What: A book, at least 80 pages in length
Target audience: Rock climbers who feel mid-life-ish or older
Purpose: To be informational and inspirational by sharing the joy of climbing from an older and sometimes wiser climber’s perspective.
Target publication date: September 2010
Working book title: The Aging Climber
Proposed Contents:
Chapter 1: Are you an “older” climber? Read on…
Intro
Test: You are an older climber if…
Research on aging in general
Chapter 2: Lifers
Climbing as a lifestyle
Why lifers keep climbing as they age
Chapter 3: Mid-life n00bies
Why did they take up climbing?
Risks, family responsibilities, and time commitment
Chapter 4: So you still want to climb 5.12?
What goals do mid-life newbies strive for?
What goals do life-long climbers set for themselves as they age?
Chapter 5: Tips for interacting with “younger” climbers
Buy new gear
No talking about the good-old days
Feed them and transport them, if needed
Share your expertise liberally
Chapter 6: Training schedules for aging climbers (Needs research)
How the body and the mind change with age
Research on aging athletes
How to implement this knowledge in your climbing
Chapter 7: Health issues for aging climbers (Needs research)
Will climbing do you any good?
What’s bad about climbing for the aging body?
Dealing with overuse injuries
Chapter 8: The final chapter
What do you say at your climbing partner’s memorial?
What do you want them to say on your tombstone?
More about the book: My vision for the book is that it will be informational as well as inspirational. I’m striving for a fun, even cheeky, tone, unless the topic is a serious one.
I imagine weaving the text of the book around a collection of personal stories written by “older” climbers such as you. Will you write a personal “adventures-of-the-older-climber” story concerning one of your core experiences with aging and how it influenced your climbing? I think it would be a lot of fun to collect and share our anecdotes of what kinds of issues have come up and how we mastered them.
What do you think? Please, give me feedback. I've created a thread on rockclimbing.com (see links) for general discussion, and use the comment feature on this page to give direct input on book content.
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Congratulations, older sister!
ReplyDeleteEventhough I am younger than you :-) and not an aging climber - not a climber at all! - I appreciate your idea and wish you a lot of fun in writing the book and in sharing your experiences with other aging climbers!
Bacio,
Silvia
The hardest thing bout climbing hard at 50 is finding peers that do the same. I just surf the enthusiasm and energy of the youngsters I climb with and it seems to be the ticket
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting project, Regina! This reminds me of a one-page essay I read in Climbing maybe 10 years ago. A guy who had just turned 40 was complaining about how, now that he was old, he couldn't climb the hard stuff anymore. The following month, a 53-year-old woman wrote and said that was (something like) crap! That she was leading 5.10 and expected to lead 5.11 the next year!
ReplyDeleteChris D
Aging and climbing is just like aging and anything else, keep as strong as you can lifitng weights, monitor your hormone levels, keep to lower impact activities, and make sure you recover properly. Continually challenging yourself with new skills and activities.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the book.
Great subject.
ReplyDeleteI have always been interested in how aging athletes deal with not being strong anymore. A lot of pro athletes didn't handle it well and became drinking / drug issues. May I suggest that you interview a couple of old "famous" climbers to ask how they dealt with the transition.
Good luck.
In chapter 7 you might include something about overcoming accidental injuries--not just overuse injuries. I just turned 60 and although I can still get up a few 11's I never really fully recoverd from a serious accident that happened 2 years ago.
ReplyDeleteWe should talk about this more, maybe on our next trip. Greg thinks that he will stop climbing if he cannot lead at the 10 and 11 level that he sport climbs now.
ReplyDeleteI have a different feeling. I love the physical climbing up rocks at any level even though at one time I was leading 8 trads. So I will still be top-roping at Coopers for a long time. - Leslie
Regina,
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this. I am 62. I've never been a very good climber (started at ~40 and am not a natural athlete), but I enjoy it very much. Age is not helping my climbing at all. I hope to keep on climbing for a few more years at least. Would be glad to contribute to your project in some way if I can find time.
Regina,
ReplyDeleteI remember you from the Seneca Women's Climbing Summit. Thank you for doing this. I'm 62, have never been a very good climber, and age is not helping. But I really enjoy it and hope to keep on for at least a few more years. I would love to contribute to this project if I can help and can find time
Thank you for you interest in my aging climber project! I have moved most activity over to Facebook. Check out my Aging Climber Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aging-Climber/109258422453042.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of possibly doing a book similar to "Women on the Rocks" with aging climbers. Photos + profiles of aging climbers and their aging experiences. Stay in touch!