Being broke, loss of "non-climbing" friends, inability to hold on to serious relationships, inability to hold a steady job, strong affinity for skipping out of work on sunny days (or not so sunny days in extreme cases), fear of commitment to anything but a route (or a dream), long gnarled hair, leather like skin (especially the hands) , aches and pains in parts of your body you didn't know you had, rusty beat up vehicles that may get you to the climb (but probably not back), and a whole plethora of other effects

Being broke, loss of "non-climbing" friends, inability to hold on to serious relationships, inability to hold a steady job, strong affinity for skipping out of work on sunny days (or not so sunny days in extreme cases), fear of commitment to anything but a route (or a dream), long gnarled hair, leather like skin (especially the hands) , aches and pains in parts of your body you didn't know you had, rusty beat up vehicles that may get you to the climb (but probably not back), and a whole plethora of other effects.....

That about sums it up, and constantly dating 21 year olds because they are the only ones that go for your "sporting life" mack.

There was a medical article comparing long term pot smokers to non pot smokers within the last couple years in terms of IQ, problem solving skills, etc. and pot smokers did worse overall. So I would say that climbing lowers your IQ. :lol:

What, not all climbers smoke pot?

Not sure if I believe it - but I ready about a study once that pot doesn't kill brain sells. It actually coats those active cells in protein or something, which *temporarily* renders them inactive - kinda like preserving them. So perhaps, after 40 years of pot smoking, you stop, the protein breaks down (which they claim it does) then all of a sudden you are a real bright senior citizen :-P or maybe not :roll:

Being broke, loss of "non-climbing" friends, inability to hold on to serious relationships, inability to hold a steady job, strong affinity for skipping out of work on sunny days (or not so sunny days in extreme cases), fear of commitment to anything but a route (or a dream), long gnarled hair, leather like skin (especially the hands) , aches and pains in parts of your body you didn't know you had, rusty beat up vehicles that may get you to the climb (but probably not back), and a whole plethora of other effects...

years of small injuries take their toll. the arthritis spreads from your fingers to your elbows, shoulders, knees, everywhere. The bones spurs occasionlly lock your joints up in pain. but the secret wepon against these things is NEVER stop climbing. as long as you do this you will sort of be ok.
motion is the magic potion.

Well, I guess we can take a look at alot of the older climbers. Most don't seem to be in too bad of shape, actually alot are in far better shape than others their age. I think if your prone to degenerative injuries then you going to end up with them wether or not your a climber.
We can also keep an eye on John Sherman, I mean theres a guy thats seriously hurt about every part of the body that can be hurt, and he climbs way more than most of us. So if anyone, he should be crippled up at a realtively young age.
As far as the emotional parts, alot of the posts seem to be right. Climbing is great, but it has a way of making it hard to deal with non-climbers including you family, friends and other loved ones. Most people don't understand our mentality and why we would constantly push ourselves so hard. Plus, being gone so much on weekends, holidays, and on trips makes you miss out on alot of whats going on back home.
All in all, I think its still worth it.

Jack Tackle would be another good example. He's doing well if anyone knows him. Also Alex Lowe climbed close to 5 years with only his closest friends/co-workers knowing of his ACL problem. Maybe they hide it well or are really mutants. I think it's more about drive. The mind is your best piece of gear. Pain? What pain? Oud.

There is no doubt that Alex Lowe was a mutant! That guy did stuff that humans shouldn't be capable of, But thats another thread on its own.

i knwo that this is not exactly a nice thing to post here but then its a fact and all of us might as weel be aware of it rather than ignorant.....
i would like to know what problems are associated with long term climbing./...,,,i have a friend of mine who is 36 and he has arthritis on his nuckles cause of climbing too hard.... he says that he tried to push himself too hard.... i would like to know if there are more problems like this...and if there are any ways to better prevnt them.....if anyone know a website please let me know...
thanks a lot for the answers...

Fred Becky - most people his age are playing bridge in the nursing home, he's still at it.