The are old climbers, and there are bold climbers. But there aren't any old, bold climbers.
How long have you been climbing?
What gear were you using back then?
I started climbing 37 years ago.
When some young punk gives me any shit about my age, I just tell him:
"I've been getting laid longer than you've been alive."
I started climbing on yellow polyprolyene rope, but quickly moved up to Goldline. We used machine nuts with the threads filed away. Our rocks shoes were PAs. I had Galibier mountaineering boots. Our bamboo ice axes were 70cm long and I had to file teeth in my pick. We used 2-inch webbing to make a swami harness. Dachstein mitts.
And we wore knickers.
The year was 1973 B.G. (Before Gortex)
Summit, Glacier Peak, North Cascades, 1977