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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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MH2 - The problem is your choice of sport and how you measure success.
Try golf. As you age, you will take more strokes - you scores will go up instead of down.
The pinnacle of success will be to shoot your age over 18 holes. Nobody under 60 has ever done that!
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richross
Trad climber
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Dick Williams still is very active.
I think he is around 70.
Taken yesterday.
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WanderlustMD
Trad climber
New England
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Donini still cranks...
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Darryl Cramer
Social climber
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Ah Andy your ears must have been burning Dick and I were talking about this very subject yesterday. We discussed our own increasing age and then speculated on the average age of a ST poster. After pulling me thru a couple of cruxes Dick suggested I start a "get in shape" regimen. I replied that I was going to start doing pull-ups. He replied: “At your weight pull-ups are the last thing you should be doing.”
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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But isn't Jim 107 or something? He says Italian climbers are long-lived.
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jstan
climber
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How a climber responds to age, it seems to me, depends a lot upon the reasons they had for climbing in the first place.
If you took it up to see how much you could advance your limit, when you can no longer advance it you will find other interests.
If you just liked the endorphin rush, you really missed out. Should have gotten into hiking or running which uses bigger muscles.
If you took it up looking for sexual partners, what can I say.
If you just liked coordinated muscle activity you probably will never stop.
If you liked fresh air you will probably stop climbing. So many people on the cliffs now the air is not as good.
If you just like interacting with a lot of people, you will probably switch to bridge.
If you were addicted to adrenalin, I would suggest the outlook is not hopeful.
If you can't bear to quit because of fear of growing old, it might be time to see a shrink.
Edit:
October 21,1967
Only reason I know is because that was the day my older brother was getting married. I must say his success that day has completely overshadowed mine.
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richross
Trad climber
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jstan,I think I pulled some muscles just looking at this today on my Skytop hike.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Sort of on topic, what was the year and date of the first ascent of Foops? Henry Barber's second ascent seems to have been in 1973, but the sources suggest 1968, 1969 and 1970 as the FA date.
Edit: I see that Climbing in North America says it was 1967.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Gosh, I didn't recognize Dick Williams. . .
He was clothed. . .
The only other time I saw him was hanging from Shockley's Ceiling sans clothes!!!!
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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I think Marco has now offically aged past the point of being able to downclimb Foops.
---------------------------------------
After backing off to just dabbling in my 30's and 40's, I didn't really get back into climbing in a big way until 51. I'm about to turn 57 and (if I finish this year's seasonal comeback) am climbing at least within ballpark of my 20's. But, it's a much more brutal affair at this age requiring way more deliberate determination - 'the wave' of just absolutely digging it doesn't just carry me along like it did then.
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Prod
Trad climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
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1967
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richross
Trad climber
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I was with Marco Fedrizzi a few times when he down climbed Foops.
I think I did around the fifteenth free ascent in 1976.
A whole slew of people did it that year.
I might hold the record with over 50 ascents.
I am 55 now.
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Barbarian
Trad climber
slowly dying in the OC
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The good part about never being any good at this is that my skills can't decline with age...they don't have anywhere lower to go.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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"As I age I just adjust my measure of success to match my ego. "
That's my problem, I don't. My eyes still see the same lines and possibilities so cranking my body up to match them each spring has been the challenge. This will be my third year working on a fairly desperate line up through seven successive roofs that will likely end up 5.11+ or 5.12- and is already an R/X-rated affair getting up to the third and biggest roof. If we don't finish it this year I'll probably turn it over to my younger partner to do the deed as it's taking a toll on my shoulders.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Florine, Kauk, and Cashner keep wrecking my age related excuses.
Saw Rick at a music fest, smiling ear to ear, and he told me he climbs as hard as ever.
He says the secret is to be consistent and never let up. I think I get too lazy during the winters.
I can "almost" crank as hard as ever (cause fortunately I never trained back in the day and my technique has improved over the years) but I've got to get on the stick.
I can still climb much of the same stuff but the approaches hurt!
PEace
Karl
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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"I think I get too lazy during the winters."
Also my big problem. I dig in and work programming over the winters up here in Oregon so I can play when it's nice. Don't do any alpine related things either so it's a challenge to crank it all back up each year. Hard, as I usually have to lose 10-15 pounds, but I do it and in an odd, masochistic way look forward to it in recent years when that time rolls around again - sort of a 'grand' challenge of its own. It's got to be easier to just stay in shape, but I'm not really wired that way.
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I climb for fun and a challenge. As I get older it's still fun and still challenging. A good partner and a good route, I don't care what grade, is all I need. If I can climb 5.4 when I'm 80 I'll be happier than a pig in sh#t.
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old toad
Trad climber
yosemite, Ca.
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Search the forum for Skelton... I don't want to hear any excuses for age!!!
Ron
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
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well, you went through the 60's, so thats a couple of decades off your life right there, if you did it right.
all my friends are living wrecks also, so don't feel bad.
you still have your original teeth?
next time you black out, just whip out the bullet tooter and whiff up some peruvian flake, and maybe a couple of amyls, just in case.
you will have the heart of an alligator.
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