Time Off (from Climbing)

[ketch]

I so agree with many of the posts in this thread. I started climbing in 75. Slowly I got better and climbed whatever I looked good for me until 85ish. I slacked a little then. In 91 I took a fall. Funny a four foot fall and clipped a ledge, left me with a shattered OS Calcis and one foot pinned together. Kept me out for a while, couldn't give it up though. A little over three years ago cancer and surgery held me off for a while. I'm back again.

 

It has been my observation that many of those that bail on the sport are lookin for somethin to conquer. I climb cause I love it, I love the puzzle, I love the challenge, I'm in it for the journey. If your in it for the end you will find it pretty soon. If you go along for the ride it's always a rush.

[EWolfe]

I kind of hit a wall. I climbed close to 200 days a year (between bouldering and cragging) for 8 years. I am a carpenter, so I would work 6-8 months and travel and climb for 4-6 months. I just got to the point where I was saturated, even though I still loved climbing. I also started getting early signs of carpal tunnel, so I took a year off to recover. It was difficult to transition into other things. I found MTB riding to be challenging physically and to my C/V system, and did a lot of snowboarding in the winter, but nothing quite occupied me on so many levels like climbing does. After a year off, I went back to climbing, but I find the fervor has diminished over the last 5 years since that time off. I still climb 50-75 days a year, but I don't have nearly the drive and also not as much access to climbing as I did.

 

My $.02

[rr666]

Whenever I can climb, I do. for me most of my time off from climbing is due to other activities/weather/work. I wish I had time to climb 200 days a year. For me, I probably get at least 30 days in outside, and about the same inside when the weather is bad. My drive for climbing, if anything keeps increasing, the more rock I climb, and the more comfortable I get, the more I enjoy it and want to feel the joy of climbing, and I have been climbing since '92.