New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #40

So I do not generally like nor do well in competitions, but I got an email from my gym that they were adding a “Super Masters” category for over 65.  My interest was peaked!  Then I read the fine print “can’t onsight harder than 5.11d.”  I said to my wife, “What the hell is this, the Ward Smith rule?”  I am better off not risking my shoulder anyway but really?

Randywrote:

Took my new gravel bike out for a longer spin, including up this "dreaded" climb (average 15% with spots up to 30%).

This weather is crazy!! 70 degrees in Prescott yesterday (and tomorrow and Monday).
Trying to squeeze in some mountain bike rides before the highs drop to frigid.

Ward Smithwrote:

So I do not generally like nor do well in competitions, but I got an email from my gym that they were adding a “Super Masters” category for over 65.  My interest was peaked!  Then I read the fine print “can’t onsight harder than 5.11d.”  I said to my wife, “What the hell is this, the Ward Smith rule?”  I am better off not risking my shoulder anyway but really?

That sure sounds like a "rule" put in place by some sour grapes person. Or someone wildly ignorant that old people aren't universally feeble, lol! 5.11 isn't exactly a wild outlier, so being 65 seems kinda irrelevant, and insulting, frankly, to put in that limit.

All that said? If it's someplace with a hefty number of no longer actively competing pro types? Well, sure, make subcategories based on abilities, so pikers can compete with pikers. Besides, what if someone had a terrifically great day and climbed harder than usual? My first, and one and only comp (top roping), as the clock ticked down to midnight, I hopped on something WAY out of my pay grade....and didn't blow off until just 2 moves before victory. The last third of it was progressively steeper until fully OVERHANGING! 

But hey, that huge, beery, cheer at the end? Best ever! Well...second best.

My final score was the lowest in the entire comp. I came in 11th....cuz only 10 other people in my division even turned in their papers. Also because no one at all was on the super easy ones, and those belayers looked pretty darn lonely, so that's where I headed to climb, back in that sunny, hot, devoid of climbers corner.

Which put me next to a tiny little girl, on her very first ever climb. She got scared, though, and came down about 1/3 of the way up.

Later?

She very shyly came up to me, with a beaming, proud, nonclimber mom in tow.

In the cutest, quietest, shy voice: "I got to the top."

That.

Was the best ever. 

Helen

Sam Findleywrote:

So, I haven’t been climbing that much for the past month, since my other hobby started demanding more time.  Selfie after I finished a great day with my partner. He did awesome; I got stuck in a multiflora rose thicket. After this I went to the climbing gym for the first time since November. I m love the movement and flow of climbing, but gyms do feel boring sometimes! Honestly I think I would burn out if all I did was climb: maybe it’s adhd but seasonal variation for me is necessary!

(Also, just as an addendum: I am a fully licensed falconer in the US, obeying all federal and international laws wrt raptors)

Also I am the world’s worst photographer.

Hey, what kind of bird(s) have you got? I live in a raptor hot spot of sorts here, both wild breeding grounds nearby, and a premier captive breeding program for endangered species (condors, lately, peregrines early on, others too). A huge highlight for me, years ago, was meeting world class falconer Morley Nelson, at his home here in Boise. And getting to see his birds! 

"Don't get in reach. They'll go for you".   

Helen

Ward Smithwrote:

So I do not generally like nor do well in competitions, but I got an email from my gym that they were adding a “Super Masters” category for over 65.  My interest was peaked!  Then I read the fine print “can’t onsight harder than 5.11d.”  I said to my wife, “What the hell is this, the Ward Smith rule?”  I am better off not risking my shoulder anyway but really?

Hahaha! They know you well!

65 is 65 though. The entire purpose is to allow people like you to compete, unless there’s a shortage of seniors climbing that level?

Mesa Rim has at least one senior who could onsite 5.11d. Top 3 would likely be all one  

Ward Smithwrote:

So I do not generally like nor do well in competitions, but I got an email from my gym that they were adding a “Super Masters” category for over 65.  My interest was peaked!  Then I read the fine print “can’t onsight harder than 5.11d.”  I said to my wife, “What the hell is this, the Ward Smith rule?”  I am better off not risking my shoulder anyway but really?

What's up with that!?!

I got out today for a long morning of climbing. I think I need to move my status back to “New” climber over 50. Or maybe there should be a subcategory for “experienced unstrong climbers over 50.”

It’s all coming back to me now, my always trying to navigate the sweet spot between warming up, climbing for reals, and heading straight into exhaustion. If I can hit that perfect moment of level blood sugar and feeling warmed up, but not pumped, then everything flows… for a whole minute.   

It’s also a brain thing.  I have to get over my initial recoil at slab moves. My brain wants deep and dependable holds_. I have to coax myself to step up and believe.  After a half hour or hour of climbing I start to loosen up and trust the improbable. That short time span of being in the zone is exquisite.

I don’t think I’ve ever really understood how much of a factor strength is. I may see the next move, I may understand the technique, but I may also struggle like heck to get there. So these are all things I am working on.

This is Bogata, 5.8-9.

——

We have spent so much time in the kitchen lately. Guy, that soup was amazing. The best I’ve ever made.  Today we are making short ribs with wine and lots of vegetables. Where are all our cooking/chef pictures ? 

We’ve been watching a whole lot more TV than I’m used to, but we’ve totally latched on to Landman, despite the fact that it’s misogynistic and a bunch of other unwoke things. It will be a guilty pleasure till the very end.

The show I was unsure about is Pluribus and now I can’t let it go. It is SO much to think about. Great acting, great premise and it looks like there’s only one more episode this season. There is even a.Pluribus podcast after each episode where you can conjecture about the plot and where it’s going.  

Lori. I got into watching Sean Connery James Bond movies a few months ago. Totally hilarious but OMG you say some of that stuff to a modern woman you will get your balls cut off.  I am not so sure that at your age you can afford to take summers off from climbing..  use it or lose it so to speak. that being said its  no big deal to go down a few grades..  Just getting out climbing is fun regardless of grade.   

Ward. that is absolutely the Ward Smith Rule...  Bunch of sore losers. BINTD when I was a serious pistolero  there were a few club matches that they absolutely hated to see me show up. Lots of whining about my race gun etc.  My lady friend at the time accused me of taking candy from little children  but it was close by and on a weekend where there were no sanctioned matches on the part of our north eastern circuit that I frequented.. 

 Last Monday I drove to Warwick RI and bought a new truck.  In a strange twist of fate today I sold my old truck to a guy from Rhoad Island. 

Got up to Mt wishicouldtellya this afternoon.  We had a pretty hard rain yesterday so the landscape has changed a bit.  It was not as bad as it could have been. Still a good base with 1 to3 inches of fresh on top.  

skiing was excellent except for the spots where the stream crossings the snow bridges had washed out. 

the beaver pond ice did not look as inviting as last week so I stuck to the edges... 

sometimes on skis if you go fast enough you can glide over a thin spot before it collapses.. 

I was not fast enough.. 

getting your skis wet up here translates into very heavy snow shoes when the bottoms freeze up. 

 Once I got past the bulk of the wet spots I took the skis off and scrapped them clean and applied a new coat of Extra Blue.

back to the truck with frozen fingers just about dusk... 

Ward Smithwrote:

So I do not generally like nor do well in competitions, but I got an email from my gym that they were adding a “Super Masters” category for over 65.  My interest was peaked!  Then I read the fine print “can’t onsight harder than 5.11d.”  I said to my wife, “What the hell is this, the Ward Smith rule?”  I am better off not risking my shoulder anyway but really?

Lame. Also lame: none of the comps around here even have a Masters category. And I'm a little too strong for the general punters category. So if i competed I'd be lumped in with the "open" category, aka the mega-strong kids, who would just laugh and wipe the floor with me. 

GO

I have no interest in comps. But I suspect I've aged out of the Masters category and would now compete in the Disasters category.

Lori Milaswrote:

I got out today for a long morning of climbing. I think I need to move my status back to “New” climber over 50. Or maybe there should be a subcategory for “experienced unstrong climbers over 50.”

It’s all coming back to me now, my always trying to navigate the sweet spot between warming up, climbing for reals, and heading straight into exhaustion. If I can hit that perfect moment of level blood sugar and feeling warmed up, but not pumped, then everything flows… for a whole minute.   

It’s also a brain thing.  I have to get over my initial recoil at slab moves. My brain wants deep and dependable holds_. I have to coax myself to step up and believe.  After a half hour or hour of climbing I start to loosen up and trust the improbable. That short time span of being in the zone is exquisite.

I don’t think I’ve ever really understood how much of a factor strength is. I may see the next move, I may understand the technique, but I may also struggle like heck to get there. So these are all things I am working on.

This is Bogata, 5.8-9.

——

We have spent so much time in the kitchen lately. Guy, that soup was amazing. The best I’ve ever made.  Today we are making short ribs with wine and lots of vegetables. Where are all our cooking/chef pictures ? 

We’ve been watching a whole lot more TV than I’m used to, but we’ve totally latched on to Landman, despite the fact that it’s misogynistic and a bunch of other unwoke things. It will be a guilty pleasure till the very end.

The show I was unsure about is Pluribus and now I can’t let it go. It is SO much to think about. Great acting, great premise and it looks like there’s only one more episode this season. There is even a.Pluribus podcast after each episode where you can conjecture about the plot and where it’s going.  

One of my 25 year old coworkers said that he’s struggling on V2-3 and very demotivated, but I’m getting him back at it!

The point is that old or young we all have low points. Climbing is tough. Stick it!

Nick, I am having a lot of feelings about returning to climbing, mostly good feelings.  I didn’t want to go deep into my medical issues here because you are all mostly a bunch of dudes (and this is mostly female stuff)…, but this was not a voluntary break from climbing. I had (and have) a gynecology issue that resulted in heavy bleeding for about 10 weeks. It just was like a hemorrhage that would not stop. My ferritin/iron level dropped into the low 20s, which is bad. I’ve now had ultrasounds and biopsies and an MRI—all negative for cancer, but most doctors would advise to just have a hysterectomy “and then you can get right back to your climbing with no problems”.   

Fortunately, I’ve had good doctors and my main gynecologist understands and respects my desire to take this in steps. Mainly, I just have to power back a lot of iron and this could take a year to fully replenish.  I take a lot of naps and eat a lot of red meat and liver.  I deeply appreciate Bob having an intuitive understanding about pushing to get stronger, but not so hard to get set all the way back.  My WHOOP has been particularly helpful because I breathe like a steam engine when I am climbing and my heart rate hits 160 easily and stays there.  dr. says this is fine under the circumstances.

So the biggest lesson that I have learned from climbing so far is “ don’t make plans”.    Each year that I have started out the season with lists and goals it has become a frustrating joke. Someone is injured or sidelined or sick or the weather turns bad or the sun is in the wrong angle on the rock I wanna climb – – I could just be having a crappy day and lose the momentum. So those plans all go to hell.  Now I am totally peaceful with that.  “Expect delays”.  

In fact, the best lessons have really come from joining with nature and accepting what is.  I feel really strong and competent climbing right now at whatever level. It’s no longer about the grade at all.

Here was a very cool little bonus point yesterday… This route, Bogota, kind of hangs along a rail that drops off into a chasm. It’s a very unsettling feeling, and I’ve always been a little afraid of even looking down there while climbing.  Yesterday I lost my footing and slipped right over the edge. Had I not been on a top rope that could have been really bad, but I got to sort of have the experience and recover so that will be a fun memory.

when I think about it, a lot of people here have had an injury or surgery, time that they have had to be patient and wait it out… we’ve kind of gotten the blow-by-blow right up to Nick’s ganglion cyst?  A long period of time that Guy was down for the count. Carls various injuries. Glad we have been here to support each other in those interims.

Old lady Hwrote:

Hey, what kind of bird(s) have you got? I live in a raptor hot spot of sorts here, both wild breeding grounds nearby, and a premier captive breeding program for endangered species (condors, lately, peregrines early on, others too). A huge highlight for me, years ago, was meeting world class falconer Morley Nelson, at his home here in Boise. And getting to see his birds! 

"Don't get in reach. They'll go for you".   

Helen

Hiya! I usually only train one bird at a time. This is a juvenile Redtail. Over the years I’ve worked with kestrels, Cooper’s hawks, and Redtail for falconry, and have helped out local rehab and education centers by training broadwings, red shouldered, a black vulture , and a bunch of owls. Definitely my favorite to train was the vulture: she had a sort of sense of humor, and would regularly untie my shoes, look up at me, go to her “place” perch and bark once. I swear she was laughing.

Lori Milaswrote:

Nick, I am having a lot of feelings about returning to climbing, mostly good feelings.  I didn’t want to go deep into my medical issues here because you are all mostly a bunch of dudes (and this is mostly female stuff)…, but this was not a voluntary break from climbing. I had (and have) a gynecology issue that resulted in heavy bleeding for about 10 weeks. It just was like a hemorrhage that would not stop. My ferritin/iron level dropped into the low 20s, which is bad. I’ve now had ultrasounds and biopsies and an MRI—all negative for cancer, but most doctors would advise to just have a hysterectomy “and then you can get right back to your climbing with no problems”.   

Fortunately, I’ve had good doctors and my main gynecologist understands and respects my desire to take this in steps. Mainly, I just have to power back a lot of iron and this could take a year to fully replenish.  I take a lot of naps and eat a lot of red meat and liver.  I deeply appreciate Bob having an intuitive understanding about pushing to get stronger, but not so hard to get set all the way back.  My WHOOP has been particularly helpful because I breathe like a steam engine when I am climbing and my heart rate hits 160 easily and stays there.  dr. says this is fine under the circumstances.

So the biggest lesson that I have learned from climbing so far is “ don’t make plans”.    Each year that I have started out the season with lists and goals it has become a frustrating joke. Someone is injured or sidelined or sick or the weather turns bad or the sun is in the wrong angle on the rock I wanna climb – – I could just be having a crappy day and lose the momentum. So those plans all go to hell.  Now I am totally peaceful with that.  “Expect delays”.  

In fact, the best lessons have really come from joining with nature and accepting what is.  I feel really strong and competent climbing right now at whatever level. It’s no longer about the grade at all.

Here was a very cool little bonus point yesterday… This route, Bogota, kind of hangs along a rail that drops off into a chasm. It’s a very unsettling feeling, and I’ve always been a little afraid of even looking down there while climbing.  Yesterday I lost my footing and slipped right over the edge. Had I not been on a top rope that could have been really bad, but I got to sort of have the experience and recover so that will be a fun memory.

when I think about it, a lot of people here have had an injury or surgery, time that they have had to be patient and wait it out… we’ve kind of gotten the blow-by-blow right up to Nick’s ganglion cyst?  A long period of time that Guy was down for the count. Carls various injuries. Glad we have been here to support each other in those interims.

There's an old Jewish saying that's relevant and has certainly proved true over and over again in my life.

"If you want to give god a good laugh, tell him your plans."

I could probably fill a small file cabinet with Plans That Never Came to Fruition.

Fortunately, there's another file cabinet's worth of Happy Days.

Happy Winter Solstice 

Daniel Shivelywrote:

Happy Winter Solstice 

I'm scheduled to get my normal birthday present tomorrow...

The days start getting longer (!!!!!).

Brad Youngwrote:

I'm scheduled to get my normal birthday present tomorrow...

The days start getting longer (!!!!!).

Happy birthday! We’re scheduled to receive the gift of snow for the rest of this week. We hope that everyone’s wishes come true. 

Happy Holidays to all the over 50 climbers!

Another birthday, Brad! They DO have a way of keeping coming… You must be so close to catching up with me now, right?? 😂

Bob Gaineswrote:

Happy Holidays to all the over 50 climbers!

Thanks, Bob! The very same to you and yours and everyone here 🎄