New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #40

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.

Alan click on the link then hit the menu button top right corner. Then click downhill from here. Hope this helps. 

J Westgatewrote:

Alan click on the link then hit the menu button top right corner. Then click downhill from here. Hope this helps. 

Thanks. It worked!!! As Rich said, okay article but nothing ground-breaking. But, I would very much like to check out that crag in Montenegro in the first picture---talk about motivation!!!!

Got my but kicked pretty good today.  Ran into our friends from Quebec and they are of the opinion that if trump messes with Greenland it will start a world war. 

Sebastian Morin sent me this pretty cool shot of me from today.

 Just getting to the climb was a lot of work

those of you familiar with cannon know that the talus field is covered with billions of boulders many of them loose. They were all glazed with a thick layer of ice and then covered with deep snow.  we took the correct trail up so had to break trail. Our friends from Quebec took a different route so they also had to break trail. Falling through the snow into the  holes between the boulders was interesting.  My 40 something year old partner. 

Those guys did Fafnir and we were aiming for the Black Dike so we ended up sharing the first belay.  Ira on the Left heading up the Dike , Sebastian heading up Fafnir... I have lead that pitch twice.. it looks scary;)  

Ira getting into the buisness

Sebastion rocking it. the first time I led that pitch I got hit with a solid 15 second powder slough in about that spot... 

Following P2

Ira at the top of P2

Ira on P3.  

The foreshortening effect really doesn't do it any justice. It was a 60m pitch with a very steep thin technical  finish. I led P1 so this should have been my pitch but I was feeling old and tired and I had a rope gun on the rack so I let Ira have the goodies.  I used to lead this entire climb off the couch and I thought it was relatively easy. It felt plenty hard today...

Jean Nicholas following P2 of Fafnir

Jean Nicholas leading P3 of Fafnir

It's been very wet here on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. So today was a burn day.

Our property has been in pretty good (fire-safe) condition for a long time now. But the people who live on the lot below us and to the left are older and they can't maintain their lot as well as we all would like. The swale between our properties is particularly choked with brush.

So I've been edging my work down and over for a few years now. I get a little firewood out of it (the thicker/full size stuff) and we all feel a little safer. There are three dead, full-size conifers waiting to fall though - they're gonna have to hire someone for those or take their chances - I don't have anywhere near the skills to drop those.

EDIT: I read this sentence from phylp: "My entire extended family of 7 brothers and sisters and 10 nieces and nephews live plane flights away, so it's so important to us to be near major airports so we can easily get to them and they can easily get to us."

One of the big downsides to living in so rural a location is that it's just the opposite for us. Flying anywhere starts with a two to three hour drive just to get to an airport. Flying is not something we undertake lightly.

Going to put this question here as you lot have the long term experience and memories.

Reached the time of year when I start obsessing over the Scottish weather forcast (looking at Nick's pictures don't make me jealous at all!). Anyway to my question, as someone who has been going up to Scotland for winter fun for 30 years or so the impact of climate change has been pretty obvious, this is backed up by data. The number of in days has decreased a lot, the few isolated 'permanent' snow patches now regularly disappear, the near colapse of the sking industry etc. Now I'm aware that Scotland is rather odd, yes its far North but the realatively low altitude of the mountains and the marine nature of the climate so heavily influenced by the gulf stream has always meant it never gets that cold for that long. In fact its the fluctuating freeze/thaw cycles that build the perculiar qualities of Scottish winter conditions. Do you have similiar observations in North America in some regions, or generally do things get so cold that it hasn't had the same impact?

Edit: Last year I also became aware that there is a safty issue, was climbing in the Northern Corries in the Cairgorms when everything came in after a long period of rubbish conditions. As I result the routes where rammed with lots of parties below other parties which is definatly riskier. Less good days means those good days get a high density of climbers.

Neil Bwrote:

Going to put this question here as you lot have the long term experience and memories.

Reached the time of year when I start obsessing over the Scottish weather forcast (looking at Nick's pictures don't make me jealous at all!). Anyway to my question, as someone who has been going up to Scotland for winter fun for 30 years or so the impact of climate change has been pretty obvious, this is backed up by data. The number of in days has decreased a lot, the few isolated 'permanent' snow patches now regularly disappear, the near colapse of the sking industry etc. Now I'm aware that Scotland is rather odd, yes its far North but the realatively low altitude of the mountains and the marine nature of the climate so heavily influenced by the gulf stream has always meant it never gets that cold for that long. In fact its the fluctuating freeze/thaw cycles that build the perculiar qualities of Scottish winter conditions. Do you have similiar observations in North America in some regions, or generally do things get so cold that it hasn't had the same impact?

Edit: Last year I also became aware that there is a safty issue, was climbing in the Northern Corries in the Cairgorms when everything came in after a long period of rubbish conditions. As I result the routes where rammed with lots of parties below other parties which is definatly riskier. Less good days means those good days get a high density of climbers.

The impact of climate change is actually greater as you get closer to the poles.
Using Alaska as an example, one simply needs to look at Portage Glacier over the last 30 years - there are many other objective (data-supported) examples of rapid impacts at different scales.
It's not just in Scotland, you can trust your eyes and experience, it's everywhere and those that play or live in these spaces (like you) are the early witnesses for a largely inattentive world.

Edit for data
Rick Thoman is an invaluable resource for those interested in this general topic
https://alaskaclimate.substack.com/p/december-2025-arctic-climate-summary
Here is a picture he posted last month:
"Alaska and vicinity seasonal 50-year temperature changes (ºF) updated through autumn 2025, all in one graphic for your convenience. A whole lot of warming going on."

Our winters are way more unpredictable... The ice and ski season ends wicked fast and about 3 weeks earlier than it used to. 

yukonjackwrote:

The impact of climate change is actually greater as you get closer to the poles.
Using Alaska as an example, one simply needs to look at Portage Glacier over the last 30 years - there are many other objective (data-supported) examples of rapid impacts at different scales.
It's not just in Scotland, you can trust your eyes and experience, it's everywhere and those that play or live in these spaces (like you) are the early witnesses for a largely inattentive world.

Edit for data
Rick Thoman is an invaluable resource for those interested in this general topic
https://alaskaclimate.substack.com/p/december-2025-arctic-climate-summary
Here is a picture he posted last month:
"Alaska and vicinity seasonal 50-year temperature changes (ºF) updated through autumn 2025, all in one graphic for your convenience. A whole lot of warming going on."

It's been T-shirt weather in the front range of Colorado for the past two months. Great for rock climbing, bad for skiing and ice climbing. The dryness is quite worrisome with a large grass fire just a few days ago. Fire season seems to go from January thru December these days.

WF WF51wrote:

And a great potential investment opportunity for the Trumps.

Besides, maybe people will quit talking about Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.

We might be focusing on the wrong distractions. 

Jan Mcwrote:

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.

Thanks, Jan... glad to hear it.  I also read your response to Tony who has been agonizing over whether to get another knee replacement.  His first one was 15 years ago, and he recalled it being the most painful, extended recovery he ever experienced.  I think they have improved. 

Did you by any chance consider PRP or Stem Cells?  I was pushing him to consider that, but now I'm thinking that the bone-on-bone situation is too late for those therapies.  He probably needs a new knee.

----

I may come back to delete this.  it's hard NOT to talk about what's going on out there.  But I am having new perspectives on things... not on politics as politics... but on the mental drag on living in the drama of this country right now.  I have been watching a particular actor, Ken Olin, appear on social media every day, slowly become a miserable unshaven recluse over his outrage over Donald Trump. Daily he takes to the internet, in his bathrobe usually, expressing his angst over whatever happened in Trump-world since yesterday (and something ALWAYS has happened since yesterday.)  I want to say "God man, clean yourself up! Get a shave! Get back to your job, to the things you have done so well."   

I've been consciously trying to shift my own attention, to elevate what's around me, to limit my attention to only the most essential.  People say "Well, you HAVE to pay attention, because Germany...."

No. I DON'T have to pay attention.  I can resume living my life, AND be there when needed.  (ie. protest, vote, etc).    In fact, I've thought of putting a time clock on this... shouldn't 10 minutes a day be enough time to get the gist of whatever is happening in the world?  

Maybe that's why I'm so fixated on learning new things, paying attention to the shifting weather, being present to those rocks, and climbing.  On a 2 hour hike today, in 40 degree wind, I listened to the most recent iteration of AI development and the fabrication of chips in 2 nanometers.  ARM, SYNOPSYS, Apple development. I never knew any of this.  

Actually, it doesn't matter what the subject, just so long as it elevates.  Chris Sharma elevates.  I'm keeping a list for when the temptation is to get stuck in sludge... turn attention and focus on anything ELSE.  We have to stop this obsession.   

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

Our winters are way more unpredictable... The ice and ski season ends wicked fast and about 3 weeks earlier than it used to. 

Unpredictable is definitely the word. I do feel for those who relied on the ski industry for winter work/income.

Lori, Eric Horst ( an over 60 climber and coach) has a new podcast out, and one of his points is that we should “sweat the small stuff.”  He doesn’t mention politics specifically (or ever), but his main point is that the we have absolutely no control over the big things that happen in the World,  but we DO have a LOT of control over our individual lives.  

I have friends who spend an incredible amount of their energy ranting about Trump.  Who are they hurting?  Not Trump. 

Ward Smithwrote:

Lori, Eric Horst ( an over 60 climber and coach) has a new podcast out, and one of his points is that we should “sweat the small stuff.”  He doesn’t mention politics specifically (or ever), but his main point is that the we have absolutely no control over the big things that happen in the World,  but we DO have a LOT of control over our individual lives.  

I have friends who spend an incredible amount of their energy ranting about Trump.  Who are they hurting?  Not Trump. 

Thank you so much for that, Ward.  I like that "sweat the small stuff".  And a podcast!  I'll listen to it.  

Not to throw my kids under the bus, but for a few years there my two sons were in some kind of continual trouble, some of it very serious.  And I was a single mom, completely overwhelmed by the threat and danger of what they were up to.  So I got into a kind of self-preservation mode... any time there was an arrest, or someone wound up in the hospital (my older son is a Type 1 Diabetic, and routinely would wind up in the ICU)... I would head to the nursery, buy and plant a new flower, or even a crop of new vegetables.  I wanted to counteract  bad with good, every way I could.  My kid's doctor stopped by the house one day and said "I didn't expect this..."  a house and yard full of flowers and as much joy as I could put in. 

So, I'm feeling that way now about Trump and this divided world in general.  I have been turning off the radio, the news, going for a walk, or making a new stew for dinner... ANYTHING to bring the focus back to the wonderful life we can be living, and taking my precious energy away from Trump for whom 'attention' is his life's blood.  And I would add that putting effort into strengthening for climbing is absolutely a great use of time and energy. 

A tired dog is a happy dog. 

Daniel:

   Have you ever visited the Cerro Gordo area?

apogeewrote:

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.

There is a law in California forbidding the sharing of ALPR data with the Feds, since the Feds mostly use it to destroy society with oligarch companies like Palantir helping repression and racist roundups.  ALPRs do seem useful within the state for solving real crime.