New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #40

Ward Smith wrote:

Temps were actually cold but OK, it was the water running down the overhanging boulder that was the deal breaker.  We were prepared to clear snow off the top but not going to be enough to make it climbable today.  I was prepared to go home empty handed but I got so close and then the weather crapped out.

Back to the east and training!

Just catching up on this thread. Wanted to see how your trip went before i posted anything. 

Sorry to hear the weather crapped out and you missed a few good days of attempts. Sounds like you would have had a very good chance of sending. But congrats on huge progress since last time!!!

Hope you send it next time.

While you were out west, I was working on my own project in your back yard. I got in another attempt at Journey to a Mushroom planet. My training is really paying off!  The top half of the route was soaked, but i was able to do the first half waaay more efficiently. I got in a few burns, and did the whole first half to the rest cleanly almost every time, and worked out much more efficient beta. 

Here's a video of my last run on it for the day (tired, so hands were shaking, but my beta was solid): 

First half with new beta

By the way you can see an icicle hanging off the red sling in the upper right part of the frame. That tells you how wet the top half was.

Compare this to a previous attempt from before i started my training:

Previous attempt - too weak

Looking forward to getting back on it sometime when it's dry. 

GO

Rosy Finch Peak

Pilot Knob (center), Mount Humphries (right horizon). 

Seven Gables 

Bear Claw Spire

A cool walk along the edge of Lake Italy during a 24 mile day across Granite Bear, White Bear, and Italy Pass. 

The summit of the  Bumpkin, a steep 6400’ of elevation gain in about 3.4 miles. 

Brian in SLC wrote:

Digi Park Pass video

Sounds like a reasonable workaround to having President Douchebag in my wallet. Wonder how you are supposed to display this on your vehicle at a USFS site?

duncan... wrote:

I own The White Cliff but not Nowt But a Fleein' Thing, mainly as I have climbed a lot on Gogarth but hardly at all on Scafell.  

I think it is very good indeed. There is a lot to sink your teeth into if that perhaps makes the cost less forbidding. It is self-published and, occasionally, would have benefited from a firmer editorial hand. As it came out during early Covid when I was newly retired I could take my time over the wide-ranging material. Mick Ward called it "the best book ever written about British climbing." I don't know if I agree with him, perhaps he means British rock climbing, but I can't think what I'd suggest instead. I can post some sample pages when it's not dark outside, which it seems to be the majority of the time at the moment. I don't know how import taxes work in the US currently but could I help with shipping it to you in some way? 

Another UK coffee table historical book you might consider, if you've not done so already, is Peak Rock (Kelly, Hoey and Barker). Impressive scholarship.

The Hamish McInnes memoir The Fox of Glencoe is also great. This was part-written at the time of his death and completed with material from his diaries and essays. He has many stories and tells them well. He was part of expeditions described in books by Brown, Whillans and Bonnington but these get brief or no mention. More interestingly there is a chapter on the legendary 1952 expedition to Everest with Cunningham where they planned an alpine-style dash using food, ropes and camps abandoned by the Swiss. There are several more on trips behind what used to be called the Iron Curtain and the shenanigans involved. Tom Patey makes a guest contribution. Lesser stars like Clint Eastwood and Sean Connory have walk-on parts. I had a hand in proof-reading it so my recommendation comes with that bias.  

Lori, my comment about the juxtaposition being a coincidence needed an  /s after it. Neatly done!

Thanks Duncan. I have Peak Rock and enjoyed it. The McInnes book is definitely of interest to me. I actually had a chance to meet him--even belay him, once in Yosemite ---definitely a character!!!

Thanks for the offer. If I decide to get any of those books, I believe that I will be able to order them locally, but if that doesn't work out I may take you up on that offer. Actually where I have run into problems thanks to Orangeman and his tariffs, is getting guidebooks from Canada. Right now, none of the Canadian outdoor stores that I am aware of are shipping to the US. Obviously I can pick up the books once I'm there, but I'll miss out on the anticipatory planning/dreaming aspect!!!

apogee wrote:

Sounds like a reasonable workaround to having President Douchebag in my wallet. Wonder how you are supposed to display this on your vehicle at a USFS site?

  

apogee wrote:

Sounds like a reasonable workaround to having President Douchebag in my wallet. Wonder how you are supposed to display this on your vehicle at a USFS site?

If you are 63 you can get a lifetime pass for $ 80.  I put it on my dashboard in the Rumney parking lot where your sticker or day pass would go.   I visited the Grand Canyon and two archaeological sites in Arizona so saved $ 75 just on my recent trip.

GabeO, I climbed a lot at Monsters during the winter, but unfortunately Mushroom Planet is the wettest route there.  I got back from my trip and thought about taking some rest time, but went gung-ho and hurt my shoulder on the Kilter Board.  So I have had five days of rest so far lol.

apogee wrote:

Sounds like a reasonable workaround to having President Douchebag in my wallet. Wonder how you are supposed to display this on your vehicle at a USFS site?

I made an enlarged color copy of my life pass which I laminated. That stays in my glove box and is what I put in my windshield anyway.  My original always stays in my wallet.  So you can paste anything you want over the front before you copy it.  The senior life time passes have the issue number on the front and just the signature and the bar code on the back.

Ward Smith wrote:

Or even 62...  I got a couple of pass hangers for my review mirror that are kinda handy. Both sides of the pass viewable.

I like that laminated copy idear!  Local to SLC, many of our trailhead parking lots now require a fee or visibly displayed pass.  I think the White PIne trailhead fee started today (super popular trailhead in Little Cottonwood).  Ugh.  Hate leaving an $80 pass just hanging visibly in my car...

More what I was referring to is that there looks to be a new digital version of the Pass debuting on Jan 1...I'm all for that, but wondering what would be acceptable proof left on a vehicle?

Brian in SLC wrote:

 Hate leaving an $80 pass just hanging visibly in my car...

Yes especially because if someone snatches it there is a replacement fee...

Happy skiers about to ride Winuba

Hidden Ridge

Smoke‘s Cave

Elusive Peak

Into the white room, Adamson Point 

I own 3 senior passes. The first I bought when I hit 62.  The second when a friend said he had a pass but then it was expired when we got to the gate in Tuolumne so I bought another.  The third I bought the day before they went from $10 to $80, just in case.  So all 3 cost me just $30.  Pretty good bargain and now my wife can use one of them without paying the $80.

I just bought mine last night because they are going up again in 2026 I would have had one earlier but thought I had to wait until I was 65...

Alan Rubin wrote:

Plus they make you look 'hard core' while hanging around the Uberfall !!!!

Note to self:  Hang a few brassies on my harness next time I head to the Gunks.

Any you honorably discharged vets can get a Lifetime NPS Vets Pass for free. Got to go through an ID process, but it is totally worth it. 

I retired a few years ago and immediately got a lifetime military pass. Also I have been allowed free access to the Gunks during weekdays From time to time During the week  Buck do you take advantage of the free military access to the Gunks ?

J Westgate wrote:

I retired a few years ago and immediately got a lifetime military pass. Also I have been allowed free access to the Gunks during weekdays From time to time During the week  Buck do you take advantage of the free military access to the Gunks ?

No but I bought an annual pass and they gave me a discount so no complaints here!

I did not realize that you could get a National Parks Pass for free once you retire.  That'll be me in 1.5 years!

Cannae wait!

Ward Smith wrote:

If you are 63 you can get a lifetime pass for $ 80.  I put it on my dashboard in the Rumney parking lot where your sticker or day pass would go.   I visited the Grand Canyon and two archaeological sites in Arizona so saved $ 75 just on my recent trip.

I confess to having mixed feelings about special rates for seniors. Sure it's nice I qualify but while there are plenty of poor seniors as a group we have more wealth than any other. And it's not just parks, lots of business's offer discounts if you're over a certain age. 

Emil Briggs wrote:

I confess to having mixed feelings about special rates for seniors. Sure it's nice I qualify but while there are plenty of poor seniors as a group we have more wealth than any other. And it's not just parks, lots of business's offer discounts if you're over a certain age. 

I agree.  We used to sneak through the woods at the Gunks as High school students in order to avoid the Rangers because we barely had enough money for gas in order to even get there, with a few packages of Kraft Mac and Cheese for food.