Bouldering and older climbers

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Messages 121 - 140 of total 163 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
gunsmoke

Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
Nov 28, 2017 - 08:58pm PT
While most of this thread has involved outdoor bouldering, a few of the injury comments from indoor bouldering bother me. Is blowing the Achilles Tendon at an indoor gym a serious risk for "seasoned" climbers.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Nov 28, 2017 - 09:07pm PT
I think my ruptured ACL was a result of landing on a thick soft indoor pad, which allowed my ankle to roll inward and the knee to displace. Obviously, I can't (and certainly don't want to) redo the experiment, but I think I'd have been fine with a firmer surface to land on.
jgill

Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
Nov 28, 2017 - 09:10pm PT
Giant air bags would work.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Nov 29, 2017 - 08:06am PT
I think that the take home lesson is that any impact is potentially more serious as you age. Being less “bold” is just demonstrating that reasoning power retains more resilience than bone, tendons and ligaments.
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Nov 29, 2017 - 09:21am PT
I think that the take home lesson is that any impact is potentially more serious as you age. Being less “bold” is just demonstrating that reasoning power retains more resilience than bone, tendons and ligaments.

Yes, so true.

As I get older I feel like I am made of porcelain... one good impact and I will most likely shatter into a million pieces, and they will never put me back together again.

yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
Nov 29, 2017 - 02:57pm PT
Giant air bags would work.

[Click to View YouTube Video]
Bob Palais

Trad climber
UT
Nov 30, 2017 - 05:08am PT
A friend alerted me to this thread and the side discussion of mathematician climbers/boulderers. One conspicuously missing from the Utah list is Nat Smale (of `Nat's Traverse' at Mortar Rock/Indian Rock) who is still a regular at the Front. Speaking of Berkeley and buildering traverses also in this thread, I miss the `Golden Gate Wall', a great buildering traverse there, and several others on the campus.
There are some other `senior' math climbers. Roger and Sylvia Wiegand host an annual gathering of mathematical climbers at their place outside Estes Park. Roger is in his seventies, climbing since the early 50s and still climbing 5.12s. Bob Williams is 88 and active in mind and body. Bob and Karen live around the corner from Conrad Anker in Bozeman in the summers, and joined my family to view the eclipse from Rexburg. The late "No Way" Jose Pereyra was passionate about math and climbing. He took a break from the PhD program here to climb on bigger walls. Neil Sloane is only 78. He co-authored a climbing and bouldering guide and lots of great math (neilsloane dot com or google him). David and Janine Ruelle may still boulder at Fontainebleau? Stan Wagon climbs and rides bicycles with square wheels... (stanwagon dot com). I just found an old list some used to climb but no longer, some no longer with us - George Bell (son), John Imbrie at UVa, at Duke - Dick Hain and Robert Bryant (AMS President), Kevin Walker (works with Mike Freedman at Microsoft Research in Santa Barbara now), Jack Milnor, Bob Phelps climbed and bouldered well into his later years - and helped design UW's great bouldering wall in Seattle, Jean Taylor, Hassler Whitney climbed in his later years, and was a colleague of James Alexander III (of Alexander's Chimney and many more). Will Crowther - programmer - honorary mathematician? Teaching climbing to beginners as recently as 2013 (at 77) from Wikipedia. Sam Streibert who was a bouldering and climbing mentor of mine is an architect not a mathematician. I mention him because he did new routes in the Wind Rivers in the early 1960s, and he is still getting after it. This summer joined me and Shingo Ohkawa to do the Lowe Route on Lone Peak this summer. Off the couch from sea level to > 10,000' and 5000 elevation gain up and down in a day.
P.S. Regarding net-neutrality...`Pai is Wrong!' (maybe some of the math folks will get it...)

Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Nov 30, 2017 - 11:04am PT

Jo Montchausse - The Duel: https://vimeo.com/65445570
Alan Rubin

climber
Amherst,MA.
Nov 30, 2017 - 11:09am PT
On the "climbing mathematician' thread drift, I'll add a newer name Zeb Engberg--PhD in Math from Dartmouth, currently teaching at a private school in Utah. Last summer put up a big free route on Xanadu in the Brooks Range,AK.
bit'er ol' guy

climber
the past
Nov 30, 2017 - 11:17am PT
I just leave a turd-in-a-bag.
PinkTaco

Mountain climber
Utah
Dec 13, 2017 - 06:45am PT

... Sorry I take full responsibility for thread drift, it's an ageless trait!

Thanks Bob for the list, I'd like to add one more notable math person.
Alex Lowe!!!
jogill

climber
Colorado
Dec 13, 2017 - 03:36pm PT
Thanks Bob for the list, I'd like to add one more notable math person.
Alex Lowe!!!

I think that's a different Alex Lowe. The climber dropped out of Montana State after his sophomore year in chemical Engineering.
PinkTaco

Mountain climber
Utah
Dec 13, 2017 - 08:01pm PT
http://montanakids.com/cool_stories/Famous_Montanans/lowe.htm
https://www.outsideonline.com/1831826/mutant-and-boy-scout-battle-20000-feet
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/07/world/alex-lowe-40-alpinist-dies-swept-away-on-a-tibet-ascent.html
jogill

climber
Colorado
Dec 13, 2017 - 09:13pm PT
You're correct. I didn't see the asterisk. There is another Alex Lowe who is in mathematics, but not a climber.
PinkTaco

Mountain climber
Utah
Dec 14, 2017 - 04:28pm PT
These guys need mats!
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42308791
SKA

Boulder climber
Colorado
Dec 26, 2017 - 10:03am PT
Competitive Bouldering is becoming more and more popular, particularly with older climbers. I started competing at age 45 three years ago and have competed in almost 20 competitions since. I actually prefer to climb outside, but having kids who are on climbing teams, I don't have that much extra time for the drive to the cliff. It is just much easier to train and climb indoors.

My last competition was at Stone Age in New Mexico and it was a blast!!! Yank N Yard results were broken in age divisions with 10 year increments. Needless to say the largest group was male 20-29. Generally, the masters category is either 40+ or 45+ depending on the venue, but we contacted the gym and asked if they could add an additional age group 50+. They changed it this year and it was super cool to see 50+ on the podium. There were eight 50+ male boulders and three female boulders. AND they all waited 3+ hours to stand on the podium too . . . Very Cool!

https://climbstoneage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/YNYCitizenResults2017.pdf

At Yank n Yard, the masters numbers were not huge, but there were 26 boulderers 40-49 and 52 boulders over 30. I have seen the masters numbers grow at each competition and each year it is getting more and more competitive too.

I also started a Facebook group, Climbing Masters, so we can help each other train and stay healthy. Majority of our conversions are around training and preventive maintenance. There are a lot of really strong masters climbers out there . . .

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClimbingMasters/

My goal is to see how far I can take my Bouldering and maybe when I am "really" old I will put my harness back on, I don't think Baffin Island will become over crowded anytime soon . . .

May We Always Be Crazy!!!

~SKA

Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Dec 26, 2017 - 03:38pm PT
It's interesting to hear the perspective you approach this from SKA. I enjoy you fb group. They ( those comp guys) need to subdivide older groups more. I think every five years would be appropriate. There are so many strong climbers in theirs sixties and beyond. I'm just a pup, not especially strong, but reasonably active, at 61.5.

Come to Moab and bring your harness, there is much climbing life to be had in the wilds, away from rules and categories, and more than twenty feet off the ground... Let's start with Ancient Art and some first ascents!
SKA

Boulder climber
Colorado
Dec 26, 2017 - 04:07pm PT
Last time I went to Utah was for a bachelor party in Joe's Valley . . . I had a blast with a bunch of 20+ year old boulderers . . . I needed a week to recover though. And I was less beat up after running the Leadville 100.

I remember one guy saying . . . Man he hit hard and then jumped right back on. My ego was spoke louder than the pain, particularly when Bouldering with younger climbers . . . but after 3 days of bouldering hard . . . I was DONE!

I am not against throwing on a harness . . . it is just harder to do long days . . . I need to throw on a harness in Utah though . . . Soon!
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
Mar 10, 2018 - 08:36am PT

Legendary Norwegian climber Ralph Høibakk in 2017 got his first dr. degree in applied mathematics at the age of 79 years. The name of his thesis: “Solutions to some problems related to Diophantine equations, power means and homogenization theory.”

https://uit.no/nyheter/artikkel?p_document_id=519527&p_dim=210108

yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
Mar 10, 2018 - 10:04am PT
Cool, Marlow.
Messages 121 - 140 of total 163 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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