UKC

Following on from the other thread on here regarding old farts and should they retire gracefully, I was wondering how many of us 'old fools' still have some climbing ambitions/wish lists for our Autumnal years?

In reply to Goucho:

Can't believe nobody's replied to this, cos me and my climbing partner have got loads of ambitions. Grade breakthroughs for both of us. (They'll happen for him first; in climbing terms, he's the blonde bombshell and I'm her fat, ugly mate.) And after that, hmm... your ticklist would be one to go for! Bloody hell, you did pretty much everything worth doing, back in the day. And after that... NIAD?? And after that... more fun or maybe a ruptured blood vessel and goodnight Vienna. Who knows? Who cares? Ultimately it's all just cosmic debris.

But, while it lasts, the joy of struggle, the heart-searing joy of it all.

'To be on the wire is life
the rest is waiting.'

Mick

P.S. If you're around these parts, come and join us.

In reply to Mick Ward:



I've still got a few myself if I can get fit enough - the head, technique and desire are still there, but I'm afraid my endurance (especially finger and forearms) ain't what it was, and flexibility is a bit more restricted. I'm also about a stone over my fighting weight (maybe more lol) but I'm not giving up the ice cream or chocolate for anything.

I doubt I can get back to what I used to climb, but if I can get steady again on middle of the road E5's, then that would be great. I've done a fair bit of sport while living in France, but it really doesn't do it for me - I'm just an old fashioned trad guy at heart.

Really want to get up to Pabbay & Mingulay, the routes there look stunning, and also do some of the classic Edwards routes in Cornwall. Plus another trip to the States needs doing - quite a few routes in Yosemite and Eldorado Canyon that were missed back in the day need a revisit.

There are also a couple of routes in the Alps I'd really like to get on, with a stronger partner of course, to compensate for my creaking bones.


I just might do that at some point Mick

In reply to Mick Ward:

Don't bring yourself down mick, he isn't a blonde bombshell but just climbs with you to make him appear that way by comparison

In reply to Goucho:


Yes.

In reply to Mick Ward:

>'To be on the wire is life
the rest is waiting.'

Resting on the gear again, Mick?

jcm

In reply to Goucho:

My problem is I go hot and cold. 1 minute I'm all lose weight, get strong, cut out chocolate and alcohol and climb harder then the next week it's sod it, as long as I can climb at all I'm happy. The problem is that as you get older the "return on investment" diminishes.

Al

In reply to GridNorth:



You're not alone Al.

I'll suddenly get a huge burst of enthusiasm, then just as I'm getting my gear out of the car, I'll get overwhelmed by a wave of 'can't be arsed to put the effort in' sweeping over me

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

T'was ever thus.

Mick

In reply to Goucho:


If you haven't climbed at Tahquitz, I'd strongly recommend it. Multipitch, proper trad, loads of history and stunning routes, Alpine feel yet easy access, nice folks. You might like it.

In reply to Dave Garnett:


I have climbed at Tahquitz & Suicide Rocks - Valhalla, Super Pooper, Long Climb and Whodunit.

We met Tom Higgins at Tuolumne, ironically just after we'd done his route Nerve Wrack Point, and he said we should visit if we had time.

All were superb, though missed out on doing Open Book because of time constraints.

In reply to Goucho:

I haven't done Open Book mostly because it looks terrifying!

In reply to Dave Garnett:


It's supposed to be THE benchmark 5.9.

In reply to Goucho:

I've just bought a copy of The Long Routes, by Robin Ascroft.

They're dozens of them to be going at before I no longer am able to climb.

In reply to GridNorth:



Me too, I cut out alcohol, joined my wife as a veggie, lost weight, but it's just treading water. Putting off the inevitable decline but glad to be still out there.
With a little help from the UKC collective, I managed to put together the John Allen FA list for the peak, as my quiet little tick list and am working (glacial timescale) through them. Only doing the ones which are now highball Boulder probs, so am miserably failing on Westside Story etc. and enjoying it thoroughly.

In reply to Goucho:

A few of us, average age 69, go to the Alps/Dolomites/Pyrenees every year, usually a trek with mountains included en route, glaciers etc. This year for a change, we drove from here in the Northwest to Portsmouth, dumped the van, took bikes on the ferry to Santander and cycle/camped up the Spanish and French coasts to Caen for the ferry back.
Next year, we're planning to go to Corsica to finish off the GR20 and have a few days swimming and slobbing about afterwards. We did the first half of the GR20 10 years ago but as we did the extra mountains en route, we didn't have time to complete the route. As for future years, we've got some ideas but no real ambitions - just to keep going.