RuMR Posted December 11, 2003 Posted December 11, 2003 From 8a.nu: 8b+ at 53 & 8a (f) at 45 2003-12-10 Are 8b+ at 53 and 8a (f) at 46, world records? Both oldies are from Rome in Italy. Erri De Luca was 53 when he did a chalkless ascent of La Teoria dell'8a, 8b+, at Sperlonga. Letizia "Super-Titta" Colombo has done her first two 8a's aged 45 and the story doesn't get worse by the fact that she hadn't done 7a before she turned 40. Can there be any other sport where you can be at your top level for up to 40 years!? There must be senior citizens who still do 8a? Quote
RuMR Posted December 11, 2003 Author Posted December 11, 2003 WTF are you rolling your eyes at? Quote
arlen Posted December 12, 2003 Posted December 12, 2003 Why would middle-aged climbers from Italy bother with Fossil Rock? Quote
Chockstone Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 Everybody's pulling sport 5.13 climbs. Women, children, middle-aged folks. Who's next? Dwayner's grandma? Quote
willstrickland Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 Met two 50+ year old dudes in the desert a few years ago who were still onsighting 5.12 cracks... Quote
lancegranite Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 Attention: If you have stubbornly refused to adapt to the new climbing world, It's true, things are not as hard as they once were. Everyone climbs 5.11a. Most can climb a 12a... A lot of people that I know have climbed 13a... Among the folks that I climb with, 4 have climbed 14a... Me?... 5.9+ baby! Quote
willstrickland Posted December 14, 2003 Posted December 14, 2003 Lance, you must be climbing at Red Rocks or sumpin...oh wait, you are Quote
lancegranite Posted December 15, 2003 Posted December 15, 2003 (edited) Touche! On the other hand, Mt. Charleston keeps you honest. Cranking drilled pockets at 8300 feet is GREAT granite training! Edited December 15, 2003 by lancegranite Quote
tele_nut Posted December 15, 2003 Posted December 15, 2003 lancegranite said: Attention: If you have stubbornly refused to adapt to the new climbing world, It's true, things are not as hard as they once were. Everyone climbs 5.11a. Most can climb a 12a... A lot of people that I know have climbed 13a... Among the folks that I climb with, 4 have climbed 14a... Me?... 5.9+ baby! "Everyone climbs 5.11a".....whatever. It's like Chouinard says. "Back then I couldn't do 5.11 but I could do a one-arm pullup. Now, I can get up 5.11a but I can't do a one-arm." Grades are soft, bolts have demystified 5.11. Your average sport climber is still in over his head on old-school 5.11, and that's the bottom line. Quote
willstrickland Posted December 15, 2003 Posted December 15, 2003 lancegranite said: Touche! On the other hand, Mt. Charleston keeps you honest. Cranking drilled pockets at 8300 feet is GREAT granite training! Somehow I find irony in the juxtaposition of "honest" and "drilled pockets" Quote
lancegranite Posted December 15, 2003 Posted December 15, 2003 (edited) No doubt the 80's testpieces will allways be as fearsome as they always were. Their reputation will always be intact, and rightfully so... Three things come to mind: Watching my 19 year old partner onsight Das Musak at Castle rock..out of the car...from Vegas. Climbing with Tom Hargis, and watching him tear up 5.12's at... Sunny and Steep. Drilled finger pockets feel like fingerlocks in a crack that was pinned out in the 60's... by our man Chouinard. Edited December 15, 2003 by lancegranite Quote
RuMR Posted December 15, 2003 Author Posted December 15, 2003 I used to boulder a ton w/ Tom when he was still here...He's funny as all getout on the 45 degree wall...he just wouldn't huck for anything ever...we called him "go-go ratchet", if he couldn't reach, he'd just "ratchet" down a little more, but never ever would he throw! OldSkool rocker for sure! Quote
lancegranite Posted December 15, 2003 Posted December 15, 2003 This thread is all about guys like him.. The guy has done it all! and he is probably climbing somewhere today. Quote
Norsky Posted December 17, 2003 Posted December 17, 2003 Everybody's pulling sport 5.13 climbs. Women, children, middle-aged folks. Who's next? Dwayner's grandma? Perhaps even I will someday??? Quote
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