Gunks, that trip I would be able and happy to attend!!!!

Ok, Daniel, you have thrown down the gauntlet!

1 Aerial of El Chorro

2 climber on Blade Runner (6a, about 5.7 Gunks)

1 view of the river, lake and gorge 

2 my house (I call it Richard's Castle!)

this is for #1 above

Alan Rubinwrote:

While I love El Chorro ( been there 3 times)---and Spain in general, over the years I have somehow developed a strange but significant allergic reaction to something in the Mediterranean environment, so am sadly no longer able to visit one of my favorite regions, so I would not be able to join in what would/will be a great time.

That’s too bad. Have you been tested for a Lycra allergy?
(1980s joke)

Really great pictures, Daniel. Thanks for posting!