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skitch
Gym climber
Bend Or
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 23, 2016 - 10:38am PT
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I know that most of Supertopo users are has-beens or never-where's. So why did you stop climbing, and do you wish you would've stuck with it...or do your new hobbies keep you just as distracted as climbing kept you?
I had to take the summer off due to a jacked elbow, and now that I'm trying to get back into climbing I'm having a hell of a time, mostly due to a lack of fitness. I keep thinking that I should just find a new hobby to keep me distracted from life.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:00am PT
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I quit climbing to pick up surfing because the view is way better!
p.s I still climb just have to include BBQ hot dogs..
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:02am PT
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Uh, most of my partners bought the farm.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:08am PT
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The sun went down..... Had to wait till the next day
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:10am PT
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Up until 9/11, I was still climbing pretty consistently- was never truly exceptional at any discipline, but well-rounded in most all of them.
After a summer of dirtbagging, on 9/11 (literally) I moved back to my small, mountain town, started a business...and a couple of months later bought my first house. A major fixer-upper project. Ever since, my time and interests have been overwhelmed by running a business while simultaneously extensively remodelling and major building on my home. (And trying to have a marriage.)
Climbing has taken a backseat over that time, which was challenging for a while, since a large part of my identity was around being a climber. At this point, though, I feel much more well-rounded in life, and I'm happy to have climbing be something that I sometimes do, and not the central element in my identity.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:12am PT
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I have an arthritic neck and a deformed acromiun. When I started doing a lot of swimming to build up the upperbody, that combination wrecked my shoulder and nerve. The tendon that runs under the acromium was seriously irritated. Now my arm goes numb in certain positions, like when belaying.
It sucks. Hopefully PT can help. I was never a great technical climber, but always enjoyed every bit of it.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:20am PT
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jockey on a nag syndrome
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:27am PT
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Osteo arthritus pinching nerves to arms causing major weakness. Can barely open beer bottles with twist tops.
Have gone climbing 2 times in the last year. :-(
I expect to find a miracle.
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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Oct 23, 2016 - 11:50am PT
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I took the better part of a decade off to explore professional alcoholism, but decided climbing was safer.
Now six years removed from my last drink and 70 lbs less massive (all alcohol weight), some would say that I climb respectably for my age of 55, but I'm in Boulder now and so destined to suck by comparison to 6 and/or 80 year olds.
I still get out regularly for trad or sport, gym climb a little in the winter, and tagged a few peaks this year at 13 and 14k elevation. I have lost all interest in vertical ice.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Oct 23, 2016 - 12:01pm PT
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I haven't totally quit climbing, but I have had to scale way back since 1994 because I keep dislocating both of my shoulders. Next month I am getting my 3rd shoulder operation.
My last big rock-climbing trip was to the Wadi Rum in 2012, so I'm not dead yet
1st dislocation and surgery was 1984 in the military - military accident.
2nd dislocation was in 1994 from a fall while skiing the U-notch on 3-pins
3rd dislocation was in 2000 kayaking the Bottom Moose River (class V) in the Adirondack Mountains
4th dislocation was this summer from full-contact heavy medieval fighting
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Oct 23, 2016 - 12:20pm PT
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I quit climbing for awhile..then I finished my lunch and did a few more climbs in the afternoon..
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Oct 23, 2016 - 12:51pm PT
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Ha-rumph? It has necessarily been the constant on and off for me.
I was dipped in Chalk as a child, then chided, that I, the entirety of me, was cheating.
So small and lite,It was possible to throw me up to ledges. I fit into a back pack.
I only ever stopped clomping up rocks, when I broke my neck,
working a tote and carry - driving 'cross the Tri-state area, & back to the Cave job.
Three years ? Total at the advanced age of 45 I even returned to vertical water ice.
Then I stuck the landing so staying alive I was forced to quit Icey mixed up low altitude
Climbing, the wife took the tools & 'pons away and hid them under the bed.
Then threw me out when she woke to my trying to sneak out.
I wrote it all out in a druken haze,
The Knight of rat, Tami, said Oy'vey'! So at least she read it.
But then by misstep tapping it was deleted.
with my luck it was also read by our heros on this site?
Dininosaurs's silence speaks volumes. .. .
I do care, although not a holder of a Docterate
My life experience has seen me through some shjt, nothing to compare
To say
That OMG, true be adventurer and bullish on here the one and only
Sierra Ledge Rat!
Wadi Rhumba! Wadi Rum....
Locker ? I'm not sure you have one yet but Get A chest Harness learn to tie in high
( like above your head ) so the knot doesn't clock you in the mouth.
Edit: for some, I tone down the play; If I want the likes of locker to understand what I have to say.
Laugh out loud,
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Oct 23, 2016 - 12:53pm PT
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Deal? Deal!
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Oct 23, 2016 - 01:15pm PT
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I'll be 80 in a couple of months. From ages 60 to 70 all my climbing was modest soloing and very light bouldering (no jumping off). A very enjoyable period. At 70 severe shoulder arthritis (thanks, still rings in the 1950s) began having an effect, as well as declining innate sense of balance, so I quit (It was easy) but kept up body weight exercises. Then a severe spinal attack last October kept me from doing anything except short walks for six months. In May I began trying pull-ups (couldn't do any, could barely hang) and now I'm almost back to my condition before last October. So, if any of you youngsters get way out of shape as you age, it IS possible to regain a lot of strength pretty far into old age! Don't give up hope!
May the force be with you.
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Escopeta
Trad climber
Idaho
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Oct 23, 2016 - 02:18pm PT
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Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
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Oct 23, 2016 - 03:30pm PT
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jogill +1000
I've never fully stopped. But coaching little league baseball, travel softball, soccer (had to Google soccer defenses and plays and drills) and basketball for 13 years not counting work and biz travel slowed me down quite a bit.
I'm not completely out of shaped and surfed that west coast swell last weekend in San Diego and surfed yesterday in NJ and still run three 5ks per week and do two days of body weight exercises (e.g. 200 pushups/100 pullups < 25 minutes).
I'm hoping to get back to the Gunks regularly this coming spring. Even thinking about punching up Prodigal Sun solo maybe next fall to get my wall chops back. I'll be in Denver on biz travel tomorrow until Friday and plan on getting to that rock gym off Arapahoe one or two nights (Mon/Thu) to boulder when the Cubs are not playing. If I get really lucky, I'll head over to Eldorado Canyon and get to boulder in the daylight hours.
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rick sumner
Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
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Oct 23, 2016 - 04:19pm PT
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Quit drinking. (32 years and counting)
Quit smoking (for the better part of a decade)
Quit drugs (pretty much other than when arthritic pain neccessitates)
Quit climbing. (never, but the layoff between climbs has sometimes counted in years).
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Oct 23, 2016 - 04:28pm PT
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I was camped at the Needles on an epic road trip on that fateful September morning. I was 32 years old and had spent the last 15 years climbing, skiing and having fun. We were four on the trip and we stayed another day or two but didn't climb again. Then we drove home. We stopped in Tuolumne and marveled at the plane-less skies.
Within a few months I was committed to socially conscious construction, I mostly stopped flying and basically tried to grow up and get right with the world. Within a couple of years there was a dog and a fiancée. So I never stopped but it feels like just sightseeing now.
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F10
Trad climber
Bishop
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Oct 23, 2016 - 04:45pm PT
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I took a couple of months off when I broke my back from a climbing accident but other then that it's kinda like eating. It's just something you do !!
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:19pm PT
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Gill's gonna be 80 soon folks! There's a milestone worthy of celebration.
If I make it to next July, I'll have been climbing for 60 years. At the moment, I'm recovering from relatively minor surgery that may keep me out of action for a month, but I don't think of that as quitting, just a little time-out...
Both frequency and level of performance have declined (still talking about climbing all you of the dirty minds)---I ain't no Donini. But I haven't quit and don't see anything on the horizon that will make me quit, although as Gill has emphasized you never know what is around the next bend in life, and once you get old enough every pullup could be your last.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:26pm PT
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I only ever quit because of injuries.
I was hoping to be able to do easy alpine and backpacking in my old age but bad knees and back make that unlikely.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:33pm PT
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Jgill, thanks for inspiration on the ability to come back at any age!
This morning at 10:30am I quit after the first 4 pitches (which should only count for 2.5 pitches) of Dark Shadows on Mescalito at Red Rocks. I didn't want to deal with wet sandstone in a rainstorm and the thought of chillin' at home with wifey was more inspiring in the moment of deciding whether to keep moving up or bail at the common rap point.
Maybe it has happened before, but this was the first time I remember being the one to pull the plug on any adventure. Lots of second-guessing and wondering if I'm over the hill. And while we got a few rain spatters hours earlier than expected, I'll bet the rain wouldn't have come down hard until after we would have been off. Only a few spots of heavy showers on the drive from Vegas back to Los Angeles. Oh well.
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pb
Sport climber
Sonora Ca
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:41pm PT
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20 minutes ago, it got dark
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:51pm PT
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as Gill has emphasized you never know what is around the next bend in life, and once you get old enough every pullup could be your last.
Pullup?
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Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
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Oct 23, 2016 - 06:58pm PT
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Never stopped, but about a 90% reduction due to wife and kid. Kid is getting more independent so I expect climbing to gradually return. Hope is to stop working in another ~8 years and redouble my efforts then. Managed to get back in decent shape over the last couple years, but mostly by running more, biking to work, etc. I can now run the 7.5 miles home from work after biking in, and the resting heart rate was 44 bpm yesterday. Goal is to crush the next El Cap route in spring, which might be the next time I climb outside a gym.
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couchmaster
climber
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Oct 23, 2016 - 07:20pm PT
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I stopped climbing at @ noon yesterday and bailed for the ground. My buddies kept at it for 2 more pitches before they also stopped about 2pm and came down cold, wet, disgusted and tired. By that time I'd piled 5 layers on and had been napping on a flat rock at the base for a half hour. Snoring they said.
I had earlier slowed down when the kids popped out @ 30 years back, still slow down in the winters cause it's total sh#t weather around here and also time to ski. Some days when skiing with my climbing buddy in the spring we are able to ski in the am and climb in the afternoon once the snow gets too warm. Otherwise, wut the heck man. Too wet and cold around here all winter although you can squeegee a few sweet days in here and there. I don't get folks who walk away unless there is some pain involved, and I've seen many in my 40 plus years at it.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Oct 23, 2016 - 07:22pm PT
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I was full on until Memorial Day 2007, age 54. Then, up at Church Dome I had a knock down drag out convulsive seizure. Yikes, thought I was dying when it happened. MRI found a birth defect in my brain, a topic my friends have since exploited in our tradition of mutual slander. Doc's killed the thing with a trick called stereotactic radio surgery, and since then I've had ups and downs. Less than a year after the treatment I was leading .11's at Josh. Considering everything, this was very satisfying.
Since then I've had more seizures. There were times where my balance was bad, my hand was weak, I was seeing and hearing things which weren't there, all the usual effects of seizure meds. Working over time with a great neurologist I'm now on a med which is mostly transparent, and I have begun the process of becoming a climber yet again. A month ago I took stock of my situation and concluded that I had to drop 15 pounds and train to have a workable strength to weight ratio. I'm down five and dropping, so we'll see. Since I hate going climbing and sucking at it I have to get this first phase done first.
I want to climb more than just about anything else I can think of right now. Anyone who knows me can understand that I feel like a caged animal. In another couple of months I expect to be in pretty good shape from the neck down.... :-) I'll be looking for a rope gun, at least to get started.
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Dingus McGee
Social climber
Where Safety trumps Leaving No Trace
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Oct 24, 2016 - 04:54am PT
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Pneumonia along with exotic lung bugs, unbenounced to me, haunted me for 2 months during the earlier wet, foggy [snow] Spring -- finally some good drugs and Ox. In May the curtain rose, friends and I put up a 4 pitch 300' sport route that we used electric bikes to get to it's summit.
And recently I was out of rock stock -- you know the raw material you find to RAP BOLT. Well my consolation is the kind of rock stock I could hike to and upon getting there would feel like cleaning the loose etc rather than resting my tired ankles. There is likely always going to be some rock stock out of hiking range? maybe for smoking sport climbers?
Getting to and finding/developing rock stock has become much easier for me even though 70 is on the horizon. I have converted 3 homebuilt ebikes to true e-dirt-bikes. Nimble they are: These 41" wheelbase machines make the enduro like bikes seem like buses on a back road.
The climbing partners I seek nowadays, need in addition to climbing skills, ebike off road skills and leanness so the ebike can carry their asses up some of the hillsides -- about 50% grade is what you occasionally get on and you have to keep the front end down.
I must confess the August rock stock was given to me from Anne Yeagle's discovery of a slightly overhanging Reese Granite cliff where I got 10 new routes. There were 5 vacant sets of ram horns for Freddie and Anne's return to the cliff on Labor Day. They were able to stamp routes on 2 of these so 3 sets remain for the general public?
In the Fall, during the search for rock stock, I quit climbing for a short duration but using these e-machines soon yielded 4 new outcrops, 3 of which are more suited for summer as they are near 8000' and 2 of them are north facing.
BTW: I pass up cracks. I told a tradster of the 60' OW with 10' of overhang in that span. He is working on it and has offroad skills so we belay each other on our projects.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:26am PT
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Of the "Garblebase"...
I really do need to get myself a decoder ring...
lol... Gotta love the Gnome.
But I do think I might have had a stroke every time I read on of his posts... gotta check myself.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:42am PT
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I've been on the sidelines since April, when I broke my neck. We'll see if and when I get back to it. I plan to .
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired
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Oct 24, 2016 - 07:10am PT
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Suffered a knee injury in 1994. My mobility severely limited what I could climb, but I had fun at what I did climb. In 2008' I injured my good knee so I decided to have surgery. Surgery can't fix arthritis though. Climbing became less fun, so I stopped in 2014(I climbed for thirty five years).
I decided that life is too short, and that I decided to explore other means of enjoying the outdoors. I 've gotten pretty heavily into photography, and birdwatching.
To be honest, I really don't miss climbing.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Oct 24, 2016 - 08:02am PT
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who you calling a has been?
Only a couple sidelining issues:
appendicitis as a 14year old.
twisted ankle (not climbing related).
tendonitis (teenager climbing on glue on tiles at Hart Park)
gaining extra weight (school and work caused)
elbow tendons (short term off climbing for weeks at a time)
This last year shoulder impingement/bursitis. First substantial sideline for months. Fortunately over the winter.
Now climbing again. Establishing moderate slab and steeper edging routes, but hand drilling beats up your hands. May shift to climbing in Yosemite and doing cracks and sport climping at Table mtn.
Every day is a gift.
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Phil_B
Social climber
CHC, en zed
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Oct 24, 2016 - 08:29am PT
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In 1992, I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. I felt like the tin man because it took so long to get my joints moving. Climbing just made everything hurt too much so I slowed down and stopped.
This led to a decade of semi-depression, as I'd always pictured myself as a climber and didn't know what to replace it with. Kayaking helped, but I didn't have real joy in life anymore.
After getting divorced, my son talked me into taking him to the climbing gym where I'd met his mom. To my surprise, I still had the skills and the meds that control my arthritis work! More importantly, I found that regular exercise and sleep controlled my mood to a great extent.
I now climb again and have joy in it. My son, at 22, is a much stronger boulderer than I ever was. I still have him on the longer moderate climbs though, as he isn't too into getting high off the ground.
That reminds me, time to get back to the gym, sans mutt.
It'll be nice when Cleo is done with her Prof Engr. exams so we can go climbing again.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Oct 24, 2016 - 09:00am PT
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^^^ amen to modern psoriatic arthritis meds
I forgot that I stopped climbing for a brief bit around Y2K, when I had these weird red bulges on my finger joints and it was excruciating pain to touch it to the rock let alone hang on a finger lock. It stopped me from playing guitar for a while too and that really bummed me out.
Combination of more physical movement, less emotional stress, different diet, and good drugs have made it a non-issue for me now. Thanks for reminding me that I should appreciate that more!
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Oct 24, 2016 - 09:49am PT
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A month ago I took stock of my situation and concluded that I had to drop 15 pounds...
Are you going to cut off an arm? It's not like you got a beer gut, Kris.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Oct 24, 2016 - 10:40am PT
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Boy, great news from John about coming back at 80. Never give up, folks.
Edge, thanks for your story. I'm so glad you found what matters in life and pulled through. This line killed me, though. Well played:
I took the better part of a decade off to explore professional alcoholism, but decided climbing was safer.
I'm closing in on 40 years as a climber. Seems like I want it more every year. I've had some lay-offs, mostly due to injuries--tendon pulls, etc., and there was a big slow-down for a bunch of years while my wife and I explored long-distance cycle touring, which is freaking awesome. But the Sirens on the rocks keep singing, and I keep returning. Moving to Bishop next year to get my dose for as long as I'm able with my super-enthusiastic wife and life partner by my side: BAd Wife!
BAd
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Oct 24, 2016 - 03:37pm PT
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Interesting how some of the politards really don't climb.... still manageing to climb a fair bit. 79 days last year, 73 so far this year. weather and age related injuries slow me down a fair bit.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Oct 24, 2016 - 04:22pm PT
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I stopped climbing around 1998 after taking up steep creeping kayaking pretty heavily. Around 2001 or so I ruptured a few discs in my low back and that put a stop to everything. After back surgery it was several years before I started climbing again. Around 2013 I started climbing again, getting into big walls and slowly working my way back up the grades free climbing. I'm still stuck around easy 5.11 but happy to be outside climbing again. I'll be retiring in the next few months and plan on increasing the days per week of climbing. If anyone is in the Los Angeles area and wants to climb let me know.
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Edge
Trad climber
Betwixt and Between Nederland & Boulder, CO
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Oct 24, 2016 - 04:59pm PT
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Edge, thanks for your story. I'm so glad you found what matters in life and pulled through. This line killed me, though. Well played:
I took the better part of a decade off to explore professional alcoholism, but decided climbing was safer.
Thanks, bAd, but I credit any cleverness to post-concussion induced vertigo coupled with a flu that has had me laid up in the fetal position on the couch for the last 4 days.
On the plus side, I dropped another 8 lbs in that time, so if anyone wants to add a letter grade or two, for travel expenses and a waiver I'll come hit you in the temple with a baseball bat and kiss you on the lips while you can't remember it.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Oct 24, 2016 - 05:08pm PT
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wow, Edge's offer seems so great. buuahahahahaa, not!
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Oct 24, 2016 - 05:11pm PT
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good one edge. I upped my game a bit after my colonoscapy or whateverthey call that crappy thing when you drink that awful sh#t and crap your brains out for 2 days so that they can stick a camera up your a*#... Good way to lose weight ferr certain. DMT you have inspired me as well though I dream about a 4x4 sprinter more than a sportsmobile. and Thanks for the tractors.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Oct 24, 2016 - 05:26pm PT
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whateverthey call that crappy thing when you drink that awful sh#t and crap your brains out for 2 days so that they can stick a camera up your a*#
It's called "The Climbing Accelerator". But I've heard the Competition Sport Climbing Federation has declared it grounds for disqualification.
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WBraun
climber
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Oct 24, 2016 - 05:29pm PT
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If one has stopped climbing then one has become sterile, and/or dead.
The living entity in the material world is always climbing .......
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yedi
Trad climber
Stanwood,wa
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Oct 24, 2016 - 05:51pm PT
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I stopped around 1998. Last trip was to Red Rocks. The folks I went with were the biggest part of the fun. When my main climbing buddy quit wanting to go,I just started other hobbies. Picked up vintage MX racing, don't really miss it and don't want to train that hard anymore. Funny, busted up myself more racing in 12 years than 25 yrs climbing.
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hobo_dan
Social climber
Minnesota
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:00pm PT
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Replaced it with windsurfing in the 80's and then got involved with raising a couple of children. The older I got the less nerve I had for leading. Still geting after it Mt. Biking, Canoeing, and a whole lot of X-country skiing in the winter. I'm entertaining the idea of getting on it a bit more as I'm retiring this year. Not too concerned with difficulty but more I just want to get out and enjoy the day. When I was younger I had too much of a chip on my shoulder- not real interested in trying to impress anyone anymore-hope to see some of out there
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:38pm PT
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Well ------always a deep subject.
I started doing technical climbing in 1969 & it was pretty-much my life focus, until the early 1980’s, when a divorce changed my life & fly-fishing became the sport of choice. I kept climbing, but I was down to a few times a summer.
I didn’t climb as much after marrying Heidi in 1988, although she enjoys climbing & loves"risk-taking.". I became a “work-a-holic,” until 2005, when I reduced my work load & went to Nepal for a 16 day trek up towards Everest.
However through all those work-a-holic years, I kept doing some technical climbing.
Then in 2010, that old bastard Donini figured out that I had been stalking him on ST. We had done a fair amount of mellow rock climbing together in the late 70’s & early 80’s, then had worked for the same company as outdoor sales reps, in the mid-90’s.
Thus came a renewal of Donini-inspired & mentored rock-climbing, mostly focused on City of Rocks, although I climbed other places & with other people too. I kept my fly fishing, mountain hiking, mineral collecting, & river running hobbies, & I worried I was not “really-devoted” to climbing, like many here.
Summer 2015, I was leading pretty good for a 67 year old, & even posted a climbing report about a big trad-route in “deepest” Idaho to ST. http://www.supertopo.com/tr/A-SLICK-ROCK-Adventure-in-Idaho-with-a-single-Blue-Camalot-Belay/t12821n.html
I note in the report, that in the 1970’s & early 80’s, my old climbing-pal/friend Mark & I dragged girl-friends & novice climbers up the then 11 pitch route. After leading it this time, I was limping & covered with scabs for two-weeks afterwards. Mark & I have both reluctantly concluded that perhaps we are not currently as athletic or fit as we were in our 20’s & 30’s.
This year, I had the joy of climbing with Heidi & old Idaho friends, & 11worth & Mark Force & other fun folks, for 5 days at our City of Rocks get-together. I didn’t follow anything harder than 5.8 & didn’t lead anything. Then I enjoyed a great summer of not doing technical rock climbing, but other-wise had lots of mountain fun.
Chronic “Tennis-elbow” is a pretty-good excuse.
Maybe next year?
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lars johansen
Trad climber
West Marin, CA
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:40pm PT
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I didn't...but I have had to scale back considerably due to health issues. Here's a SF City Boys reunion yesterday at Split Rock, in Tiburon.
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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Oct 24, 2016 - 06:57pm PT
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Started climbing my senior year in college, spring quarter, after I was done with wrestling and wondering what the hell I was going to do with my philosophy degree when I graduated. It took me a year and a half to finish up that last quarter of college. Climbing can do that to you, sometimes. Since then I've laid off the sport a bit, from time to time, because of work or family obligations and there was a couple of years where I was forced to stop completely because of severe hip problems but I've basically kept things going for 38 years straight. At this point in my life I have a little more free time and financial stabilty to pursue my passion and I'm curious to see where it will take me.
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Rexi
climber
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Oct 25, 2016 - 02:47am PT
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I started climbing when i was 12, got diagnosed with HCM heart condition when i was 16 but continued to climb. When i was 19 i had travelled quite a bit for climbing, climbed 5.13s and was having a blast but started getting symptoms from my heart so stopped... well never quite stopped but just the occasional climb.
But now 16 years later i´m back :) I feel like i have found a way to maintain a decent climbing form without feeling it affects my heart and want to try new stuff, more trad and longer routes. Looking forward to spring.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Oct 25, 2016 - 07:02am PT
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I took 3 climbing trips this Summer, which is unusual for me. but I thought that I better grab the opportunity, while I still can move.
I realize that I'm going to have to "scale it back" a bit, after an unplanned bivouac last month. I was just moving too slow,
compared to just 5 years ago, when I would easily get off this route before dark, ( the NEB of HCR -Yosemite).
My memory of an open bivouac, in tee shirts, on top of HCR, at 70 years old, will ward me off any future routes, of that nature.
Five years ago I climbed the NWF of HD, with my son Mark. I was slow then, but a lot slower, on this trip.
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snagglepuss
Mountain climber
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Oct 25, 2016 - 07:44am PT
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Worked through countless partners over the years. Couldn't find anyone close to my age with the desire, time, health, resources, MIND to climb the kinds of things I want(ed) to climb.
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Adventurer
Mountain climber
Virginia
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Oct 25, 2016 - 08:04am PT
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Had to stop about a year ago at age 67 due to a diagnosis of Spinal Stenosis.
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Escopeta
Trad climber
Idaho
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Oct 25, 2016 - 09:49am PT
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Interesting how some of the politards really don't climb....
I find it equally interesting that some of the people who claim to still be climbing have no sense of ethics or style.
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jamatt
Social climber
Asheville, NC
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Oct 25, 2016 - 09:59am PT
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Haven't climbed in about 4 years. Glad to be done. Selling my rack for pennies on the dollar was an incredible release and act of acceptance.
In WNC, you can be a kinesthetic clusterf*#k and still have some intense experience on moderate trad multipitch like Maginot Line, The Mummy, The Daddy, Sundial Crack, etc.. You can also try to step up and really really hurt yourself. I did both.
Went over to OC1 in which I am equally incapable.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Oct 25, 2016 - 10:08am PT
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I find it interesting how some people here think they actually know the climbing history and current activity of any ST'er, polititard or not...
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JimT
climber
Munich
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Oct 25, 2016 - 10:15am PT
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Curious, I seem to be the only one who made a positive decision to stop climbing, not injury or change of circumstances or whatever.
I started in `67 and by the mid 70´s had got pretty good and I could get up most of the test pieces of the day. Onsight new routes were the thing to do and after succeeding on one of my dream lines I had to rap down to strip the gear (my buddy refused to follow) and saw exactly how far out strength and stupidity had got me.
I took up dirt biking instead as a pro enduro rider which was fine until old age took it´s toll, it just becomes impossible to recover fast enough from the last race to train adequately. The motivation and speed stays more or less the same and you can cover up a lot with increasing skill and cunning but at the end of the day the need for ever more training stops you.
Being a professional racer gives you another insight into climbing and sport in general though, climbing you can have a good day and a bad day, it´s a casual recreation. When you race you perform when someone else says so, when that flag drops you have to justify other peoples investment and there aren´t any excuses, either you are fast enough or you aren´t.
Came back to climbing in the early 90´s by coincidence. Thankfully they had invented sticky boots, decent pro, harnesses and bolts in the intervening years!
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Oct 25, 2016 - 10:15am PT
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I quit climbing for about a year in 1979...developed tendinitis in my elbows that neither ice nor Advil could touch. So, I took the 4K I had stashed and spent a year wandering around Europe, India and Nepal. Taking a break sent it away and took up climbing again when I got back. Been at it steadily, if not in a spectacular fashion, ever since. Like it too much to ever really quit.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Oct 25, 2016 - 11:16am PT
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Started at 20... 1973.
took a 7 year vacation in 1980 ....to explore my wife, that lead to 2 kids.
started up again in 1987.
I have been on the Disabled List a few times for:
Broken Collar Bone, concussion, broken scapula.... another 1 year off.
Totally blown right Knee, required surgery.... another 1 year off.
Pulled left Quadriceps, all 4 clean off at the knee. Big surgery... 6 months in a full leg cast. That didn't stop me from climbing, just slowed me down some, it took almost three years to get the leg working again.
Torn right labium, 100% off- required surgery.... that took about 1 year to get back into the game.
Broken left arm... at the airmpit... Doc said my shoulder should have ripped apart, but I have "good muscles" .... recovery took about 1 year.
Three years ago... Spinal scoliosis on my lower back, pinched off some major nerves.... lost all use of my left leg for 2 weeks... docs did some shots, some sort of a shocking procedure and a ton of PT... I can now walk about 2.5 miles with no pack.
Only one of these was a climbing injury, the right knee.... don't squat down on your heal to get a no-hands rest.
But I haven't stopped climbing...
A bunch of my old partners have given up the sport, but I find new, younger partners do go out with.
And some of the old dads still get out with me.... that's nice.
I still have lots of stuff I wish to climb, the list has had some stuff crossed off to be sure.... im never going to succeed on Mt. Robson but I am working hard on my next goal... make it out to the Needles and climb the Howling... again.
Ill stop when im cold and in the dirt - whenever that day arrives.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 25, 2016 - 02:35pm PT
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Curious, I seem to be the only one who made a positive decision to stop climbing, not injury or change of circumstances or whatever...
I took up dirt biking instead as a pro enduro rider which was fine until old age took it´s toll...
I don't regret any of the climbing trips I have taken. I sort of regret that I never took up white water kayaking when I was younger. When I was older (and still climbing) my lower back was too fragile to ever consider it.
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Oct 25, 2016 - 04:31pm PT
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This is a really great thread, it shows our weaknesses , and humanity beautifully.
I quit climbing every June living in the Atlanta Georgia area , and start again on Labor Day ,
95 degrees and 90 percent humidity, hells no😜👊
Occasionally I drag my self to the climbing gym in the summer, but gyms suck!
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Oct 25, 2016 - 04:33pm PT
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@Guyman: Dooood! What the hell have you been doing to get so banged up? That's a gruesome list of injuries. Alligator wrastling? Stick to climb. Beer is safe, too, if you can keep the volume down.
Hope to see you again in Bishop soon!
@Lars: Old Dawg. I know you and that crew, although I've only met Steve maybe once. So glad to see you, Mark, and Rainer are still kickin' it.
BAd
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Oct 25, 2016 - 05:27pm PT
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pushing 74 and no serious injuries or disabilities though still kind-of lazy; except for the Tracker School, climbing, SAR team member, wild-land fire-fighting team member, sailing, flying, commercial/recreational diving, skiing, consulting NASA missions, and raising a flock of poultry
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Oct 25, 2016 - 05:49pm PT
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Great shot of you and the wild men Lars! I am damn happy to see you getting after it.
I slowed the climbing down to work more on my art over the past few years. I had to have a serious conversation with myself that it was OK to go to Tuolumne and other climbing destinations and not climb.
I did get after it a couple of times recently and it felt GUD!
View of Lovers Leap
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bergbryce
climber
East Bay, CA
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Oct 25, 2016 - 10:51pm PT
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It's sad to admit, but over the past 2 years or so, I don't think I've really had that much fun the handfull of times I went climbing. The short answer is that I need to be in climbing shape and flailing on stuff that I used to cruise is disheartening. I also need to have my "climbing head" in shape and only climbing a few times a year doesn't cut it.
It's ironic that I worked for years to change careers and get the schedule I wanted, to climb more, and now I have it and all I want to do is fish and metal detect. Hell, I'm even contemplating selling some of my gear, to buy new MD equipment of course.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Oct 26, 2016 - 06:04am PT
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Hey, We're pulling for you, Cosmic. Here's to life on the rocks in 2017!
Bergbryce said:
I also need to have my "climbing head" in shape and only climbing a few times a year doesn't cut it.
Boy, at this the truth? Unlike so many other sports, climbing has a huge mental/emotional component--aka fear of death--that makes performance difficult if you can't put it in its proper box. I'm usually pretty good about getting back on the horse, but when it's bad, it's way bad. Climbing isn't much fun when you can't find that calm focus and flow. When it clicks? Well, we're addicts, right? Best drug in the world.
I'm headed out Sat. for another dose.
BAd
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Larry Nelson
Social climber
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Oct 26, 2016 - 06:59am PT
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Many reasons for slowing down over the past few years.
Most of my climbing bros bought the farm, moved, or temporarily quit for family priorities.
A ramped up work schedule over the past 5 years squelched many opportunities.
Old and new injuries (mostly tendinitis) took their toll.
The show stopper was last winter when a bout of pneumonia put me in ICU (the first night I wrote 3 paragraphs for my wife to read at the funeral), spent 7 weeks in bed, forced my retirement and left me with limited lung capacity. Been working for the past 6 months to regain some part of my endurance and musculature.
A return to climbing has not been ruled out yet, but enjoying the outdoors in some capacity will go to my last day.
Life is good ;-)
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snagglepuss
Mountain climber
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Oct 26, 2016 - 07:17am PT
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Hey Locker,
From where we're both sitting right now lack of motivated, healthy, committed partners doesn't seem like much of a reason. But it wore me down over the years. I would travel to the other side of the earth with someone and watch them slowly lose motivation while the storm raged or the fear grew. That's quitting for no good reason, in my book. Anyway, I'm the oldest guy in the gym and I like to climb big, committing things far away. I could climb with guys half my age but it wasn't as fun for me and most folks lack time and resources. If I could have mellowed with age I would have been fine but I haven't mellowed. I found something else to do that doesn't hinge on someone else's schedule or motivation. I'm mostly ok with not climbing (outside) anymore. It took a while and some of the old unfinished dreams creep into my thoughts from time to time but generally, I've moved on. The good news is I've actually been able to hold a girlfriend since I stopped being gone every single weekend! Maybe I'll get my act together and get married like the kids do.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Oct 26, 2016 - 08:05am PT
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Quite a list!
Let us recapitulate who has actually quit active climbing:
skitch: jacked elbow
locker: fuked up back
Reilly: most of my partners bought the farm
apogee: commitments of responsibility
moosedrool: injured lower ribs
hooblie: jockey on a nag syndrome (can’t win for tryin’?)
Spider Savage: pinched nerves
Edge: pro alcoholism
Sierra Ledge Rat: third shoulder operation
T Hocking: commitments of responsibiliy
Gnome of the Garblebase: broke neck
jogill: severe shoulder arthritis
Flip Flop: sightseeing & castles in the air
August West: bad knees and back and long prison sentence
Ksolem: seizures
Captain...or Skully: broke neck
10b4me: knees shot
hobo_dan: found windsurfing
snagglepuss: finding partners is a hassle
Adventure: spinal stenosis
jamatt: really hurt himself stepping up
Tom Cochrane: WAY TOO BUSY
DMT: slippery ford
Jody: couldn’t reach the next hold
Looks as if I'm in good company. Hey, I would not be here were it otherwise.
This correspondent still wishes to climb but cannot find the breath to keep up, mostly. But added to a long list of other deficiencies along with the cold hard fact that my last climb was in 2013 with Cosmic, I've come to the end of the road, leading-wise, certainly.
It would be nice to be able to say, simply, "I reached the summit of my climbing career and nothing else challenged me." But that ain't happenin'. It was reached long ago, whatever was my personal high point in my climbing.
Good luck to you all in your new endeavors and to those who post after me with their tales.
Like locker, I'm still good for a belay, maybe a TR at low elevation.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Oct 26, 2016 - 08:35am PT
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My longest breaks from climbing, following injuries or surgeries, were involuntary and I got back to it as soon as possible. Shoulder surgeries, 3-6 months off, severely sprained ankle, 2 months, elbow issues, 2 months, etc.
My voluntary breaks are usually not more than 1-2 weeks at most, when I'm tired of traveling or want to focus on cross-training.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Oct 26, 2016 - 11:24am PT
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DMT.... explain "Slippery Ford" ... you fall into a creek or something?
BaD... I did crash my Go-Kart, hard, .... you know "Two Men enter the last corner with a big race victory on the line..." well Kirk won the race, I went to Hospital... my racing friends thought I was dead, being all lifeless, as they shoved me into the ambulance. That was fun.
Left arm ... was a Skiing Mishap. The proverbial "last run" of the day on the first day of the season.
The right Knee was because of Sport Climbing.... EE showed be a cool trick on how to get a no-hands rest.
All the others involved hiking of some sort.
Climbing is brutal but not as brutal as hiking!!!!!
Mouse.... me n Cosmic are going cragging in the spring... you should hobble along.
All are invited... expectations for fun are hi, expectations of climbing performance will take care of themselves.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Oct 26, 2016 - 11:31am PT
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It's not "quit", at least not yet. It's still a "hiatus", so far.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Oct 26, 2016 - 11:40am PT
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Guyman--
So lame, but count me in!
There is a Spring in my step, regardless of the aches & pains.
My last Fall is now just a bad memory.
TWP, are you listening in?
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Gorgeous George
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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Oct 26, 2016 - 11:41am PT
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What? me quit?
I don't think so.
I admit to slowing down, maybe a lot.
But, what would I do then, chase around a little white ball?
No thanks.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Oct 26, 2016 - 12:13pm PT
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Tad.... maybe a "Super Topo Senior Climbers Meetup"
we need a place where we can anchor to the car bumper.
a place with no OW to climb, or chimney cranking....
some nicely featured slab with a walk off the back.
maybe a low angle splitter or two.
lets get cracking.
Benton Crags might be the spot, sort of mid distance for most of the folks.
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skitch
Gym climber
Bend Or
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2016 - 01:06pm PT
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I haven't quit, I'm going at least 1 day a week to da ORG. I just don't enjoy it now that I've taken 3 months off, but since I live in Bishop I feel stupid if I don't climb if I am capable of doing so. I just wonder if I can find "fulfillment" in life if I completely quit climbing and move onto other activities. If I did decide to do so then I would likely look at moving somewhere with better mtn biking.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 26, 2016 - 01:48pm PT
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The only times I completely stopped climbing were when I was locked up in Taft and when I was under doctor's orders not to climb after repair of a ruptured Achilles tendon. Both lasted about six months, but in the former case, I still managed to finagle a way to boulder, disguised as window cleaning.
I stopped climbing as a way of life when I graduated from college and got a job in 1973. Almost immediately, I saw a picture and blurb on Dale Bard in Mountain magazine, and wished I could still hang out in the mountains. Dale was a contemporary of mine in the Berkeley climbing scene, and many of my climbing friends thought my getting professional employment was "a waste of perfectly good climbing potential."
Would I do it differently now? No, because I doubt that I would have met or married my wife if I did. More importantly, I found I have much better ways to gain personal significance than through climbing, which is essentially solopsistic. I still love to climb, but my significance comes from living for Another, and I'm pretty sure I'm the better for it.
John
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Oct 26, 2016 - 02:49pm PT
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Pretty much stopped in 1993 after a really bad accident at Suicide left me pretty f*#ked up balance wise. Funny thing was I was the belayer and my leader fell on me. I've told the story before. My friend drove me into the talus after all his pro ripped resulting a pretty hideous head wound for me. We self rescued and went to the hospital in Hemet.
I still dabble a bit but am no where close to what I was before the accident.
Has beens, no ones. Go grow and learn what pain really is.
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10b4me
Mountain climber
Retired
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Oct 26, 2016 - 03:00pm PT
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I just wonder if I can find "fulfillment" in life if I completely quit climbing and move onto other activities.
When I could see that my climbing career was coming to an end, I bought a kayak. I have kayaked in the Lakes Basin, and on Mono Lake. Kayaking on Mono Lake was great fun.
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clode
Trad climber
portland, or
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Oct 26, 2016 - 03:16pm PT
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I climbed the stairs yesterday. I haven't climbed them since then. I guess that means I stopped climbing yesterday. The reason? I haven't needed to since then. Comment: I bet you I'll take up climbing again real soon! Moral: I intend to keep climbing until I am no longer physically able to.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Oct 26, 2016 - 06:09pm PT
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skitch, don't feel like you have to climb if it doesn't bring you joy. That's a recipe for madness.
Being close to the ORG, means you have mammoth and table lands for mtn biking. Have you already played all those lines out?
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Chugach
Trad climber
Vermont
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Oct 26, 2016 - 06:18pm PT
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Does a climbing sabbatical count? I like long trad routes but I travel for work and have teenagers. I'm simply not willing to take a day away from the family to go climbing. The kids are growing up too fast, etc. That's fine, we ski and mtb together, do a lot of their sports but we climb rarely.
And secretly, I like my work sometimes as wildly as I ever liked climbing and I need to fund three kids through college. My empty-nester dream is to get work in Italy and spend my silver haired years climbing via ferratas and drinking wine with my wife. We'll see.
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jeff constine
Trad climber
Ao Namao
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Oct 26, 2016 - 07:03pm PT
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I have to quit till the weekend.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 26, 2016 - 07:21pm PT
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Think Charlie Porter regretted retiring to take up sailing in Patagonia?
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Oct 26, 2016 - 09:11pm PT
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DMT was correct on the Slippery Ford comment...cracked me up when he was in the not climbing list for Slippery Ford. He needs new tires on that Ford.
Slippery Ford Bear
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Oct 26, 2016 - 09:13pm PT
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Quitting climbing was the best thing I ever did for my climbing.
Burnt out, I left every last bit of gear back in AZ and moved to the beach. Surfed every day.
Touched rock maybe once a year for 10 years.
Coming back to climbing I found myself a better climber, maybe not stronger, but better.
Now I love rediscovering routes, climbing ones that were "below me", and even climbing as hard as I did in my 20's.
Mindset and motivational changes and realizing I'm a lifer.
I'd like to think that I'll never quit again. Ever.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Oct 27, 2016 - 11:00am PT
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Good luck with that
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 27, 2016 - 11:51am PT
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Does a climbing sabbatical count? I like long trad routes but I travel for work and have teenagers. I'm simply not willing to take a day away from the family to go climbing. The kids are growing up too fast, etc. That's fine, we ski and mtb together, do a lot of their sports but we climb rarely.
I had to slow down when my daughters were little, too. Now, they and my son-in-law are prime climbing partners. The time I spent with them in the mountains, even if it was only walking up the Mist Trail with a four-year-old or helping one of them climb a five-foot low-angle boulder, has paid dividends multiple times over.
While the beginnings of arthritis are my "messenger from Satan," making me suspect that, like jogill, I'll need to stop climbing before I die, I'm still hoping that's still a ways in my future. Once I stopped making such a big deal out of climbing, it became nothing but pure enjoyment.
John
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snagglepuss
Mountain climber
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Oct 27, 2016 - 12:03pm PT
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"I met climbers in Patagonia who spent two months in a tent at the bottom of some route they never got to climb ."
Don't let Locker see this. He'll tell you it's a stupid reason to quit climbing. Especially if it isn't weather that stops you from climbing the route but a demotivated/scared partner.
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| Messages 1 - 89 of total 89 in this topic |
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