Time Off (from Climbing)

[JayB]

I've come across quite a few people who start climbing, get passionate about it, then quit just as abruptly as they began. I have also met a number of people who have just returned to the sport after giving it up for quite a while - some for as long as twenty years.

 

I have always wanted to ask the folks who quit all of a sudden what it was that caused them to do so. Injuries, a near-death experience, death of a partner, marrying somone who forced them to choose between continuing climbing and continuing their marriage, the arrival of children, not enough time - are some of the reasons that I have heard of second hand, but I have never actually managed to get ahold of an ex-climber and grill them about what convinced them to hang it up for good. I'm especially curious about the folks that develop a passionate interest in climbing and quit for no apparent reason. Some seem to have the recreational equivalent of ADD, and skip from one-pasttime to the next, but most seem to quit for reasons that are not easily discerned by a casual observer. I'm also interested in what compelled ex-climbers to begin climbing again after being away for many years, and if they came back because they were missing what they left behind or were seeking out something new.

 

Since I started climbing in '96 I have taken three or four multi-month breaks from climbing, all as a result of injuries. I took 8-months off in en effort to fully recover from tendonitis that I had been aggravating for a couple of years without a break long enough to to any real healing. I was fed up with the constant pain and decided to try kick it once and for all. I followed that up with a couple of 2-3 month breaks while recovering from torn ligaments in my knees that I sustained while skiing. I spent most of the 8-months away peak bagging and fly-fishing, and actually sort of enjoyed the break from technical climbing as it forced me to indulge a bit more heavily in activities that I had been neglecting in an attempt to step-up my climbing. After I came back the primary difference in my climbing was that I more or less gave up sport climbing for a couple of years - both because I found that I was more interested in long, moderate trad and alpine routes, and because I no longer had the specific strength necessary to climb sport routes that I had once enjoyed, and found myself getting a bit frustrated after getting shut down on routes that I had once climbed as warm-ups. I would have been able to console myself on routes in the sub-10 range, but there just weren't many of those around at my favorite sport area (Shelf Road) so I could never get away from the fact that my abilities in this arena had gone down hill in a big way. Another injury-induced vacation from rock-climbing got me into ice-climbing, which happened mainly because all of the trad-routes were frozen over, my knee was too messed up to ski, and I was looking for some more variety while climbing. The variety has been a good thing, as doing everything (except aid climbing) and a lifelong love of the outdoors has kept me interested and given me an outlet no matter what kind of shape I am in.

 

Anyway - I have been wondering if anyone else on this board or that reads this board has taken time away from climbing. What caused you to quit, how long were you away, and what brought you back. Is your focus any different than it used to be? Posters/lurkers - let's hear it.

 

[Dru]

i took 2 months off from climbing after falling off the apron and catching a tree on the way over the edge...

 

i just didn't know i was taking it off, i tried to go climbing, but - kept failing to rope up or even put rock shoes on

 

when i started again i found i had to start with 5.7 and work up again.

 

other than that i have taken a few months off at a time for work related reasons (not working anywhere near rock, ie) although if you count teva bouldering on a 5 foot high boulder as not being time off then i didnt take time off in those periods

 

whenever i get bored of one type of climbing i just go do another. perhaps that why i hate training, i would rather go bag a peak than get strong in the gym for a hard project months down the line. but i would feel bored if all i did was bag peaks.

[lummox]

i havent really ever 'taken time away from climbing'. rather there have been periods when i have not had time for climbing or had the opportunity. there are actually places in the world without rocks to climb. there are actually employers who expect you to show up every day for work. fuck that shit my nizzle.

[minx]

i quit for a very long time due mainly to the arrival of my son in this world. it initially started b/c climbing when you're 7 mos preggers is just awkward, then having a newborn is just too tiring, then a divorce meant i was a single parent. as a single parent, i became overly aware that i could orphan my child and i wasn't OK with that. it's more that it affected my climbing than anything else. the thought kept creeping in my head anytime i got the least bit sketched and made the situation worse so i quit altogether. things in my life have changed since then so i'm more comfortable with it now but it was about 6-7 years of nothing harder than a class 3 scramble.

 

i will say that i'm a fair bit more cautious than i used to be and it has hindered my return to climbing some. h/e, i have more fun than ever even if i'm not climbing at the same level i used to.

[lummox]

hey minx. responsibility is overrated.

[minx]

lummox said:

hey minx. responsibility is overrated.

 

yeah no shit! such a nuissance. too bad i love the little monster so much

[Bug]

minx said:

lummox said:

hey minx. responsibility is overrated.

 

yeah no shit! such a nuissance. too bad i love the little monster so much

That was the part I was not prepared for.

[lummox]

and then there is that nagging problem of having your child start screaming in terror as your trying to simultaneously drive at top speed through rush hour traffic to get to the crag while steering with your knee without spilling your beer while you try to fire up the joint you just finished rolling.

 

 

 

oh wait. i stopped doing that when the children came along.

[minx]

lummox said:

and then there is that nagging problem of having your child start screaming in terror as your trying to simultaneously drive at top speed through rush hour traffic to get to the crag while steering with your knee without spilling your beer while you try to fire up the joint you just finished rolling.

 

 

 

oh wait. i stopped doing that when the children came along.

 

 

yeah...the little brats manage to suck all the fun out of everything don't they

 

mine won't sit quietly, locked in the closet w/a jar of peanut butter and some water while i go for some alpine route. he's even started untying himself from the bottom of the routes where i leave him

[chelle]

When I started rock climbing I was hooked. I climbed at the gym as often as I could and got out on rock in the Bay area with my partner one or two weekends a month. That winter I sprained my neck pretty badly in a snowboarding accident and was forced to take nearly 2 years off from most activities. I focused on my career and relationship, which I was neglecting during the intense year that I climbed.

 

When I could start doing activities again I picked up mountain biking, cause that was something my ex-was into and climbing certainly was not. My partner had moved away and I was too shy at the time to just go to the gym and bum belays off people I didn't know. After a year I needed to climb, but got into mountaineering because I didn't need as much technical expertise to do that and I thought if I just bagged a few volcanes a year and bigger trip every 3 years or so I would be satisfied.

 

That didn't work out because the rock kept calling and I found another partner who liked to go mountaineering and also climbed rocks. Eventually I chose climbing and living in a community of climbers over a lot of other things in my life and moved up to Seattle. Started technical rock climbing again and took most of last year off just doing that.

 

Had to take almost 5 months off this summer cause of a strained shoulder joint, and realized then that cragging and easy straightforward alpine routes have much more appeal right now than bagging peaks and carrying heavy packs. I think interest in different types of climbing for me goes in waves and I'll probably cycle through them as I meet partners with specific interests and I want to do climbs with them.

[Bug]

Olivia was my first. She is seven now and born 10 yrs and seven hours after my stepson Drew who is 17. Drew is not interested in climbing at all. Meredith is 5 almost 6. To say they climb is a stretch but they climb better than most kids their age. They are trusting of the rope but still do not like to get too high. Olivia often proposes climbing to the top of various mountains but her stamina is not quite there. Meredith would prefer to be carried but is getting too big for me to carry her far. It is a good workout tho. We spend a lot of time together and we are very close. Nothing has ever given me this much satisfaction.

Having kids changed my perspective on climbing a lot. I initially dropped out of climbing just due to time limits. It has taken me a long time to get back into serious climbing because I have more incentive to be absolutely sure that my systems are bomb-proof. At the same time, my edge is gone and I have a lot of doubts about perfectly good systems and placements. That got a lot better this year as I climbed a lot more than previous years since Olivia was born. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel and expect to be in good form next year. Not back to where I was before kids, but back to where I can climb challenging routes and not be worried about dying and leaving behind two kids.

When I went to Denali two years ago, I was considering soloing the cutoff to the Rib. In previous years, I know it would not have been a question or even much of an exertion. With kids, I did not do it and ended up not summiting. It was a good trip and my kids still have a father. When I go back next year or next year.... I will be better prepared for the phsycological impacts.

[forrest_m]

JayB – My observation has been a bit different than yours. I have seen a lot of “sports ADD” too, people who climb for a few years, even obsessively, but the give it up to move on to the next thing. Some people wrap their whole life up in their sport of choice. Being talented athletes, they may climb (or do triathalons or SCUBA dive or…) at a fairly high level. But when they realize that, though talented, they will never be at the elite level, they move on, looking for the thing that they are good enough at to justify centering their life around it.

 

However, my experience has been that people who climb seriously for more than 5-7 years tend to be lifers. Is this because climbing is engaging mentally as well as physically? Or because it functions well as a metaphor in every day life? Even if work/kids/etc. prevent them from actually getting out much, they tend to still self-identify as climbers. When circumstances permit, they roll back into the game. I admire a lot of these guys – I have a friend who is teaching his grandson to tele ski. How cool is that?

 

BTW, I do not personally know anyone who has given up climbing permanently as a result of losing a friend in an accident, though I know several who thought they would for a time.

[cracked]

I have injured my fingers a few times at the gym (ligament sprains) and was forced to take a few months off at a time. Very frustrating. I notice I go through cycles of interest, moving from cragging to alpine to ice to skiing, redirecting my focus, but still participating in the others. Probably helps keep me from burning out.

 

I still don't get to climb as much as I want.

[sketchfest]

This is an extremely interesting topic. I started climbing, mostly volcanoes, about 10 or so years ago; I wasn't real serious about it, but climbed a few mountains every year. At that time, my primary focus was bike racing, so the training took up a huge portion of my time.

 

A couple of years before I got married I came to the realization that I was never going to get a sponsor, that I sucked and that I was really riding because I liked to compete. With that revelation, I decided to diversify my time and hobbies and got back into climbing, both mountain and rock.

 

Then I got married to an incredible woman who had two fantastic children from her previous marriage, at the time the kids where 5 & 8 and before I even realized it, I was fully engulfed in the awe inspiring and constantly humbling world of child rearing; little league, basketball and lacrosse filled our time instead of 5 hour training rides or a day at the crag/mountain. As our kids got a little older, they both started to gain an interest, although small, in the activities that I was doing when time allowed. My son is now 16 and over the last few summers have had some incredible moments while climbing that we still talk about like they just happened and my daughter is slowly starting to gain a bigger interest in climbing as well. My wife, since she is afraid of heights, is supportive and loves to see the pictures when we come home.

 

I climb more now than I have for the last few years, but still less than before. I have never been and never will be a "hardman" my guess is that I'll probably max out somewhere around .10b/c for trad (if I'm lucky) and on a good day, and I mean a really gooood day, .11something on bolts. I guess what I'm saying is, I've been gone, come back, been gone again and come back again and every time I go through one of those cycles I think that I am able to bring a new perspective to the adventure, call it balance, I don't know, but it works for me.

 

[lummox]

in my experience climbing never gets easier. 5.10 still feels like 5.10 even after all these years. but i have learned to like that aspect.

 

ive had acquantiances give up on the sport out of frustration at not getting 'better'. that is not being able to climb at a higher grade.

 

chop wood. carry water.

[Jim]

I've been climbing since 1974. The longest I've gone without climbing was just a couple years ago - had to recover from a couple of non-climbing injuries. It was a drag. While I don't climb as much (every week) or as intently as I did 20 years ago, I can still match my highest grade (with a bit more whinning).

 

People's lives change, they get injured, priorities change. Climbing is not just the glossy coved studs on R&I or Climbing - it's what you make it. Ya gotta just get out there and push the envelope a bit - whatever that is for you. Feel the rock, smell the forests, scrape you knuckles and laugh about it with friends later. Just get out there and do something! Life's too short. Climbing makes it better.

[Peter_Puget]

Jim said:

I've been climbing since 1974. The longest I've gone without climbing was just a couple years ago - had to recover from a couple of non-climbing injuries. It was a drag. While I don't climb as much (every week) or as intently as I did 20 years ago, I can still match my highest grade (with a bit more whinning).

 

People's lives change, they get injured, priorities change. Climbing is not just the glossy coved studs on R&I or Climbing - it's what you make it. Ya gotta just get out there and push the envelope a bit - whatever that is for you. Feel the rock, smell the forests, scrape you knuckles and laugh about it with friends later. Just get out there and do something! Life's too short. Climbing makes it better.

 

For once Jim and I comletely agree!

 

PP

[forrest_m]

Bug – I’m really interested in your perspective. I’ve heard many people say that they didn’t feel they could justify hard climbing anymore after they had kids. But it sounds like you don’t buy into that. (I don’t have kids, yet, but for my wife it’s definitely when, not if). I can imagine having less time for climbing in the future, but I know for certain that I’m not going to be happy if I give up serious routes, either. I feel like it is the intense self-centeredness of pushing my limits at certain times that gives me the energy to be able to be good at my job, good at my relationships, and, I hope, good at being a dad.

 

My wife sometimes asks me to think about her when I’m making decisions on a climb, but the truth is that I don’t. It doesn’t enter into my thoughts at all. I don’t think “gee, if I was still single, I’d cross this avalanche path, but since I’m married…” I’m completely focused on getting up and down, on keeping myself and my partner safe. Good judgment is good judgment whether or not anyone is waiting for you back home, right?

[sk]

Jim said:

I've been climbing since 1974. The longest I've gone without climbing was just a couple years ago - had to recover from a couple of non-climbing injuries. It was a drag. While I don't climb as much (every week) or as intently as I did 20 years ago, I can still match my highest grade (with a bit more whinning).

 

People's lives change, they get injured, priorities change. Climbing is not just the glossy coved studs on R&I or Climbing - it's what you make it. Ya gotta just get out there and push the envelope a bit - whatever that is for you. Feel the rock, smell the forests, scrape you knuckles and laugh about it with friends later. Just get out there and do something! Life's too short. Climbing makes it better.

YEPPERS

[RuMR]

Hey Forrest...

 

Its hard to know what you will decide until you actually have your kids...just wait...it'll work itself out...

[minx]

RuMR said:

Hey Forrest...

 

Its hard to know what you will decide until you actually have your kids...just wait...it'll work itself out...

 

i couldn't agree more with this statement. you'll know what's right for your family when the time comes. it's very personal and your circumstances are different from everyone else's.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

The one called Amazing, which is to say our very own Dr. Flash, has never willingly taken time off from the Great Sport.

 

There was the few months DFA took off after moving back home from Bend when there was no one to climb with, which was a major drag and caused the Doctor to be as close as he's ever been to "fat". Then there have been various short amounts of time off (usually a week to a month, give or take) for some tennis elbow, some tendon pulley aggravation, etc. And then there was the ~year off for the wrecked shoulder and ensuing surgery/recovery.

 

Were it not for those unfortunate circumstances, though? Shit, wouldn't give this sport up for nothin', not at this point, anyway. It just feels so ... mmmm, right, you know what the Doc's sayin'? Oh, yeah, you know what the DFA is talkin' about.

 

Tie in and pull down, baby.

 

Word.

 

[bunglehead]

Kinda feel like everything's been covered, but thought I'd contribute anway.

 

For me I quit climbing entirely twice. The first time was living in Boulder, immersed in a very unhealthy relationship that I didn't have the courage/ability to get out of. When I'd climb, I'd get incredibly sketched, and I took it as the Gods telling me to focus on my personal stuff, so that's what I did. That was a 2+ year hiatus.

 

Pretty much the second that relationship was over I started climbing again.

 

Then I got married to a great woman. The second time I stopped climbing was when she left. She was the ONLY person I trusted climbing with, so when that ended, so ended my climbing. That was a 1+ year break. I still have a hard time trusting people.

 

Then there's always the constant struggle bubbling under the surface of hurting my hands, which would affect my guitar playing. That is hard to deal with sometimes, that conflict. As much as I wouldn't want to inhabit a world where I never knew climbing, if my ability to play music was somehow taken from me, that would hurt just as much, if not more.

[Jens]

Wow! This is one of the best threads in a long time.

______

As someone earlier said, after people hit the 5-7 year mark they usually tend to be lifers beause climbing is a metaphor for life.

_____

I don't have any research to back this up, but the vast majority of people that I have known who have quit climbing were spending most of their time bouldering and sport climbing. I'm not saying anything bad about those activities as I consider myself a sport climber.

______

I go through 2-3 year phases with my climbing.

I may really get hooked on ski mountaineering for a couple of years doing it tons then almost cease the activity and move on to aid climbingand walls or "V" plastic pulling . Climbing is so diverse, you can "quit"part of it but still be climbing in some way shape or form .

Thanks for all the great posts. Ireally enjoyed reading everyone's stuff.

[JayB]

I've noticed the same thing about people that stay involved for 5-7 years being in it for life. I think that one factor that contributes to their continued interest is that by this time most have diversified their climbing pursuits well beyond those that they dedicated most of their time to when they first started out. I have also noticed the correlation between strictly sport-climbing and bouldering and dropping out of climbing altogether, and I think that at least part of this has to do with the fact that most people improve very rapidly when they take up either. Eventually everyone plateaus, though, and if one's primary focus is on succeeding on ever-more difficult climbs frustration and dissilusionment are bound to take over when there is no improvement in this arena, or worse yet - a regression takes over and you find yourself hanging on lines that you used to cruise.

 

I have also found that people that have loved getting out in the mountains all of their lives, and approached climbing as an extension of that tend to stick with climbing in much higher percentages than people who lack this background and get into the sport strictly for the technical challenge or thrills.