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macherry
May 31, 2014, 11:25 PM
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good stuff
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Evandoyer
Jun 1, 2014, 3:59 PM
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Just to add to the noise, here is my story.
I started climbing the summer before 9th grade. I started lead climbing, with four pieces of pro and a Swiss seat, in combat boots, in 10th grade. I continued into college, despite a mental block that prevented me from trusting myself leading anything harder than 5.5. Then, in 1998, my family moved from western North Carolina to Florida. As you can imagine, there is not a lot of climbing in Florida, and I refused to stoop to gym climbing (more because I refuse to pay that much for something when I have all the gear to do it for free).
I took an involuntary 15 year break off of climbing, and was not sure if I would ever get back, but I kept the gear, the books, and the urge. I did lose the body to a great extent.
A year ago I made it back to North Carolina. I hooked up with other climbers almost immediately, and have been back in the game. I still don't get out as much as I would like, between raising a grandson, other interests, work, and availability of partners. But I came back strong; no more blue suede shoes on run out, no more second-guessing every single placement, no more succumbing to the mental noise and shying away from the hard sharp moves.
Take a break if you need to, for family, for yourself, to make sure you can focus when you do get out there.
and then get back out there and have fun on the rock.
Regards,
Charles
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dingus
Jun 24, 2014, 6:06 PM
Post #53 of 81
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Broken link, see next post in line for a new video.
DMT
(This post was edited by dingus on Jul 29, 2014, 3:18 PM)
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timstich
Jul 8, 2014, 1:37 AM
Post #54 of 81
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I gave up on giving up a long time ago.
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curt
Aug 2, 2014, 1:35 AM
Post #56 of 81
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Nice !!
Curt
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dingus
Sep 2, 2014, 6:24 PM
Post #57 of 81
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Well the beat goes on LS.... these Labor Day weekends are getting to be habit!
Belabor the point
First a little Fresno Dome action. Hadn’t been there in years, had fun, got lost :)
Great rock
Just plain ole fun
First trip to SoYo
LS on the shart end
Getting there
Gripped!!!1111 ;)
Remember, no photo no summit.
Who dat?
Time for din-din
At one of the world’s great camp spots.
I love Balloon Dome in the morning, smells like… yesterday
The Shuteye Ridge burn was spotty and looked like it was sorely needed too. Road and power crews are in there now replacing power poles and downing burnt snags now.
This is the stuff of which dreams are made…
Down the road
Back home.
Thanks LS!!!!!
DMT
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ladyscarlett
Sep 3, 2014, 9:21 PM
Post #58 of 81
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It's been a few years.
I'm not climbing as much as I'd like, or as much as I need, really.
Every time I get out, I'm fresh off the couch, any type of fitness has been a struggle to maintain, and I continue to be unhesitating at the gas pump, filling up for a 2-4 hour drive to the mountains.
I'm not that great of a climber, and my lead head is far below most of the climbing groups I'm climbing with these days.
And what's best is that I'm climbing better than I was last year, in more and more amazing places, with amazing and wonderful people.
I'm learning and loving it.
Yup, y'all just converted a civilian. ;)
Still climbing,
LS
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dingus
Sep 15, 2014, 4:46 AM
Post #59 of 81
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Tantalizing views of the upper Stanislaus river, Sierra Nevada.
Perfect golden granite with huge feldspar crystals and miles of handcracks.
It wasn't easy to get to Sleeping Beauty, hope it was worth the walk!
Couple of the boyz out for a walk?
The girl out for a walk, herself
I'm not sure what that is....
Lady Scarlett's rope guns... ;D
DMT
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majid_sabet
Sep 15, 2014, 7:12 AM
Post #60 of 81
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Registered: Dec 13, 2002
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Have you done this route where my stick in pointing?
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dingus
Nov 26, 2014, 11:40 PM
Post #61 of 81
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Still giving up after all these years?
Following desperate characters down remote gullies?
We're on a road to nowhere....
Hey its only 5.9!
Well, not this one.
Nor this one
This one is still under construction
Climbing has you wasting your life away with ner-do-wells!
Doing questionable activities
And living in terrible conditions!
Dubious!
Witnessing all sorts of shenanigans!
Letting your feet do the voting
Its like you like it or something?
I think you do. I think you DO like it!!!
But sometimes its nice just to relax and take it all in, eh?
Then its back on the chain gang.
Thanks for another year of climbing, partner.
DMT
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sungam
Nov 28, 2014, 9:40 AM
Post #62 of 81
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Oh, hey! Dingus is still around! Good post and pictures as usual.
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donald949
Jan 10, 2015, 4:24 AM
Post #63 of 81
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sungam wrote: Oh, hey! Dingus is still around! Good post and pictures as usual.
ironing is that is in the beginners
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OneBadStud
Jan 26, 2015, 12:18 AM
Post #64 of 81
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Registered: Mar 28, 2012
Posts: 12
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Mr. Milquetoast hasn't given up but I will. The uselessness of civilian life is drowning me, the soles of my feet are suffocating. Now that the kids are out on their own, I'm buying a rope!
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markup
Jan 29, 2015, 9:57 PM
Post #65 of 81
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Registered: Jul 5, 2011
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For me even after doctor told me not to I didn't gave up and I managed to prove them wrong, I started climbing 5 years ago, I'm 37 now, I found that climbing makes me feel free and really happy, I manged to climb 5.12 and just then 14 months ago I had heart surgery, faulty aortic valve so had to get a mechanical valve, was told that I had to quit climbing. 2 months after surgery started doing 5.10 again and now I'm back to 5.12, I think Id rather die than quit doing what I love.
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robdotcalm
Jan 30, 2015, 4:39 AM
Post #66 of 81
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markup wrote: For me even after doctor told me not to I didn't gave up and I managed to prove them wrong, I started climbing 5 years ago, I'm 37 now, I found that climbing makes me feel free and really happy, I manged to climb 5.12 and just then 14 months ago I had heart surgery, faulty aortic valve so had to get a mechanical valve, was told that I had to quit climbing. 2 months after surgery started doing 5.10 again and now I'm back to 5.12, I think Id rather die than quit doing what I love.
17.5 years ago I received a bioprosthetic aortic valve to replace my own valve. I was born with a bicuspid valve, instead of the normal tricuspid, which calcified. I was 66 at the time. The doctors told me I could climb with a bioprosthetic valve, but they did not want me to climb if I got a mechanical valve. They were even against my hiking if I had a mechanical valve. Reason: with a mechanical valve one needs to be on anticoagulant therapy so that a bad bump can lead to serious bleeding. Is that the reason, the doctors do not want you to climb? If so, are there any precautions you take?
Coincidentally, my valve has begun to wear out. I’ll be having a series of tests next week to see if I need revision surgery. Actually, not so much to see if need surgery but rather to determine what kind. I don’t look forward to it but am grateful it’s available since with a deteriorating valve, it’s get it fixed or die.
Congratulations on your climbing again. You wrote, ” I think Id rather die than quit doing what I love.” I hope you’re not serious about that. There are so many aspects of life to cherish that it would be a shame to have climbing push them aside.
Rob.calm
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dingus
Feb 10, 2015, 3:37 PM
Post #67 of 81
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I haven't climbed in a month. A month! January was super busy for me travel wise and so far Feb has maintained the pace.I'm typing this message from Ohio :)
A coupe of weeks ago I visited my kinfolk in Tennessee. It was cold and I was not there to climb. But my big sister lives in Cookeville and not far from Cookeville is a place called Bee Rock. It was one of the crags upon which I cut my teeth as a climber, in the late 70s and early 80s.
Drove out that way from Nashville to meet my sis for dinner and got there with a couple of hours to spare, so drove on up onto the Cumberland Rim. Its so cool! Down at Cookeville, the rock of the day is limestone. Its kinda crappy limestone at that.
But the long grade east out of Cookeville toward Jamestown climbs up out of the limestone and into the hard sandstone for which the south is rather famous for; same stuff as T-Wall, Fall Creek Falls, etc etc. Its lovely rock.
So I found my old happy hunting ground, private property now as it was then. Apparently the owners do not allow climbing but they do let folks hike out to the rocks. And so, some 30+ years after I first touched the grace of Bee Rock, I found myself standing on top of it.
One of the most impacting events of my climbing career, such as it is, happened at Bee Rock. My friend Carl and I were top roping there one day. We had climbed the headwall for the first time and were feeling like we were finally climbers. While we were putzing about this guy walked up and asked us who we were. He saw our rig and asked if he could join us. Oh man this guy could CLIMB! Whoa, he did ALL the headwall lines one after the other and had us on them too.
The guy was Arno Ilgner, just back from Wyoming and his Fremont Canyon exploits. I climbed a bit with Arno, not all that much really, but a couple of early visits to T-Wall, when Rob Robinson was almost daily sending new routes there. It was cool!
So sitting on Bee Rock, reflecting upon the intervening years, all I felt was.... joy. Joy at being able to revisit some of the places of my youth, to still be a climber these decades later, to still be able to touch and climb the stone steep grade. ;)
A couple of days later I hooked up with my old friend Carl. He's my oldest friend actually, we met in the 6th grade at Burns Elementary School. Hah! Old coot is a great caver now, doesn't climb much anymore. But he took me to a cool assed cave on Superbowl Sunday and while it pissed rain outside we were crawling through dark caverns. Bad ass!
Anyway, the other evening I mentioned to LS that "We haven't climbed in a month." It was a statement of fact. I wasn't complaining or anything, we'd been busy. I wanted to climb this past weekend but California finally got some rain and it wasn't to be.
This is just rambling bullshit I know, sorry. But I thought it was delicious, that I was pining for the rock and LS was telling me it was all gonna be just fine. The sun will return and we'll be back on the rocks soon enough, perhaps this weekend (likely).
I can't wait... after all these years and all these climbs and all these pitches, through injury and sickness, recovery and revitalization, I still can't wait to climb.
Giving up?
No..... resting up. For the next installment of "Let's Go Climbing!!!!"
Cheers
DMT
(This post was edited by dingus on Feb 10, 2015, 3:38 PM)
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yanqui
Feb 11, 2015, 12:48 PM
Post #68 of 81
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Registered: Feb 24, 2004
Posts: 1559
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Kudos for one of the best climbing threads on the internet
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satch
Feb 12, 2015, 12:08 AM
Post #69 of 81
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Registered: Mar 28, 2005
Posts: 94
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Great thread! I'm an old dog too with the usual old dog ailments. Leukemia and heart disease in my case. Even that much more reason to keep doing what you love, maybe even step it up a notch.
We decided to take a year trip now rather than later. If you're really bored, here's our blog to add more texture to this thread:
http://funhogsblog.blogspot.ca/
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healyje
Feb 12, 2015, 8:36 PM
Post #70 of 81
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Registered: Aug 22, 2004
Posts: 4204
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Week eight of flu > nasal arterial bleeding > pneumonia > bronchitis with a new chest x-ray, second round of antibiotics, and oral & inhaled steroids. Been on my back most of that time.
Am going out Sunday and going to get on the old standbys and see just how bad bad is...
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markup
Feb 16, 2015, 4:00 PM
Post #71 of 81
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Registered: Jul 5, 2011
Posts: 13
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Same deal here, born with bi-cuspid that didn't shut properly but everything fine now, and yes blood thinners are a pin and have to be extra crefull, yesterday banged my shin and is waaay swollen but nothing serious. Good luck with your tests, Ill have to do the same in about 20 years, till then I get it checked every 3 - 5 months just in case because I'm pushing it really hard.
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climbingtrash
Feb 23, 2015, 4:27 AM
Post #73 of 81
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Registered: Jan 19, 2006
Posts: 5114
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I climbed on Thursday.
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dingus
Feb 27, 2015, 11:25 PM
Post #74 of 81
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Registered: Dec 16, 2002
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Its lunchtime at the Banquet of ROCK!
There may be a drought on, but its OUR drought!
The place of past adventures, and those to come
Slice of Pie for dessert, right?
Cheers, Partner ;)
DMT
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ladyscarlett
Feb 28, 2015, 2:50 AM
Post #75 of 81
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Reading over this again, I find that the same questions still come up in my head...
Am I still a climber? Why do I still feel like I am, even if I'm not climbing as much as I 'should' be? Is it actually time to quit and I'm in denial about it?
I think about all these things, almost everyday.
I don't always walk where everyone else walks. Even though I'm not that far from the ground, I absolutely view this as a Must Not Fall situation. One bit of broken skin would mean a trip to the hospital, and a twisted or broken limb is always a slip away. This is my Tetanus Island walk.
I'm traversing the endless talus field that will take me to the base of my favorite high sierra rock. It's all solid granite, but it's early in the morning, and I have to be aware that the rocks are slick with melting frost and dew. I start timidly across, like the Lava Game of my childhood. But this time I begin to see the path across the boulders, a series of surfaces, not all level, but give just enough friction to allow the ball of my foot to move to the next landing spot. My eyes identify and avoid the slicks rocks, my body instinctively compensates when I choose a path along the boulders that rock and wobble.
CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK
heh, don't get too cocky...
I'm remembering everything I've read about Talus running and laugh at myself for even thinking of it. I know that I'm much too methodical to let loose and run along my Talus Field, but even so, I feel my pace change from a series of steps and hops to a strange flow across the uneven rock.
The booming sound of a foghorn blasts me out of my flow and I stop and look up. A shipping liner overloaded with containers obscures my view of the water. No more talus field for me...I take a few more hops on some especially odd shaped rocks before stepping off. I'm back on the ground, back to doubting my climber self.
I'm not everyone's definition of a climber. At the beginning, middle, and end of the day, the mountains keep calling, and I still think of that next stretch of rock, feeling it, tasting it...and wanting it.
I'm gunna get it dagnamit!!
Thanks for reading folks...onward and upward.
Cheers
LS
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