Hi

I am 38. I currently climb at a very average grade. To give you an idea, on traditionally protected routes, about USA 5.9, UK HVS. On bolts/sport about French 6a+. On water ice about WI4. Scottish winter grades about IV.

In the Alps I have very little experience above AD.

I do have 10 years of climbing experience though at these grades and am competent in the mountains and efficient with rope work and movement.

I am married and have kids. I do a job that keeps me fit but doesn't pay that well. It does give me a lot of free time, but not the money to fully exploit it.

The question. How feasible is it for me to get to a level that I can start to enjoy some of the harder routes in the Alps and further afield? Am I too old to conceivably get to this level given the time constraints that I have and the lack of cash. I want to get to a level where I am getting on the harder north face routes at around ED1 but I am wondering if by the time I get the experience that I need to climb at this level, I will be too old to do so as my fitness won't be as good or as easy to maintain.

Can anyone offer any advice? How old were you when you started climbing 'seriously'? Is it possible without dedicating lots of time and cash to long trips to the Alps and bigger ranges?

Thanks

I was 39,with two kids, when I first climbed & immensely enjoyed routes & treks in the U.S.A. ,Canada ,& Nepal while holding a full-time job. I climbed Zodiac on El Capitan with two friends at age 59 and had a great time in a fantastic setting. Just do it !

Hi climb321

I'm 66, climbed all my life, never really hard. If you love this outdoor experience so much that you would rather do that than anything else, the numbers mean little. There is so much hapiness out there. If you take the issue methodically, continue to improve, have good partners and stay safe doing it, there is absolutely no reason while you couldn't do your best climbing at 50. I have done my best climbs at 45-50 and beyond. As many said before, if this activity is something that you really love, doing it till you are switched off is the only way...
Cheers, Alois.

Fred Beckey seems to think ice climbing at 85 is fine:

Google Mick Fowler. Middle aged customs officer. Family man. Climbs crazy hard stuff on his vacations. Has won the Piolet D'Or.

I'm 37 and bounce in and out of 5.11 shape. Right now there is no way......but 6 months from now I could prob pull 5.11b-c. of course I have a history of doing that, but if you stay in shape, there no reason you cant climb up to 5.12 without dedicating serious time. Above 5.12 will take more commitment, but there are documented cases of 50+ years olds sending their 1st 5.14. There's no reason why you couldnt do hard mountaineering routes that just require physical stamina either......lots of guys climbing 8k peaks in their 50's. They key for me is to just enjoy my time out. I personally get nothing out of chasing grades as I'll never be a sponsored climber and the difficulty level is not why I'm out there.....at all. For others, the challenge of the grade/route is the ONLY reason.....that's ok too! The beauty of this sport is that there is no wrong way to enjoy it as long as you're respecting the outdoors and others. Simply enjoy!

Your grades are similar to mine but the numbers are pretty meaningless in the bigger hills.

If you climb those grades without freaking out, you're climbing plenty hard enough to climb most of the bigger mountains in the world. So it depends what you want to climb - harder routes, higher peaks, remote things etc. Being able to solo 50 degree alpine ice for 1000m will get you up many impressive mountains, ditto scrambling unroped on exposed ground with a pack on in big boots, ditto being able to move quickly and safely along a narrow ridge, both up and down (a fast disappearing skill).

Most of climbing bigger things is will, perseverance and time, plus good physical fitness helps too. Mountaineering is a grind and many 'hard' routes are not enjoyable except years later in the pub.

If you have a modicum of money and some leisure time you have more than most, so get on it.

While I agree with 100% of the posters here that number is just that, a number. The comparison about older climbers are just flat out wrong. Fred Beckey is doing just fine because he climbed his whole life, his body and mind are used to the demand. Same goes for Stevie Haston, etc. Posters like WS, ASMRZ, DG, they probably have spend two or three times the amount of time in the mountains and climbing than most older climbers have. It's easy to climb 5.10s in your 40s and 50s when you used to climb 5.12s/13s.

Personally, the biggest improvement I've ever experienced is when I had a plan and executed it the best I can. You don't have to climb everyday, but you have to train and you have to train smart. There are so many books (Steve House's New Alpinism, Rock Prodigy) out there now that you can easily put together a decent plan (it doesn't have to be perfect), dedicate your time and you'll see your goals come to life. The fact is that your goals aren't that far off from your current level that if you are dedicated, you can probably hit them within a 5 year period.

Good Luck and post the trip reports!

asmrz wrote:Hi climb321

I'm 66, climbed all my life, never really hard. If you love this outdoor experience so much that you would rather do that than anything else, the numbers mean little. There is so much hapiness out there. If you take the issue methodically, continue to improve, have good partners and stay safe doing it, there is absolutely no reason while you couldn't do your best climbing at 50. I have done my best climbs at 45-50 and beyond. As many said before, if this activity is something that you really love, doing it till you are switched off is the only way...
Cheers, Alois.

Excellent observation... I'm 52, I've climbed for decades but never done anything really ape$h!t, I just enjoy being in the field and tapping into that whole radical wilderness experience. I'll always be a better small craft sailor than a climber, but that doesn't stop me from heading out to remote areas and tackling primo crags... did a lot of soloing in earlier years, again nothing terribly difficult, but every route I soloed had enough exposure for one to die a thousand deaths if not careful. Now, as I get older, I feel the permanent wear & tear of injuries unrelated to climbing: got a shoulder that'll never be 100% again, and a knee that gives me occasional grief, no doubt as a result of hard vertical skateboarding back in the day, riding pools in the '70s with minimal or zero safety gear. Will that stop me from climbing in my latter years? Only when I can no longer crawl to the foot of the crags, LOL. When my fingers lock up in terminal arthritis, I'll use the damned things as SkyHooks (dating myself here), shredding the tips like so much taco meat. For me, the ratings were never an issue, except in selecting routes within my ability... the overall wilderness experience was ALWAYS the greater attraction.

Truth be told, some of the coolest moments I've had while climbing had NOTHING to do with ratings: I recall being on the lead high on a crag in a remote area, hearing a humming noise and momentarily getting gripped on small edges while expecting rockfall (no crash helmet), then looking over to see a hummingbird hovering a yard away, looking directly at me as if to say, "Dude, WTF are YOU doing up here?!?" And a similar moment on a crag at the Gorge here in Dago, hearing a loud hum and looking over to see a swarm of bees rounding a buttress in search of a new hive... needless to say, I froze in place as the swarm passed, which only took a few seconds, though it seemed longer at the time, LOL. I won't even get into all the primo raptor sightings and other wildlife sightings I've been fortunate to experience over the years... nothing like looking down on the raptors as they soar past, or even the ravens & crows, for that matter, they're all experts when it comes to flight. Yesiree, there's more to climbing than ratings, and there's more to the wilderness than climbing, if that makes any sense. I believe I'll now STFU and get back to my football game, LOL.