Climbing again after 14 years!

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Rexi

climber
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 25, 2014 - 05:46am PT
Hey first time poster here

Just wanted to share my stoke :)

I used to climb alot but stopped doing it about 14 years ago. wow.. long time! I trained hard, loved bouldering which was my strong point and also did sport climb 5.13s and some easy trad stuff. Most of my bouldering was not graded since the areas i climbed were being developed so first ascents and other not graded problems where the stuff i bouldered most and loved. Then when i was 19 I had to stop due to heart problems.

Since then iīve done some climbing but never really figured how to enjoy it as much with out being able to train properly and climb close to my level back in the days.

Then this spring some more complications and i had to have an ICD implanted (heart shocking device). But this weekend i took my 5yo daughter to the climbing gym. She had been asking to go there for ages and so we did. It was weird, i was only able to climb really easy stuff and the damn ICD was hindering lots of movements and making it uncomfortable to reach far and put the body in what is just normal climbing positions due to it being implanted under the chest muscle. But I havenīt enjoyed climbing so much for years. -and i was even climbing in a gym ! :) Best part was that my daughter seemed to be also really interested and is asking again and again to return to the gym.

Weird stuff. I canīt climb hard and never will be, but out of nowhere that spark is back and i want to climb again and do some easy routes in the outdoors. Looking forward to my next time in the gym doing endurance stuff on jugs :)

P.S does anyone have experience with an ICD and climbing?

clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Aug 25, 2014 - 06:02am PT
But I havenīt enjoyed climbing so much for years. -and i was even climbing in a gym ! :) Best part was that my daughter seemed to be also really interested and is asking again and again to return to the gym.

Weird stuff. I canīt climb hard and never will be, but out of nowhere that spark is back and i wanīt to climb again and do some easy routes in the outdoors. Looking forward to my next time in the gym doing endurance stuff on jugs :)

You may have missed a lot of "easy" gems climbing harder stuff. Having fun and sharing it with others is good climbing.

Welcome back.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Aug 25, 2014 - 07:14am PT
Are you in it for fun, or numbers?




Easy climbing is fun because you're not worried about the number, and you're not scared of falling all the time.


Welcome back.
Mark Force

Trad climber
Cave Creek, AZ
Aug 25, 2014 - 07:21am PT
Isn't it at the heart of it about having fun doing it?! They joy of the movement and being out in nature? Go have fun! Peter Croft was asked once who is the best climber in the world and he said the one having the most fun that day!

Of course, there is type 2 fun....
SicMic

climber
across the street from Marshall
Aug 25, 2014 - 07:28am PT
Welcome back. I hope it works out great for you.


I had a girlfriend with an IUD a long time ago. The climbing was about the same, but the bivvys were a lot better.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Aug 25, 2014 - 07:31am PT
Ok, that was funny!
Rexi

climber
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2014 - 07:48am PT
Thanks for your replies guys! I think i might have been a bit unclear in my original post.

The reason why i didnīt enjoy climbing was never about grades and not being able to climb specific grades. It was more about the style of climbing, i had enjoyed this sporty powerstuff along with all sorts of other climbing but this powerful style of climbing was always what i enjoyed (not the numbers).

I really didnīt realise this quite so well until i wasnīt able to do it anymore. I was always convinced that as long as i would be able to climb something i would continue to do so but then I just didnīt find that spark doing that. One of the problems has also always been that i get sucked into that again if i go to a climbing gym or a crag i end up doing more powerful stuff than is good for me. -but now i donīt feel this anymore and think iīm able to find this balance between my heart condition and my climbing/enjoy of climbing. :)
phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:04am PT
Welcome back Rexi! Keep discovering what you love about climbing in the here and now.
Phyl
Patrick Sawyer

climber
Originally California now Ireland
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:06am PT
Doesn't it feel great to have rock on your fingers. Best wishes and be safe.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Aug 25, 2014 - 09:18am PT
Glad you found your way back to loving it! And happy it is something you can share with your child.
Coverdale

Sport climber
Sliema
Jul 30, 2015 - 03:45am PT
Hi there, I've just been told this week that I should have an ICD implanted and cardiologist told me I should stop climbing! I think he's being very conservative and I currently hope to get back into it once the incision has healed, leads firmly in place etc. Can I ask you about your own experiences climbing with an ICD? Mine will be inserted just under the skin not under the muscle as you mentioned..
Thanks and best regards :)
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jul 30, 2015 - 08:18am PT
Welcome to the sandbox.
the Fet

climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
Jul 30, 2015 - 09:13am PT
Just moving over rock (or even plastic) is fun. And when you do it in an awesome setting it's even better.

I didn't do Tenaya peak until last year after climbing for many years. It's 5.easy. We 3rd classed and simul-climbed it and at no point were there any remotely powerful moves needed. And we had a blast.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jul 30, 2015 - 09:51am PT
Looking for fun in all the right places.
Jugs are such.
But gyms, hmph! I've never set foot or hand in one.
All the same-same, though, when the ancient bones and sinews respond positively to the exercise, there is your best reason for using one.
And it is solid fun relating to five-year-olds, specially your own.

I have an age-related heart problem (I'm a young 67) which will require open-heart in the very near future.
There are no implanted devices in me, like in you, Rexi.
But I just faded out of climbing in my forties and regret that.
I tried getting back into it, but fatigue and shortness of breath are all that has ensued, except for the fact that in doing so I've made some great friends here on the board.

As to fun, kids seem to know best about that.
We adults are loathe to admit it, being "adults" and taking life so seriously that it can cause stress and result in heart problems, but here on the forum it seems we are mostly in agreement, that climbing should be about the fun.
So it would appear that you have that appreciation for the most trivial of human activities: FUN!

It's better in the sun but take it any way you can get it and keep enjoying your little girl's progress, even as she surpasses your former abilities.

Mouse

P.S.--See our fun thread, The Flames. We try very hard to have fun. Some of it even involves THE most trivial middle-class activity, climbing.




StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
Jul 30, 2015 - 10:35am PT
This is great! Glad that you are back in the saddle and enjoying it.

Check out some slabs! That is what us fat old guys dofor fun these days ;-)

imnumberhalf

climber
Jul 30, 2015 - 08:01pm PT
Welcome back! Ive taken breaks every now and then as well, but love it every time I come back to it!
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Jul 30, 2015 - 08:11pm PT
Looking back on well over fifty years of climbing and paddling adventures, the things that stand tallest in my memory are not the hardest climbs or the baddest rapids, but the people.

Yeah, it's great to pull down hard, but when you're sitting around the darkening embers of your last campfire, you're not going to be thinking about grades, you're going to be thinking about that time you went out with Joe and it f*#king rained the whole time, and you never did get on the rock, but found this weird barbeque joint and...

Go have fun.
ß Î Ø T Į H

Boulder climber
Shitalkqua, WA
Jul 30, 2015 - 09:33pm PT
Most of my bouldering was not graded since the areas i climbed were being developed so first ascents and other not graded problems where the stuff i bouldered most and loved.
Well said.
Rexi

climber
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 4, 2016 - 01:59am PT
Hi everyone, and sorry coverdale i missed your question way back!

Little update. To sum it up, things have been going well. I climb with my daughter and also go with her when she has gymnastic practise and train on the climbing wall at her gymnastic hall 2x a week or so. I just climb endurance since that is best for me and it seems to be working. Iīm getting into ok shape and have been climbing outdoors whith my brother.

About the ICD Coverdale. At first it hindered my movement quite alot, it still does but not that much. I decided to continue doing my sports, i have 2 docs, one was supportive while the other one was not. I landed my first forward loop windsurfing recently, something i thought i would not do after the ICD surgery because of being afraid of the leads getting loose during the chrashing/catapulting/wipeout phase of the learning curve. But from what my doc says having the ICD implanted under the muscle helps with that since it is in a more locked position.

Up next is planning a trip to Yosemite with my brother in 2017, a place i have never been to, iīm from northern europe and have mostly climbed there. So my emphasis has shifted, i want to do more long trad stuff and possible try a big wall trip as well.
Rexi

climber
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 10, 2017 - 05:05pm PT
More update of my climbing since my ICD procedure. (If somebody has questions about ICD feel free to contact me).

I spent the winter climbing endurance on jugs and some crimpers and I have booked a trip to yosemite in october like i posted in a nother thread.

but just now I arrived back home from a 3 week trip to Mallorca with my family but deep water soloed about 18 days out of 20. Messy stuff the deep water soloing :) so i just stuck to routes i could onsight or do in no more then two attempts. To my surprise that meant doing some 6c+ (5.11c) routes on great limestone. I love coming back to climbing after my heart stuff and pleasantly surprised that i can climb harder then i expected without doing powerful training :)

Thanks again forum members for encouraging me to find my way to climbing again!
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