New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #42

Photo bump to stay in current thread.

Obelisk, Left Crack 5.8, Selenite Range Nevada. 2015 

Lori Milaswrote:

. But I’m starting to seriously doubt myself and my ability to recover. Nothing feels right and nothing works.  And I shake, constantly.

I'm sorry to hear this.  I have faith that you will get back but whatever is going on, give yourself love and grace for each day. It's often hard to find the right balance between rest, which is so important, and pushing physically, which is also important. You know your own body better than anyone. Listen to your own body wisdom.

rgoldwrote:

Here's the plan.  Keep working your way down the grades until you get to a level that you can do all the time with at least some style and confidence.  If you are struggling and hanging, it's too hard.  Move to something easier. Keep moving down until you hit a level that is easy, comfortable, repeatable, and fun.  That's your baseline.  Find it. If it's 5.0 so be it---that's where you are. And if where you are is worse than where you were, welcome to the club.  Most of the folks here are dealing wth that reality. We don't recover quickly (or at all) from substantial health setbacks, so think about gradual long-term improvement and don't let performance dips get you down.  Cheer up with some baseline.

As I like to say, "I'm not as good anymore as I never was"!

Excellent advice from the Master!  Thanks Rich!

Hi all…… too bad John Gill needed to nuke the other thread. Some just don’t know how to behave in a civilized manner.

Oh well- it’s par for the course.

Lori…. I have found that doing 5.nothing is probably the only way to get back at it.

Last Sunday I managed to climb 3 climbs- no falls- wo hoo. The hardest was maybe 5.8d - I was sort of scared because the last climb was a diagonal upwards traverse, so following was setting myself up for a “flyer” along sharp stone.
I had to stick my right foot way up and way right… movement like that was causing my right leg to “turn off” and stop working. (Ever sat on the can, reading Mountain Project, for a long time and have your leg go dead numb?) Anyway I was fearful of that happening. But if I gave up and “took” - what I feared would happen- will happen. Short story- made the moves.

What I’m trying to tell you is dial it down, and do miles and miles of “foot up, stand up”. I do this on the famous “slant rock” at Stoney. If you know Stoney (you do not) this is the famous “no hands face climbing” boulder.  I run laps till I’m tired. My lap count has been going up very slowly.

Face it, at our advanced age, things heal at a glacial pace.

And as others have suggested- big hold climbing can be very good for you. I suggest you go visit New Jack City with Bob and discover the joy of moving over stone on big ass holds. It’s way more fun than clinging to scrappy crappy quartz monzonite. Just saying.

I hope everyone is staying warm, and hopefully the ice is forming up.

Later all. 

5.fun can be totally awesome.  E.g my lead head has been kinda terrible for the last 2+ years. So I’ve led old ladies at Seneca multiple times. Never had so much fun on a 5.2! And the weird keyhole route there is maybe 5.0, but I love it every time.  Exploring and revisiting cool routes are how I’m keeping in the game.

Sam. speaking of really fun easy climbs at Seneca. This one takes the cake @5.4 and there is even a 5.3 variation if you climb it on the right. even the pitch leading up to this is super fun. I don't remember what they call it but its real climbing easier than the 5.4 pitch. 

Bouldered  Old ladies once and it felt like a real accomplishment ;) 

Sam Findleywrote:

5.fun can be totally awesome.  E.g my lead head has been kinda terrible for the last 2+ years. So I’ve led old ladies at Seneca multiple times. Never had so much fun on a 5.2! And the weird keyhole route there is maybe 5.0, but I love it every time.  Exploring and revisiting cool routes are how I’m keeping in the game.

Whenever someone posts about Seneca, it makes me miss that place something fierce. It’s where I did my first multi pitch climbs and fell in love with my lady taking her on her first climbing adventures. I can still remember my excitement when coming down the hill past Harper’s store and seeing that great crag and knowing that I’d soon be scaring myself questing up those great lines. It’s crazy to realize that was 30 years ago. 

And yeah, I totally agree that sticking with climbs that feel good and flowy is key to staying stoked. 

Coming into town from the West is a really wild view. 

Seneca is and has been my favorite for 30+ years.  I don’t climb the hard ones, but it’s fun passing the torch to my kids who now are climbing.  There’s something special about being belayed by your own grown kids on your long-time favorite climbs.  And Seneca is just so perfect for it;  signing the register together on top is a forever memory.

And the pizza at Brenda’s in Deep Creek is killer!

Oh, yeah….Seneca is a place unto itself.  I always feel like the exposure there is somehow “extra”.

Edit to add: gunsight to south peak would be tough for me, since traverses have always freaked me out (e.g I cried both times that I climbed Disneyland in the gunks back in the 90s. That second pitch is huge in my memory)

Hey, I hiked a mile yesterday!  New knee felt better than the other old bad one.  Sore today but then went to PT and now I am really sore.  Will probably not do anything but light stretching tomorrow.  If I can hike again the following day I will be happy.  I could never be a physical therapist.  The amount of pain you have to put people thru to 'cure' them is just not in me to do.

Nice to hear of your progress, Jan. A mile of hiking is no small amount when you're rehabbing like you are!

Probably my favorite climb ever, a 700 foot leaning granite tower in Hardscrabble Canyon in Southern Colorado. I would do laps on it, mostly during the 1990s. About 5.7 with a few harder variations, I climbed twenty miles on this delightful formation before retiring.

Much more rewarding than working on more challenging terrain. A path away from worldly concerns. 

(photo by Heinz Zak)

Snow!! Just a skiff, but geez, it's late January, and this is the driest it's ever been.

J W, welcome! Do all the candles, I plan on it next January, for 70! When I turned 50, my son turned 13, just a few days later. Teenager and 50, heck ya, that cake had an inferno going on top!

Helen

Official welcome to you, JW! I also spend a lot of time lurking and don’t contribute but every now and then. I, too, get a lot out of this thread and it is my favorite here on MP. I should try to jump into the conversation more often.

Parallel with the storm in the USA, our local Montserrat got snow recently and it has absolutely dumped up in the Pyrenees. The skiers are happy! Hope everyone in the US is getting the lights back on and the driveways cleared. 

John Gillwrote:

Much more rewarding than working on more challenging terrain. A path away from worldly concerns. 

Have to respectfully disagree.

For me, nothing beats topping a boulder after fighting for it every inch of the way :-)

Lori Milaswrote:

Yukon, thank you for starting a new thread.

John. I’m so sorry. You are the dignitary here, Sorry you had to make that call. But actually you also lead by example.  Without pulling any punches your plain speech is a treasure. Thanks for putting that thread out of its misery.  Please Don’t ever leave.  

Agree, the situation is so divisive.

NRA stands behind Alex’s right to own guns. What’s happening, is exactly why they push for the second amendment. It’s exactly what happened in 1776 that put it on the Bill of Rights. 

That said, John is really cool. As a kid, I’d heard about his exploits and used the B rating system trying to send B2+.

Really cool and unassuming.

Can I pivot for a moment? I climbed again this morning and It’s rough out there!     I’m having a tough time on the rock and trying not to get too discouraged. I’ve always just pushed through on good days and bad. But I’m starting to seriously doubt myself and my ability to recover. Nothing feels right and nothing works.  And I shake, constantly.

Never doubt yourself. I’m heavy into training.

Weighted fingerboards, campus board, then falling off climbs in the gym.

It takes longer to recover. Even my 30 year old climbing partners lament their 20s.

Takes training and time to heal.

I know I’ll never climb nor be as strong as I was in my 20s, mountains above 7000m won’t ever be in my future, 

Mantling up a climb is really strenuous, a possibility may be an easier mantle with holds above to help breach the overhang?

This is a fairly simple route, but you wouldn’t know it to watch me climb. I couldn’t get my right leg to high step onto a Dyke. Couldn’t make myself mantle over a little protrusion. Came home with a massive headache and asking Tony if it was time to join that bowling league.  I don’t know how long it’s really going to take to recover from my health setback. My doctors are thrilled, but they don’t have high expectations of a 72-year-old.

No rock should be called simple. They’re all cool to climb.

TSMC in Phoenix 

Posh!

Mark E Dixonwrote:

Have to respectfully disagree.

For me, nothing beats topping a boulder after fighting for it every inch of the way :-)

I love the long simmering build up of an exposed climb in the mountains. 

Especially when the summit requires a few bouldery moves. 

I also love the immediate rush of topping a problem that I didn’t expect to climb again.

For me, the short climbs provide the intense sensations, while the long climbs provide the lasting satisfaction. 

Climbing is fun!

Just had a discussion at work regarding the OMG particle. It’s basically a proton moving near light speed with 50 joules of energy.

My coworker said that a needle sized object travelling at that speed could destroy the earth. A huge ball of molten solid iron that it is.

That said, Star Trek with “photon torpedoes” was  BS. I was disappointed.

A “starship” would either be better off ramming another planet to destroy the enemy. Either that or microscopic objects could be delivered towards the enemy with an on board accelerator.

Fun fact, after OMG particle, what’s next? In the comments section of the post, someone suggested the WTF particle for a yet more energetic particle   

Basically all climbing movement is fun. Especially with those you love.