New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #14

ErikaNWwrote:

It seems like side effects are super variable. I’m getting my 2nd shot today. I was in bed for 2 days after the 1st one - fever, headache and fatigue. It’s common to have a stronger reaction after the 2nd dose from what I’ve heard, but that’s not consistent either.

My dad had nothing but a sore arm after both doses. My mom ran a fever for 7 days and had terrible bone pain for 3 days after her 1st, bad headache and fever (no bone pain) for only 2 days after her 2nd. My friend’s lymph nodes swelled up so much she looked like she had mumps after her 2nd. 

So, it’s a mixed bag! But as one of my friends said, she’s never been so glad to feel so sick in her life. Those of us who have had access to the vaccine are incredibly fortunate. I can’t wait until it is available to everyone. 

I had a terrible hangover the day after my first Pfizer vax but I'm starting to think that might have had something to do with all the tequila I drank that night with other fully vaccinated friends in celebration. 

Andrew Ricewrote:

I had a terrible hangover the day after my first Pfizer vax but I'm starting to think that might have had something to do with all the tequila I drank that night with other fully vaccinated friends in celebration. 

This is what we need... to get blotto after the 2nd vaccination.    

Brandt, I mentioned hypochondria... with only a little humor.  With a few of the health problems I've had I'm perhaps a little over-sensitive, fearful in general.  In the case of COVID, this is one of those rare times of having too much information, both about the terrors of the illness itself, and the side-effects some people experience with the vaccine.  It's hard to get it into perspective. Tony and I had our first Pfizer shot together, he couldn't even tell you where he got it, no side-effects at all... I developed a slightly tender arm.  That's it.  Yet I will still borrow trouble and expect the worst from the second.     Wish I wouldn't do that.

Speaking of negativity.  I realized that over the last few months doubt, anxiety and some helplessness has crept into my thinking about climbing that I didn't recognize.  It has some to do with the hourglass thing and too quick passage of time. I need more time!  Some to do with how hard the routes are, and thinking...'that was it. That's my limit'.  Now the negativity is really getting in my way, sort of cooling down my own stoke.  

I've recognized it also WHILE I'm climbing.  Way too much chatter, over-thinking... I'm climbing better than I ever have, maybe I'm just noticing all the mental blocks now.  

So, I decided to pull out Rock Warrior's Way again.  I read it late 2017.  At that time, I wasn't climbing enough to make use of the principles.  Now I think it will be really helpful.  

We've talked about all the ways we try to gain an edge... just another 10% technique or strength--it all matters.  Now, for myself, I want to return to the mental/emotional aspect of climbing.  I'd like to dump some of the junk I'm lugging around.  Hopefully we'll be able to talk about our limits and hangups, as our stories continue to unfold.

One way to move forward is to back down a little and give yourself time to get really proficient at a lower level & then move up in grades bringing that proficiency with you. It's ok to climb at a much lower grade. Run laps on things that you can do, downclimb. When you feel comfortable leave off holds, take time to think & try different hand-foot placements when it's easy. Working on easier climbs will help build base muscles.

Mark Frumkinwrote:

One way to move forward is to back down a little and give yourself time to get really proficient at a lower level & then move up in grades bringing that proficiency with you. It's ok to climb at a much lower grade. Run laps on things that you can do, downclimb. When you feel comfortable leave off holds, take time to think & try different hand-foot placements when it's easy. Working on easier climbs will help build base muscles.

Thanks, Mark. I don't know how everybody else is going about it... but that's exactly what I've been doing this year.  We've covered 5.7's, 5.8's, a lot of 5.9's, and suddenly 5.10 a-b is happening.  I've made sure to include face, crack and slab climbs... trying to get some skill with each.  I would hate to be a 5.10 face climber, but can't manage a 5.7 crack.  Back in the beginning I was learning about 'the pyramid' ... lots of easier climbs, adding in levels along the way.  This year that's been happening in a very focused way.  Thank you! 

Bachar said it like this. What you want to do is work each grade horizontally. If you're doing 5.8's, focus on that grade 'till you can do every variety of 5.8. By then you'll be more than ready to do the same thing with the 5.9's and so forth. Build your base and move on up. Rinse and repeat (yes, he said that)   

Kristian Solemwrote:

Bachar said it like this. What you want to do is work each grade horizontally. If you're doing 5.8's, focus on that grade 'till you can do every variety of 5.8. By then you'll be more than ready to do the same thing with the 5.9's and so forth. Build your base and move on up. Rinse and repeat (yes, he said that)   

This may be OK advice for a younger trad climber who aspires to be an all-rounder, but I think it's terrible advice in general, and especially for someone who takes up climbing later in life. At that point, life is too short, do what seems fun to you. If I had followed this dictum, I would have missed out on all my years of climbing the things I loved to climb.  I personally have never had an interest in off-width and not much interest in fist cracks beyond a certain, easy grade.  This has never been an impediment to anything I wanted to climb.  There's always easy aid/french free in a pinch.  The things I loved to do, I got reasonably decent at, and climbed at a much harder grade than the things that I didn't enjoy.  And for multipitch objectives, isn't that partly why you and your partner always say, you take this pitch, I'll take that one? As a second, you can use your ascender to get past stuff that's not in your range.  Sorry, I just don't buy the "be equally good at every variety" advice.

The Bachar advice is good advice. Because a given individual thinks it is poor advice then it is poor advice for that individual. If in a general objective sense someone is looking to sample advice to improve their climbing who should that advice seeker consult :Bachar or Joe Schmo from Cocomo? Get outta here.

Donald Thompsonwrote:

The Bachar advice is good advice. Because a given individual thinks it is poor advice then it is poor advice for that individual. If in a general objective sense someone is looking to sample advice to improve their climbing who should that advice seeker consult :Bachar or Joe Schmo from Cocomo? Get outta here.

Well, the advice WAS directed at an individual - Lori, a newish, female (diabetic) climber in her 60s who has professed little interest in leading.  If Bachar was alive today he'd be 63.  Would  Bachar today, with the perspective of a 63 year old,  give that advice to Lori?  I have no idea, but I trust that a woman with the wisdom of life experience of Lori can decide what makes sense to her, whatever the source.

What then is your alternative advice to Lori? To skip volume at 7 and 8s and fire on up to 10s and 11s because of approaching mortality ?

Wow. An almost dispute!  We never have those here!  But only 4 posts left and this thread shuts down.

I appreciate ALL the advice—Phylp especially yours.  I know you’ve been climbing a long time. If Bob Gaines is my main man I trust his wisdom.  He seems very aware of where I want to go and about how much time I have to get there.  He’s asked me, seriously, if I want to spend the next year of my life working on cracks... when my stated goals are specific face climbs.  It is interesting, this time of life for me seems to be about slicing away the riff-raff and going for the real and important.  Not just in climbing but in life.

Still, it’s fun to mix it up a little.  Cracks are getting easier. Mantles not so much. (Home today doing some mantle exercises.) 

More and more...

Donald Thompsonwrote:

The Bachar advice is good advice. Because a given individual thinks it is poor advice then it is poor advice for that individual. If in a general objective sense someone is looking to sample advice to improve their climbing who should that advice seeker consult :Bachar or Joe Schmo from Cocomo? Get outta here.

The Bachar advice is good advice if you want to be a strong all-arounder. Not everyone does. My wife wanted to climb .12 by the time she was 60. She also likes routes that are vertical to gently overhanging, and that is what she worked on. And guess what? She’s done several in the last year. She could not care less about cracks or slabs. She’ll go to the Creek and follow me on TR, and she’ll cruise 5.8 trad for variety, but she has no investment in those styles.

If one is like my wife, Bachar’s advice is terrible. 

Frank Steinwrote:

The Bachar advice is good advice if you want to be a strong all-arounder. Not everyone does. My wife wanted to climb .12 by the time she was 60. She also likes routes that are vertical to gently overhanging, and that is what she worked on. And guess what? She’s done several in the last year. She could not care less about cracks or slabs. She’ll go to the Creek and follow me on TR, and she’ll cruise 5.8 trad for variety, but she has no investment in those styles.

If one is like my wife, Bachar’s advice is terrible. 

Bachar's advice is obviously not for a sport climber. That's plain to see. It's not bad advice, it's irrelevant. 

Lori's been asking questions, many along the lines of "how do you do it?" Bachar's thing is, for sure, something she wants to know about, and no one here has presented that point of view. Does she need, or want, to follow that practice to the letter? Who does? That's why the words "for the most part" are in there.

It's a concept. A solid one, and one which could have some relevance to Lori's goals.

This topic has been automatically locked after having 1000 replies. You can create a new topic if there is more say.