New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #42

Alan Rubinwrote:

Thanks Nick. Though wondering if #5 is Pleasant Overgangs. Doesn't have that 'Seneca look'.

I wish I could figure out how to digitize my old slides ( beyond my tech competence level). I just came across some boxes from an early '80s trip to the Seneca area that would be fun to post--especially routes such as Psychotic Reaction at Champe--one of the best climbs in the region and a possible FA on a pinnacle at North Fork Mt. Maybe some day!!!!

I've had a few down through the years, but the one I use right now is a Plustek OpticPhoto scanner. Look em up, they're all over.
Sort of a reasonably "affordable" solution if you're really not looking to break the bank.

Hard to get it wrong... there's a tray you pop four slides into, then hand move them into the scanner, hit the button, do some color correction if you want, hit scan.

The Silver Fast software also provides a decent amount on scratch and dust removal if needed.

Edit to add: This is a pretty plug-n-play option that you can tweak to work the way you want to. Once you have the scan resolution set and dust removal selected, you just have to supply the time for loading the slides in and patience for the scanning. You can actually mow a pretty decent pile of slides in a relatively short amount of time.

Fred, the one and only Fred. How many of his routes have I climbed and enjoyed? Thanks for your vision and inspiration Fred.

We never had kids but I have a godson who is my surrogate son. He’s 37 now and a couple of years ago he asked for 3 words of wisdom to describe my life and lifestyle. That was kind of a big ask and I had to ponder that one for a few days but in the end what I came up with was “Keep your momentum” 

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

So we hiked, albeit very slowly, to Mono Pass. On the way we stopped for a snack. As we snacked a wild bear just ambled along and walked up to us. My kids were sitting on a rock and I was standing between them and the bear. Keep in mind, I couldn't run at all, not even could I quick walk out of there. What I did was kept calm. The bear came to within 5 feet of me, obviously smelling our food. I picked up two handy rocks, and underhand tossed the one in my left hand so it landed in front of the bear. It paid no attention to the rock, at all. So I was prepared to brain the bear with the other rock if I had to, but I made no gesture at all. The bear looked at us (never in the eye) and decided to amble away. Off it went, excitement over. My kids were all "such a nice bear" because I didn't react with fear, they had none either. 

A few (couple?) years ago in Prescott (AZ), there was an older gentleman that was having a house built. One morning, he's hanging out on his lot. I think construction had started, but not very far along. Anyways, he's sitting on a rock in his eventual front yard drinking his coffee when a bear wandered in and killed him. I don't think they ever figured out what caused the bear to attack, but just saying you can never tell what they're going to do for sure.

I had two long-time climbing partners that passed in the last year. We'd climbed literally thousands of routes together. I guess we're entering that time of life. Seems like the best lessons are to keep moving, get it done now if you're going to do it, and don't sit around getting dusty!

New spire over the weekend! Short, but what a great summit.

Norm Larsonwrote:

Fred, the one and only Fred. How many of his routes have I climbed and enjoyed? Thanks for your vision and inspiration Fred.

We never had kids but I have a godson who I who is my surrogate son. He’s 37 now and a couple of years ago he asked for 3 words of wisdom to describe my life and lifestyle. That was kind of a big ask and I had to ponder that one for a few days but in the end what I came up with was “Keep your momentum” 

Wise words Sir!

Wow…some good photos and words of wisdom in the last few pages.

Brad…. Thanks for the great, generous offer. I’ll send you a DM after I finish this.

Going to book some time at the City- I was able to grab site 64 last year- up at the top, close to the back exit to the city. Fabulous cell service.

I won’t talk about our weather.

I went climbing on Saturday… needed 2 serious rest recovery days! But I did manage to do my 5.8D but I paid the price. But as most of you already know the price is totally worth it.

I can relate to “Fred” crawling across that log. Last summer I pitched off one, I managed to go off of the log on the down stream side with the last control that I had.

Oh it’s time to bouldering at Stoney 

later all 

Cherokee: what a beautiful, amazing story. Brought tears to my eyes! What great kid lessons to grow up with, and what an incredible 80year old lady...  I'm inspired!

Dan: I love your Fred stories! Wish I could tell some here that you've told me, but I'll not trespass into your territory. I still quote from the story of the day at Cardinal Pinn!

Greg: what fun little towers those 2 are. I've climbed them both 2 or 3 times when I lived at Trout Farm in Oak Creek Canyon. Exciting summit moves!

Bill Lundeenwrote:

Cherokee: what a beautiful, amazing story. Brought tears to my eyes! What great kid lessons to grow up with, and what an incredible 80year old lady...  I'm inspired!

Dan: I love your Fred stories! Wish I could tell some here that you've told me, but I'll not trespass into your territory. I still quote from the story of the day at Cardinal Pinn!

Greg: what fun little towers those 2 are. I've climbed them both 2 or 3 times when I lived at Trout Farm in Oak Creek Canyon. Exciting summit moves!

Yeah that day on CP was a real adventure. Fred insisted on doing Cucumbers, 5.10 at the time, and now 10a/b on MP (lol),  and he earned every inch of it. He was 84 that day. Even with a fireman’s belay, my heart was in my mouth watching him rap those steep upper pitches. 

Setting up topropes for him on Grandpa Peabody is a fond memory. He immediately drew a crowd of beautiful young women and loved every second of it. The cheers he received for topping out the Advanced Rockcraft Arete echoed across the valley. Unfortunately, due to my laziness with back-ups, I lost about 9,000 photos of many days of climbing including that one. 

Good times!

edit to add: Hey Norm, your skiing photo reminded me of a great ski trip that I had up your way a bit over 10 years ago. My friends swore me to secrecy, but I bet you’ll recognize the place. Ullr provides. 

Isa and I skied lift service today 

And then I chopped a hole in the pond. That was a serious chore. Ice was at least 6 inches thick in the spot that I usually keep open.. too many sub zero days when we were chicken to go for it in the last 10 days or so let the hole get pretty darn bullet proof... 

Great to hear these stories and the words of wisdom---maintain the momentum, indeed!!!

In climbing I was fortunate from my early years to observe as role models and sometimes get mentored by, folks climbing and otherwise staying active well into their 'senior' years ( some at the time younger than I am now!!!). At Devil's  Lake, as a young climber, I had the privilege of climbing with the legendary Dave Slinger. And, at least one of the even more legendary Stettner brothers would occasionally appear with the Chicago Mountaineers, though we rarely interacted with them. Back east at the Gunks, Fritz Weissner, Hans Kraus, Lester Germer, Lou Lutz and others  were actively climbing and constant inspirations. And, through the Harvard Mountaineering Club I had the honor to meet and get to know folks such as Henry Hall, Ken Henderson, Ad Carter, Bradford Washburn, Bob Bates--some of the main activists from the 1920s and 30s---and while by then most of them were no longer climbing, they were still very active in the outdoors and many other activities--showing no signs of slowing down.
I'm not trying to 'name drop' here, but to honor some who not only showed the way through their pioneering climbs when young, but also provided living examples of how to 'actively age'.  I am glad that those of us on here are continuing that tradition.

Alan Rubinwrote:

Great to hear these stories and the words of wisdom---maintain the momentum, indeed!!!

In climbing I was fortunate from my early years to observe as role models and sometimes get mentored by, folks climbing and otherwise staying active well into their 'senior' years ( some at the time younger than I am now!!!). At Devil's  Lake, as a young climber, I had the privilege of climbing with the legendary Dave Slinger. And, at least one of the even more legendary Stettner brothers would occasionally appear with the Chicago Mountaineers, though we rarely interacted with them. Back east at the Gunks, Fritz Weissner, Hans Kraus, Lester Germer, Lou Lutz and others  were actively climbing and constant inspirations. And, through the Harvard Mountaineering Club I had the honor to meet and get to know folks such as Henry Hall, Ken Henderson, Ad Carter, Bradford Washburn, Bob Bates--some of the main activists from the 1920s and 30s---and while by then most of them were no longer climbing, they were still very active in the outdoors and many other activities--showing no signs of slowing down.
I'm not trying to 'name drop' here, but to honor some who not only showed the way through their pioneering climbs when young, but also provided living examples of how to 'actively age'.  I am glad that those of us on here are continuing that tradition.

One of the things I've loved about climbing from day one is its history.

Seeing connections like this from and to generations is fantastic (connecting you to us slightly younger climbers through Clint was pretty damn cool too).

We got out into the lower reaches of the high county during what might be the last of this "false Spring." Next to Pinecrest Lake at 6,000 feet elevation.

I got to show an extremely enthusiastic new climber how cracks are climbed on this little (but convenient) thing:

Much larger Frankensteins cliff (right above where we climbed) is completely dry but unfortunately the approach is on the back of what is shown, off a road which is snowed in:

We finished the day at Pinecrest Lake Buttress where the extremely enthused young climber started learning slab footwork (this photo is from the first ascent and not from yesterday - conditions were identical to this yesterday though):

Ward Smithwrote:

Out for a ski in the “heat” of the day in order to get my sun exposure. Wonderful conditions, we are having a real winter this year.

We certainly are.  In the latest storm we got 20".  Haven't seen that in a few years. 

In addition to lots of shoveling, my wife and I have been trotting around ferrying my daughter to gymnastics events and meets. We also all three got COVID a few weeks ago. Not too bad (we all got the latest vaccine, for whatever that's worth) but it has had minor lingering effects. I'm pretty slow still on the treadmill, and am only just starting to get back to my previous bouldering level.  It also meant we had to reschedule a planned trip to Disney.  Oh so sad (not).

My wife was all recovered though in time for a conference at Keystone (CO) last week. Kind of funny, as you all have been saying, the West is dry while we've been getting buried in snow. She got in a half day of skiing on her last day, and the conditions were lousy, while driving around town here in the Boston area felt like I was at a resort, with huge mountains of snow everywhere. Oh well. 

At the gym I finally sent the problem I've been projecting for a few weeks. It wasn't pretty, but I did capture a video: Purple V7

In other news, Valentine's Day is typically the start of my maple season, but it's so cold and snowy this year I may not be able to tap my trees until March. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks, everyone, for all the great photos. They help keep the stoke alive through these bleak winter months. 

GO

Apropos of our ( ongoing) discussions about active aging, I just read ( on AOL News) an article from the Washington Post on this topic. It focuses on research findings on a record-holding 82 year old Spanish ultramarathoner ( who didn't start running or other exercise until in his 60s). The researchers are attempting to determine if his abilities are the results of genetics or 'training'. While their research is still on-going, the results so far ( not surprisingly in my opinion) are that it is a mix of both. Some of their tests indicate that he has well-above normal aerobic capacity and muscle 'resilience', but in other aspects he is quite ordinary, but in those areas his training and motivation have helped him attain his accomplishments. I recommend reading the article--as it provides futher reinforcement for what many of us on here believe and are doing,

Buck Rogerswrote:

Stuck in the deep freeze with so much lovely snow but no outdoor climbing has me thinking about Dragon's and my summer goals in the Gunks.

For my Gunkophile friends on here:

What 5 routes would you suggest that Dragon's lead to establish themselves at leading the grade?  Granted almost assuredly these will be ones that they've already followed as they have climbed, I think, around 100 different routes there and mostly 5.8 and down (please correct me if I am wrong Dragon's!).

I would suggest: Fingerlocks, Jackie, Dennis, Black Fly, and Bunny.  [Yes Horseman is THE coolest 5.5 in the Gunks, in my opinion, but brother that one wigged me out when I first led it (although it was an onsight so that would be different for them)]. 

Interesting set, Buck! (FWIW Bunny is an old school 5.4, but I've never led it, and it's about time I did - it can be hard to get on since it's quite popular.)

In 2012-2014 I led some 5s. I've led Finger Locks, Jackie, Dennis and Black Fly. Black Fly was my first onsight 5.5 in the Gunks! I've also followed them all multiple times in recent years. So I "know" I can lead these in my heart. However, my lead head sucks. The only way I can progress is to get beyond this.

Of all of your suggestions, Dennis is the trickiest because the first few moves are a real stretch for us shorties, and I'm now slightly under 5'0". Compare this photo of a short woman vs this photo of a tall dude who has room to spare. The problem is that I get completely stretched out just trying to get a handhold in order to place the first piece. I hope I can figure out a better way to do this move, but last time I tried it, it had very tenuous feet at a no-fall zone.

Anyway, these are my thoughts/potential goals: Arch, Black Fly, Finger Locks, No Picnic (has some dicey pro), then maybe Jackie or Rusty Trifle or Horseman. I really do need to lead Bunny.

FWIW I've also led RMC, but find the one runout section to be scary. I think I'd want to follow that a bunch more before attempting to lead it again.

And for my new-to-me Gunks .6's?  I've led Laurel and Rhododendron and the first pitch of Frog's Head (my partner really hated the belay stance for the second pitch so we rapped down) but no other .6's.

Obviously I want to lead Madam G, High E, and The Ceiling but I like to onsight, or at least flash, routes so I do not want to do them before leading them but I've been told by two different guides that those three are serious Gunks ".6" endeavors compared to some others and not necessarily best first .6 leads there. (I did already follow High E with Rich around seven years ago so no flash on that one for me).   

Looking for ones that are good to break into the grade as an onsight/flash.  I'm thinking of finishing Frog's Head second pitch, then Grease Gun Groove, Baby (I have a #5 and #6 to protect it), Disneyland, Credibility Gap, and/or Ursala?

Are you limiting yourself by star quality, or will you climb most anything? Are you looking for G ratings or will you climb PG? How about Wrist? The "heart-pounding traverse" scared the crap out of me as a follower. I hear that you can retreat if you don't like the looks of it as a leader.

I followed Disneyland this fall and the last pitch has an amazing move, so I highly recommend it. Same for Baby - so much fun (at least to follow)! OTOH Bill led Ursula years ago and disliked the pro. Thin crack, small nuts. YMMV.

I hope I'll get to follow you on some of your goals! I'm really itching to get out and climb - these frigid temps are putting a damper in my winter. Oh and don't forget Henderson. We should plan on that for midsummer when we'll get longer days.

Alan Rubinwrote:

Apropos of our ( ongoing) discussions about active aging, I just read ( on AOL News) an article from the Washington Post on this topic. It focuses on research findings on a record-holding 82 year old Spanish ultramarathoner ( who didn't start running or other exercise until in his 60s). The researchers are attempting to determine if his abilities are the results of genetics or 'training'. While their research is still on-going, the results so far ( not surprisingly in my opinion) are that it is a mix of both. Some of their tests indicate that he has well-above normal aerobic capacity and muscle 'resilience', but in other aspects he is quite ordinary, but in those areas his training and motivation have helped him attain his accomplishments. I recommend reading the article--as it provides futher reinforcement for what many of us on here believe and are doing,

Ah, two things strike me about this one!

I bet part of it is that they started later in life.  I think that has a protective factor.

I started running long distances in my 30's and maxed out with the Vermont 100 Miler run in 2013 and then after that I would only go up to 50 miles, and then down to only 50 k's and so on until now I only run up to ten milers at max.  For me, and a lot of my friends, it seems that there is a finite time interval with running where most mortals can go long and hard for a few decades but then it catches up to you.

I can still ride my bike on 100+ milers but no longer can I do the long runs or it just wrecks my body.  But that is an "N" of fewer than 10 people so take it as you will!

The second thing about this that struck me was how it reminded my of Reinhold Messner and the studies that they did on him after his oxygen-less ascents in the Himilayas.  For a while a lot of scientists thought that he must have some superhuman trait/gene that allowed him to do it and they tested the hell out of him and in the end they concluded that he was just super mentally tough and motivataed and in great areobic shape but it was nothing inherently genetically special.

I loved that study as it took away a lot of excuses for myself in not limiting myself out the gate!

dragonswrote:

Interesting set, Buck! (FWIW Bunny is an old school 5.4, but I've never led it, and it's about time I did - it can be hard to get on since it's quite popular.)

In 2012-2014 I led some 5s. I've led Finger Locks, Jackie, Dennis and Black Fly. Black Fly was my first onsight 5.5 in the Gunks! I've also followed them all multiple times in recent years. So I "know" I can lead these in my heart. However, my lead head sucks. The only way I can progress is to get beyond this.

Of all of your suggestions, Dennis is the trickiest because the first few moves are a real stretch for us shorties, and I'm now slightly under 5'0". Compare this photo of a short woman vs this photo of a tall dude who has room to spare. The problem is that I get completely stretched out just trying to get a handhold in order to place the first piece. I hope I can figure out a better way to do this move, but last time I tried it, it had very tenuous feet at a no-fall zone.

Anyway, these are my thoughts/potential goals: Arch, Black Fly, Finger Locks, No Picnic (has some dicey pro), then maybe Jackie or Rusty Trifle or Horseman. I really do need to lead Bunny.

FWIW I've also led RMC, but find the one runout section to be scary. I think I'd want to follow that a bunch more before attempting to lead it again.

Are you limiting yourself by star quality, or will you climb most anything? Are you looking for G ratings or will you climb PG? How about Wrist? The "heart-pounding traverse" scared the crap out of me as a follower. I hear that you can retreat if you don't like the looks of it as a leader.

I followed Disneyland this fall and the last pitch has an amazing move, so I highly recommend it. Same for Baby - so much fun (at least to follow)! OTOH Bill led Ursula years ago and disliked the pro. Thin crack, small nuts. YMMV.

I hope I'll get to follow you on some of your goals! I'm really itching to get out and climb - these frigid temps are putting a damper in my winter. Oh and don't forget Henderson. We should plan on that for midsummer when we'll get longer days.

Oh!!! My bad, Dragons!  I did not realize that you had led a bunch of .5's!  Sorry about that!

You should be shooting for five 5.6 leads with me this summer for yourself!

Yeah, I can see how "Dennis" would be so much harder for those under ~5'8''.  That first move is key and so height dependent.  

As for your leads, "Arch" is on my list as well so we'll have to take turns on that one!  "No Picnic" threw me on lead as I screwed up the first little roof area and did not go far enough right and I almost blew it and would have landed on a ledge.  That would have been bad!  But I was able, just barely, to downclimb before I pumped out and rest and then go correctly.  Got to love true onsighting! ;)  And it sounds lie it is time for you to lead Horseman and Bunny as you've led all the other top .5's there, in my very uniformed opinion!

And for my list:  Star quality is always great, as well a G ratings, but I'm up for any "mangeable" .6 in the Gunks to try!  I'd never even heard of "Wrist" but I just looked at it and added it to the list!  Looks great.  And I saw another one right near it, "Easy Street", that looks like a great .6.  So many to choose from!

Disneyland and Baby are definitely on my first .6's lead list as I almost led both of them last fall but ran out of weather/time as my work gets crazy busy in later SEP through DEC.

I've heard the "Ursala" is a tough one to lead with pro so I'm a bit sketched on that one and it is not on my top 5, for sure.

Fun times ahead!  Cannot wait to climb with you and Bill again soon!

Buck Rogerswrote:

Oh!!! My bad, Dragons!  I did not realize that you had led a bunch of .5's!  Sorry about that!

You should be shooting for five 5.6 leads with me this summer for yourself!

Yeah, I can see how "Dennis" would be so much harder for those under ~5'8''.  That first move is key and so height dependent.  

As for your leads, "Arch" is on my list as well so we'll have to take turns on that one!  "No Picnic" threw me on lead as I screwed up the first little roof area and did not go far enough right and I almost blew it and would have landed on a ledge.  That would have been bad!  But I was able, just barely, to downclimb before I pumped out and rest and then go correctly.  Got to love true onsighting! ;)  And it sounds lie it is time for you to lead Horseman and Bunny as you've led all the other top .5's there, in my very uniformed opinion!

And for my list:  Star quality is always great, as well a G ratings, but I'm up for any "mangeable" .6 in the Gunks to try!  I'd never even heard of "Wrist" but I just looked at it and added it to the list!  Looks great.  And I saw another one right near it, "Easy Street", that looks like a great .6.  So many to choose from!

Disneyland and Baby are definitely on my first .6's lead list as I almost led both of them last fall but ran out of weather/time as my work gets crazy busy in later SEP through DEC.

I've heard the "Ursala" is a tough one to lead with pro so I'm a bit sketched on that one and it is not on my top 5, for sure.

Fun times ahead!  Cannot wait to climb with you and Bill again soon!

IMO Disneyland is the most fun climb at that grade at the Gunks, Moonlight the most exciting (save this one for later!)

GO

GabeOwrote:

IMO Disneyland is the most fun climb at that grade at the Gunks, Moonlight the most exciting (save this one for later!)

GO

We smoked a bunch of pot and did Moonlight in the 70’s as an “easy” climb at the end of the day.  My friend lead the roof, and did not place a single piece of gear on the leftward traverse after the crux in order to protect the second (me).  He set up a belay on a dead tree stump that I probably could have pulled out with one hand.  I totally freaked out on him!

GabeOwrote:

We certainly are.  In the latest storm we got 20".  Haven't seen that in a few years. 

In addition to lots of shoveling, my wife and I have been trotting around ferrying my daughter to gymnastics events and meets. We also all three got COVID a few weeks ago. Not too bad (we all got the latest vaccine, for whatever that's worth) but it has had minor lingering effects. I'm pretty slow still on the treadmill, and am only just starting to get back to my previous bouldering level.  It also meant we had to reschedule a planned trip to Disney.  Oh so sad (not).

My wife was all recovered though in time for a conference at Keystone (CO) last week. Kind of funny, as you all have been saying, the West is dry while we've been getting buried in snow. She got in a half day of skiing on her last day, and the conditions were lousy, while driving around town here in the Boston area felt like I was at a resort, with huge mountains of snow everywhere. Oh well. 

At the gym I finally sent the problem I've been projecting for a few weeks. It wasn't pretty, but I did capture a video: Purple V7

In other news, Valentine's Day is typically the start of my maple season, but it's so cold and snowy this year I may not be able to tap my trees until March. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks, everyone, for all the great photos. They help keep the stoke alive through these bleak winter months. 

GO

Good effort!  I have done a bunch of V7’s in my gym, but my gym is definitely softer than yours!  I'm mostly climbing on the Kilter Board now training for Arizona (again) in April. 

I got COVID for the first time ever a few weeks ago, really mild for me, like 3/10 (never had a COVID vax). Actually the first time I’ve been sick at all in three years. But apparently I am not immune.

Buck Rogerswrote:

Oh!!! My bad, Dragons!  I did not realize that you had led a bunch of .5's!  Sorry about that!

You should be shooting for five 5.6 leads with me this summer for yourself!

No worries - all those 5s were over ten years ago. I don't recall the last time I led a 5, and the 6s I just don't know. Everyone says it's a matter of technique, but I think I'd feel more confident about leading if I were stronger (and taller). There are only a few routes that I still can onsight, and would like to, but otherwise I'm happy to help you with your onsights   Maybe Bill can follow you on some of those, since he doesn't care about onsighting.