New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #40

Bill Lundeenwrote:

Dan! You got your Christmas wish. Looks like the Eastern Sierra is covered. BEAUTIFUL 

Hi Bill, yes two nice storms with not too much wind and relatively stable conditions. When it snows it really lifts the vibe on the eastside. Buttermilk and lower elevations  are still good to go for climbing too. Cheers!

Bill Lundeenwrote:

I live in a small town of under 7,000 humans, Fort Bragg  CA, yet there are 7 flucking Flock cameras here. And this in California, the liberal state with a governor that, no matter what you think of him, resists Trump’s heavy-handedness. They certainly are everywhere.

In some places it’s a holiday tradition to decorate surveillance cameras with burning tires. Maybe at a certain point the water will feel too hot and we will realize its time to jump out of the pot. 

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

I wrap my phone in tin foil and look over my shoulder....  Seriously if you own a cell phone  big brother can find you whenever they  want. apparently turning it off won't keep the hellfire missels at bay... 

You got to take the battery out...  jeez, I thought you'd know that... (looked for the hellfire missile emoji, but couldn't find it...)

ed

hope you're good...

Anyway, what’s the climbing like in Greenland? 

Carl Schneiderwrote:

Anyway, what’s the climbing like in Greenland? 

Ask me in 6 months!

(Oh boy! Crazy world!)

Carl Schneiderwrote:

Anyway, what’s the climbing like in Greenland? 

Not exactly what you are familiar with in SA--alpine and big wall---boat and sledge approaches. But, many of us are thinking about heading your way---even with the snakes, it is much safer down there these days!!!!

Buck Rogerswrote:

Ask me in 6 months!

(Oh boy! Crazy world!)

My Dad was stationed in Greenland twice during his 20 years in the US military. He didn't have fond memories of the experience. That was in the 1950's and while it's probably not as unpleasant now due to improved infrastructure you're still in the Arctic.  Leaving aside the legality of it all any possible gain for the US would be vastly outweighed by the damage it would cause. But hey it's a good distraction from the Epstein files.

Last run back to the car. Sometimes paying for your stash of runs is worth the cost.

Perfect climbing weather at The Hood..

From 2020, a few years before Trail Canyon closure due to flooding..

I was appreciating Phylp’s description of their decision to locate in Upland. I can see where it truly would be the best of all worlds.

Moving to Joshua Tree was a huge step for me. I left everything behind and I knew it could be a little extreme here. I haven’t regretted it at all but there have been some surprises.

for some weird reason, I have started missing school and academics and my job – – I guess city stuff. But everything feels so far away. UCLA’s 120 miles.  With all the hiking and roaming, it has been helpful to keep a headset and have such a variety of music to listen to, but this year I have been listening to podcasts – – mostly health and climbing related. Somehow I added a podcast called acquired and have gotten such a schooling on the histories of major businesses. I got hooked and after listening to six or eight hours on Nvidia, started nosing around in TSCM and the entire semiconductor industry worldwide, which has taken me into lessons on geopolitics. I’m sure Tony does not appreciate that that now we are watching at least one or two lengthy videos on transistors, semiconductors etc.  

This morning, I went for a hike up Ryan Mountain, found a great sitting rock, and listened to a couple of hours on Intel and foundries that are being built now in the United States. What a gift to get a college class on top of a mountain.

This can go on forever. It’s still pure play here there’s – endless freedom and total support from Tony to just go as long and far as I can.

This big fat fluffy guy just sat there and clucked to me. When he flew off his wings made a huge WHOOSH.   

After my (fortunately brief) shoulder injury I have been doing some strength training after my bouldering workouts in order to balance out my muscles.  Kind of shocking to see how weak I am in my pushing muscles despite being relatively strong pulling.  We really do lose it if we don’t use it.  This was not an issue in my 30’s or even 50’s but after 60 we probably should all be strength training regularly.  Not as fun as just climbing but being weak and injured is even less fun.

Emil Briggswrote:

My Dad was stationed in Greenland twice during his 20 years in the US military. He didn't have fond memories of the experience. That was in the 1950's and while it's probably not as unpleasant now due to improved infrastructure you're still in the Arctic.  Leaving aside the legality of it all any possible gain for the US would be vastly outweighed by the damage it would cause. But hey it's a good distraction from the Epstein files.

And a great potential investment opportunity for the Trumps.

Setting aside the issue of collecting personal data for purposes of monetizing by data brokers (which is no small thing by itself), the data these Flock cameras are gathering is effectively warrantless searching of the actual activity of millions of cars and drivers that have not committed any kind of crime at all. Theoretically, what happens to that data is at the discretion of the law enforcement agency that obtains it, which varies widely- some filter it for specific valid criteria then dump the rest within hours, some retain it for weeks or months. Some allow access to other states law enforcement agencies, some don’t (either because of local laws or just not paying attention). Some have allowed federal agencies to obtain it, for immigration/ICE-related purposes.

This kind of surveillance has grown immensely in the last few years, with only limited pushback in some areas- mostly due to lack of awareness of its existence, or indifference. Resistance to it is definitely a non-partisan issue- there are strong voices for support of it on both sides of the aisle (Newsom and Trump are supporters), and in media sources from KQED to FoxNews.

Lori….. I believe that you have a college just down the road a few miles from you.
Have you checked out the curriculum?
A few years ago one of my young friends was taking a class on “desert ecosystems”. He got his parents to spot him and expenses for a few years. He majored in crack climbing. That was my major at YVMU (Yosemite Valley Men’s University).

So finally the big old SUN is shining. My mood is directly connected to the sun/dark/cold/rainy conditions that exist around me.

Things are looking up.

Question for Mr. Young.

The Pinns get good about the time it starts warming up? March, April?

Later all 

^^^

Guy,

Pinnacles is good from around October to around May (although October and May can be just too damn hot too).

Right now is ideal. Before this set of rainstorms I was there climbing in shorts while it was sunny and longs when it wasn't. March and April are often great months there, although more commonly than not, one would seek out shady routes during those months.

Have you ever climbed there? Do you have the guidebook? The 2007 guidebook is still very useful and although it had been sold out for years, my friend Steve recently lost a screw in his garage. Looking for the screw he squeezed beneath his work bench and... damn, a box of 2007 books! I can get you one if you do not have it yet.

EDIT: I should add too that this time of year, if camping, it can be really cold at nights, and, camping or not the place is cold during mornings until the sun gets established in the sky. I'd say it's a lot like Joshua Tree in this regard.

Guy Keeseewrote:

Lori….. I believe that you have a college just down the road a few miles from you.
Have you checked out the curriculum?
A few years ago one of my young friends was taking a class on “desert ecosystems”. He got his parents to spot him and expenses for a few years. He majored in crack climbing. That was my major at YVMU (Yosemite Valley Men’s University).

So finally the big old SUN is shining. My mood is directly connected to the sun/dark/cold/rainy conditions that exist around me.

Things are looking up.

Question for Mr. Young.

The Pinns get good about the time it starts warming up? March, April?

Later all 

Thank you, Guy.  I do know about Copper College.  ATM I'm just trying to figure out what I really want... so many new ways of learning are opening up.  I wanted to go back and review the online courses Harvard offers... shorter, not semester long ones. 

A few years back someone told me that some herbal specialists in the Park have a powerful anti-venin herbal formula.  Learning to identify our herbs/plants here would be another fun thing.  

I've been wondering how you are doing, Guy.  Sounds like you are up and around again.  Fishing.  How is your back?  How is your climbing?  And how is Jan?  Didn't he have an elbow coming up? (or was it a knee).

Here is a mildly interesting article about aging and climbing. https://verticalyoga.org/2026/01/04/downhill-from-here-2/ . The link doesn't take you straight to the article; instead, you get a page that says the link (that they provided!) cannot be found.  In the upper right-hand corner of the screen is a MENU button, and clicking that gives a list of articles and the one I'm referring to is DOWNHILL FROM HERE? – CLIMBING THROUGH MIDDLE AGE AND BEYOND.

I think Ward is right that things that took care of themselves when we were younger may need specific training as we age.  In addition to strength, balance and flexibility come to mind...

And keeping an open mind too. 

Jan is 4 weeks out from partial knee replacement.  I have almost 100% of my flexibility back and am working on strength.  

Elbow that was fixed last February is 90% but that is as good as it will ever get.  Doesn't impact anything I do except my hand writing now sucks from loss of hand coordination from nerve damage.

I get the other knee done the same way in March.  If it goes as well I should be pretty functional when fishing season starts in May.  I might even try some easy climbing and bouldering once both knees are recovered.

rgoldwrote:

Here is a mildly interesting article about aging and climbing. https://verticalyoga.org/2026/01/04/downhill-from-here-2/

I think Ward is right that things that took care of themselves when we were younger may need specific training as we age.  In addition to strength, balance and flexibility come to mind...

Rich, The link you posted doesn't seem to work--at least not for tech-challenged me.