New and experienced climbers over 50 #38

got out to my old crag today. First day in about two weeks that I could breath ok.. 

 Isa is in Maine playing grandma so flying solo.

Did this 90ft easy climb 12 times. 

It's steep but has great holds and grippy rock. Every time on the way down I down climbed a cool boulder problem and then bridged between the wall and a boulder for 20 seconds. On the last trip up I grabbed my pack and shoes etc and hiked upward from the top so only did the boulder problem and the bridge 11 times. then I did a cool 50ft pitch to the top of the upper lookout. this is the top out.

then  a 3 mile hike back to the van. Not counting the scrambling and boulder problem on the descents that's 1,130ft of climbing..  Feeling like I got a decent work out. 

 Most vertical feet of rock for me in a day since about 2018 which should tell me why I am not a very good rock climber these days... too much work and not enough play.. 

Ward Smith wrote:

Did a kilter board session at 50 degrees today and for Rich I did two sets of three pullups with 40 pounds.  I am 10 pounds heavier than my ideal weight so there is hope for some improvement.

Love the Kilter board!

Moonboard may be a better option for you, maybe? One of my coworkers just pulled his first V4 on the Moon! Looked like a cool send, and he was really happy!

Ward Smith wrote:

Did a kilter board session at 50 degrees today and for Rich I did two sets of three pullups with 40 pounds.  I am 10 pounds heavier than my ideal weight so there is hope for some improvement.

I wish I could do 40 lbs (or really 50 lbs considering your temproary excess avoirdupois)...those days are long gone.  I might make it to 30 lbs though, god willin' and the crik don't rise.

Off topic.

Just re-read Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger. His travels in Arabia and crossing the Empty Quarter. Wow. 

WF WF51 wrote:

Off topic.

Just re-read Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger. His travels in Arabia and crossing the Empty Quarter. Wow. 

Oh!  One of my favourites!  

Love that one!

Reminds me, I don't read much these days, but I did read Smart's biography of Royal Robbins recently. I really enjoyed it. I knew and greatly admired Royal, although we were not close friends. Apart from some bouldering, the one incident I recall fondly was the two of us taking our families in to the Incisor in the Black Hills, where he and I played on a few boulder problems and I gave him a belay as he attempted the face above the picnic spot. My daughter was about 5 and his daughter Tamara was younger, I think. If Tamara reads this she might correct me. Early 1970s perhaps.

WF WF51 wrote:

Off topic.

Just re-read Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger. His travels in Arabia and crossing the Empty Quarter. Wow. 

An absolutely wonderful book.

On a less cultured note, my bf and I are watching "Untamed" on Netflix. Because it takes place in Yosemite.

Not to give anything away, but there's a horrifying initial scene where two people are climbing, and a body crashes into them, creating havoc, bolts pulling etc. More interesting though is prior to that, where we see the leader moving up with a handful of nuts and cams. I assume this is not realistic? I never did big wall climbing, in Yosemite, but it seemed laughable - is that really a Yosemite rack? In the pic below, the dude is placing his first piece above the anchor. Note the very tiny rack.

dragons wrote:

On a less cultured note, my bf and I are watching "Untamed" on Netflix. Because it takes place in Yosemite.

Not to give anything away, but there's a horrifying initial scene where two people are climbing, and a body crashes into them, creating havoc, bolts pulling etc. More interesting though is prior to that, where we see the leader moving up with a handful of nuts and cams. I assume this is not realistic? I never did big wall climbing, in Yosemite, but it seemed laughable - is that really a Yosemite rack? In the pic below, the dude is placing his first piece above the anchor. Note the very tiny rack.

That does look like an 60 foot pitch sort of rack   

John Gill wrote:

Reminds me, I don't read much these days, but I did read Smart's biography of Royal Robbins recently. I really enjoyed it. I knew and greatly admired Royal, although we were not close friends. Apart from some bouldering, the one incident I recall fondly was the two of us taking our families in to the Incisor in the Black Hills, where he and I played on a few boulder problems and I gave him a belay as he attempted the face above the picnic spot. My daughter was about 5 and his daughter Tamara was younger, I think. If Tamara reads this she might correct me. Early 1970s perhaps.

I found the Robins book a very enjoyable read also.

dragons wrote:

On a less cultured note, my bf and I are watching "Untamed" on Netflix. Because it takes place in Yosemite.

Not to give anything away, but there's a horrifying initial scene where two people are climbing, and a body crashes into them, creating havoc, bolts pulling etc. More interesting though is prior to that, where we see the leader moving up with a handful of nuts and cams. I assume this is not realistic? I never did big wall climbing, in Yosemite, but it seemed laughable - is that really a Yosemite rack? In the pic below, the dude is placing his first piece above the anchor. Note the very tiny rack.

He only has to climb until the body falls. The part that bothered me was that after the body falls on them it is somehow tied into their rope with a normal tie in knot. I may have this wrong because I decided to grant artistic  license  and not rewind to look again, but I'm pretty sure that this is what I saw.

Victor Creazzi wrote:

He only has to climb until the body falls. The part that bothered me was that after the body falls on them it is somehow tied into their rope with a normal tie in knot. I may have this wrong because I decided to grant artistic  license  and not rewind to look again, but I'm pretty sure that this is what I saw.

Yah lightest rack ever… 20 ft away from the anchor and hardly anything… at least they tried.   Rest of the series was good.  Eric Bana was good, not sure what they’re going to do with season 2.

Just finished “the sound” as background whilst bottling a batch of wine…. Hot garbage…. Best part was Alice In Chains for credits

John Gill wrote:

Reminds me, I don't read much these days, but I did read Smart's biography of Royal Robbins recently. I really enjoyed it. I knew and greatly admired Royal, although we were not close friends. Apart from some bouldering, the one incident I recall fondly was the two of us taking our families in to the Incisor in the Black Hills, where he and I played on a few boulder problems and I gave him a belay as he attempted the face above the picnic spot. My daughter was about 5 and his daughter Tamara was younger, I think. If Tamara reads this she might correct me. Early 1970s perhaps.

Royal and I at one of his slide shows in the early 90’s. I showed him a plaque I bought at an Access Fund auction that displays one of the original bolt hangers from his first ascent of The Vampire, on Tahquitz Rock, that he climbed with Dave Rearick back in the summer of 1959, the year I was born.

Having followed in his footsteps up many Tahquitz routes that he put up in the 50’s, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for Royal Robbins.

In 1996, after a season of guiding at Joshua Tree, the rocks started to look awfully small, and I was looking for a project up something big in Yosemite. I popped the question to Scott Cosgrove, that we try to free climb the 11-pitch Northwest Face route on Higher Cathedral Spire, first climbed by Royal and Tom Frost in 1961 and rated 5.8, A3. “How hard can it be?” I asked Cosgrove. “1961, that was ten years before nuts even came out, and almost 20 years before cams!”

We freed the first 3 pitches straight away, at 5.10, 5.11b, then 5.11d, up an overhanging crack. Now we were at the base of an ominous chimney. I had a topo drawn by Royal himself, and it read “Chimney of Horrors, 5.6, A3.” 

Turned out the “5.6” chimney was more like 10a, with no pro, looking at a factor 2 fall right onto the belay! After that was a long offwidth, some strenuous liebacking, and then a long, intricate stemming corner.

We camped out at the base of the Chimney of Horrors and freed it, after 2 days of work, at 5.12+.

The fifth pitch proved significantly harder, and we ran out of momentum and time from our little vacation. 

In 2018, Kevin Jorgesen (of Dawn Wall fame) freed the entire route (naming the free version Blue Collar) after working on it for 50 days over two summers. Turns out the 5th pitch was the crux. Jorgesen dubbed it the “Guillotine Pitch,” with fingertip underclinging under a massive hanging flake. It clocked in at 5.13d.

Me on the Chimney of Horrors

Cosgrove racking up, NW Face route, Higher Cathedral Spire, 1996

Great post, Bob!

But who's that young guy hanging out with Royal ;)

Brad Young wrote:

I've been climbing an average of 15 to 16 days per month this year so far. The combination of California weather and rock, a 12 hour per month work schedule (self employed) and a wife who is almost literally an angel make this easy (not just possible).

But all of my hopes and dreams this summer center on my favorite 23 year old in the world and the Pacific Crest Trail. Not climbing. Another set of hopes rest with my favorite 29 year old and, again, the PCT.

In April, 2007 my two daughters and I started hiking north on the PCT from the Mexican border. All with my wife's constant help and support. Over years we hiked every step of the PCT, in continuous order, up to almost 900 miles (the whole trail is 2,650 miles).

April, 2007 (with my dad):

Then older daughter Katie "dropped out" from the "continuous footsteps" to go to university (there's a dad's dilemma!). She joined us now and then, but no longer had a track of footsteps all the way from Mexico.

Tricia and I continued.

By the end of summer, 2023, Tricia and I had hiked 2,540 continuous miles together, well into northern Washington, all with my wife Vicki's help.

Red Pass in the northern Cascades, 2023:

The next summer (2024), we set aside all of August to finish 109 miles to the Canadian border. Tricia had just finished college and had time, we had Canadian trail entry visas and everything was "go" for daddy and daughter to finish.

And then fires broke out and they closed most of the trail we still had to hike. We didn't even drive up there. It's not an over statement to say that, after 17 years of this journey, I was crushed.

Tricia has a full time job now. She wasn't sure she could get time off for this summer. And yet she did. She has one week. Not enough to finish the trail... but a full week to make progress and set up a finish for us next summer, 20 years after we started.

This summer's trip starts Monday (Vicki and I leave Friday for the drive up). Everything is a go. No fires. All of the trail we want to hike is open. I may fracture a finger from keeping all of them crossed for so long and so hard, but it looks like we're going to get something done.

And Katie? After I passed from being "the least cool substance in the universe" to a pretty cool dad (from about age 16 to age 20), she eventually asked me to resume with the "continuous footsteps." This year it'll be Tuolumne Meadows to Sonora Pass (finishing a 50 minute drive from our house). So far this has been one of the three most gorgeous sections of the trail and I'm looking forward to September almost as much as I am to next week.

With Katie on the high trail/PCT out of Agnew Meadows, 2024:

I am one very lucky man. Wish the three (four) of us luck for this year's hikes?

Tricia and I are off the PCT now. We had good success. This will be the introduction to the trip report I will post on the Pinnacles climbing forum:

"The PCT Volume 43:  Past the Doldrums and Down to Double Digits

Say that title five times fast ;)

There's been something about the Suiattle River for Tricia and me. It's a gorgeous, long river in a very remote and treasured wilderness. But at times it's seemed to us like "the doldrums" must seem to sailors. For sailors, the doldrums is a belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters. They're infamous.

During three out of the last four years the PCT at and near the Suiattle River has been closed in full or in part and it's affected and/or stopped our trips repeatedly. We've changed plans, waited on plans and were fully stopped for a season (2024 - no progress) by these conditions.

We had some hardships on this trip, and some tough parts to hike. Tricia torqued her knee crossing a wet, blown-down tree in the rain. But in the end we got well and truly past the Suiattle, past the last of the hardest PCT hiking and past what's seemed like windless waters.

We finished this trip 79 miles from Canada."

So wonderful, Brad!  What an adventure, over many years... and forever memories for your family.  I love these pictures and your trip reports!  Such incredible accomplishment. 

---

Today was the first time in several years where I walked into my house after an incredible hike and felt SO out of place.  How can everything be normal here and business as usual when I’m just high from the morning?  

I struggle with Ryan Mountain.  But I caught a burst of energy, stopped and looked over at Saddle Rocks, and just wanted to keep on going.  Two days ago I had to stop to catch my breath over and over on that same trail, today not so much.  I was having a good time. So there's hope.  

I was hoping I could see Bob's route, Where Have All The Cowboys Gone, 10d, a 3 pitch wonder.  I'm not sure I can pick it out from this distance.  But it sure got me thinking about cowboys, the ones who climbed here bitd, the ones before them who ranched here, and wishing we could make way for one more cowgirl.  If we handicap for age and general lack of expertise, I might have a chance at becoming a cowgirl.

It's been over 100 here for days... 94 on my hike, not a drop of rain this year. I sweat through my backpack, shirt, pants. It's hot and dry, windy, but still beautiful.  And I'm finally starting to feel fit.   

 ----

Walking in the door, I suddenly remember that Tony is pretty depressed.  His hip surgery went well, it helped a little... but not enough.  He is feeling defeated.  He says "I wish you could understand what this is like..".  

I'm going to call the two guys in Los Angeles who several friends suggested, who do PRP and Stem Cell Injections for people who sound just like Tony.  I've read through their hundreds of reviews.  They do podcasts on Saturday.  I KNOW help is out there.    

 

Lori Milas wrote:

I was hoping I could see Bob's route, Where Have All The Cowboys Gone, 10d, a 3 pitch wonder.  I'm not sure I can pick it out from this distance.  But it sure got me thinking about cowboys, the ones who climbed here bitd, the ones before them who ranched here, and wishing we could make way for one more cowgirl.  If we handicap for age and general lack of expertise, I might have a chance at becoming a cowgirl.

Lori,

Except for perhaps a bit of the first 5.8 pitch, Where Have All the Cowboys Gone isn't really visible from this angle -- it faces more West and appears to be hidden and in the shade in your picture. But Space Mountain (a classic 5.10b) heads right up the center of the lower sunlit face and would be a worthy objective. 

Randy wrote:

Lori,

Except for perhaps a bit of the first 5.8 pitch, Where Have All the Cowboys Gone isn't really visible from this angle -- it faces more West and appears to be hidden and in the shade in your picture. But Space Mountain (a classic 5.10b) heads right up the center of the lower sunlit face and would be a worthy objective. 

Oh, Randy. Wow. Gosh darn, that's beautiful.  I wonder if I could climb it.  Man... thank you!  I'm totally inspired.  

Alan Rubin wrote:

I'm guessing that you would need to be pretty lucky to get good skiing conditions in the City itself or Castle Rock. It isn't a high precipitation area in general ( well, more so in the upper reaches) and gets a lot of sun, even in winter, so much of the snow that does fall doesn't last long except in the shaded areas. I climbed there for a day once in late Feb./early March ( forget which). We did, indeed, climb in shirt sleeves on the sunny faces, but most of the approaches were over bare ground, but with pockets of very hard snow in the shadows---nothing worth skiing. But. as mentioned above, there is a ski area close by, futher up in the mountains.

I spent three days there in late February 2020, right before covid, and yeah, the snow was very patchy. We drove all the way up to Bath Rock, but mostly climbed down below at Castle Rock. It was 50ish during the day, but one night was 10 degrees, and we headed south to Moab.

Victor Creazzi wrote:

He only has to climb until the body falls. The part that bothered me was that after the body falls on them it is somehow tied into their rope with a normal tie in knot. I may have this wrong because I decided to grant artistic  license  and not rewind to look again, but I'm pretty sure that this is what I saw.

Actually it doesn't really look like the body is tied in with a knot, it's a twisty tangly mess.
While watching, I almost thought the body was supposed to somehow be limbless. But I think it was just the shot of the angle.
Or maybe AI doing a bad job.
The resolution is kind of poor, sorry about that. Here's the shot. She does look limbless, doesn't she?