This might take some serious memory dredging and logbook checks...
I think I started climbing sometime in year 2000. Age 17.
17-18 I just pottered around, going indoors ever month or so until i went to uni.
18-19 I went once or twice a week to GCC with the uni crowd. I was invariable hungover from Tuesday night sessions, but weekends were usually better.
2002: First trad lead: VS. Pretty sure by this point I was leading f6c indoors, maybe the odd 7a, an failing miserably on 6a sport outdoors (knacky, badly bolted Scottish 6a sandbags).
2003
rogressed to E1 quite quickly. Tried an E2, on slate, fell off onto a newly purchased BD Micro brass stopper, the QD caught through my leg loop and I had a bit of a nasty stop. Ripped leg loop mostly off harness. This killed my trad head for a while...
2004. By this point I was getting fitter, drinking a bit less (really drank too much in first 2 years of uni), starting to boulder outside at Dumby and climb more frequently indoors. Mainly just lead climbing, standard route pyramids. Some pullups, some indoor bouldering on a bendcrete wall. (GCC).
First foreign trip: font, then ceuse. Didn't quite manage any 7As in Font, but from memory got very close to a few - got Font Elbow for the first time.
Managed Medecine Douce (6c+) in Ceuse, as a flash - no idea where I pulled that from! Go to the last move of a 7b quite a few times.
Later that year progressed to f7a+ rp at Dumby.
2005: Got stuck into my first proper project, Hamish Teds at Upper Cave (7b+) first extending my grade totem pole. Climbing was still predominantly "having at it" with no real structured training. Maybe doing up-down-ups on the lead wall by this point? I guess I had a good indoor pyramid, just not outdoors.
2006: mainly just getting stuck into trad and winter, some ice climbing up to WI4. Getting more into outdoor bouldering in Scotland in Skye, Dumby. 6B-6C level.
2007: First 7A at Dumby (Pongo). Spent loads of time going to Dumby, mainly bouldering. Once or twice a week when the weather could cope. On M7 flash and WI5s in Rjukan.
Indoors: mainly rope climbing, outdoors: mainly Dumby bouldering or trad. Up to E2, loads of trad mileage. First hebrides trip. Some E3s, first E4 onsight (retro upgrade!)
2008: Loads more trad. Finished Uni, briefly moved up to Aberdeen and bouldered a fair bit on the coast. 7A, 7A+, more dumby 7A and 7A+s, first 7B. Sport: 7a. Subluxed my left shoulder at Dumby - first bigger injury from climbing.
Font trip: 4 x 7A, 1 x 7A+
2009: Another 7B at Dumby, winter climbing (Eagle Ridge - first big VI). More E4s, tried first E5. F7b at weem in a day, 7b at Dumby. Still not really "training" but probably did do various additional exercises, nothing particularly structured.
A mega year of trips/trad/big stuff. Took 7 weeks off work and did a Hebrides trip, followed by 3 weeks in Lofoten and 3 weeks in Squamish. First 5.11c onsights. (Freeway lite) . More 7B at Dumby, first 7B+ (long traverse thing) First E5 6b onsight. First f7c+ sport (Awaken at Dumbuck - 5 bolt PE overhanging bolted bouldering basically).
Then had a bad car crash in the winter, smashing my knee and needing surgery (PCL, PFL, LCL rebuild).
2010: Fingerboarding and knee rehab.
2011: back to easy tra, building up fitness. Mainly indoor roped climbing, trying to get back to fitness. Got psyched by Mark Macgowan doing 6a to 8a in 180 days or something like that, so decided to push my sport level while the knee was rebuilding. Managed to do Sufferance at Dumbarton as my first f8a (low in the grade, but seems to resist the downgrade).
E5 miltpitch.
First 7c in a day (3rd go, El Chorro).
I seem to remember this being off the back of doing repeaters and trip-routes, but it's hazy. Was definitely psyched at the time, low stress job.
2012: due to job shuffles I had chance to take 2 months off, went to Chamonix in the winter for skiing and some alpine winter stuff. Met my partner. October: quite job and moved back to chamonix!
Kind of ticking along at this stage, trad up to E4, still doing the odd 6C+/7A, f7b+ routes. Multipitch 7a onsight (Riglos)
Winter: First Wi6 with Nuit Blanche. M6 winter alpine. "Cross training"
For the next 3 years I lived there, got supremely fit, but lost power. Could climb trad E3/F6c for hours, head was the best it has been. Tried one harder sport project (Reve de Singe, 8a) but never really got anywhere. Ticked off a pile of summer and winter alpine routes.
Went to Yosemite for the first time, mainly did aid (Zodiac, Half Dome in a Day). Climbing highlight was The Rostrum.
First 7A flash - harry spotter at Cresciano. Sport: 7a onsight level.
At the stage I was the lightest of my adult life, but generally ate like a horse. 73-75kg. Did lack power for bouldering, and didn't get much focussed training in while in Chamonix as it was just so easy to go and ski powder instead....
In the final summer we packed up our stuff and did a van trip around Europe. Not totally climbing focussed (partner only just getting into it then) but had a dolomites trips planned in the middle which wanted to get fit for, so managed to build up from a low base (Pulley injury earlier that year). Managed to scrape up a F7a+ onsight in Slovenia (which I now realise was a good effort given how savage the grades can be!) and then did the Brandler Hasse with Andy!
The came the 30s...
Dad passed away.
Moved back to Scotland, went back to uni. Got too focussed on this, had first ever anxiety and shit sleeps.
New job, stressful.
TCA newsroom had opened by this stage and I got quite into training, reading up on things, trying new stuff but I think probably spending too much time still under-fuelling thinking being light was important, which I think hampered any gains for the next 5-10 years...
And since then.... pretty much been in a plateau ever since!
I have, to be fair, since then also onsighted my first 7bs and got very close to another 8a at Dumby (11 sessions in, have been through the crux but dropped it higher up)
Also had a good few years of trad onsighting, with 10-15 E5s, another F7c at upper cave and another 7c+ at Dumbuck, and 3 x E6s (worked). Some 7A+s in the lakes. First VIII in winter.
In this period I have various stabs at more structured training, a period of more running (build up for the ring of steall skyrace) but I think my life situation / work stress / diet / drinking habits were all holding me back from making much gains, also had various injuries, tendonitis (TE and middle finger extensor insertion) etc.
2022 was a better year, mainly as I had quite my job and started bumming around and doing some very limited freelance work. I was burnt out and couldn't throw myself into climbing / training, so just needed to be nice to myself!
Still generally climbing 7b in a day, close to 7c and had a 4 week trip to Canada to try to do some stuff in the bugaboos.
Nearly cut my finger off in 2023, had to climb first half of a costa blanca trip with that finger taped, but did manage a 7b+ by the end of the trip.
And at the end of all that.....
I'm now 40, 41 in a month - much more satisfying job, not stressful interesting, flexible and 4 days a week. No kids, no plans for. Quite excited about the next decade given the other stories of gains in the 40+ group.
I suspect my genetic potential is around 8b.I'm pretty big framed, 182cm, currently 81kg. I seem to be suffering a lot from nutrition issues just now - basically I think I tanked my metabolism from years of eating <2500cal, often 2200 or less form back-calcs. But I never really got that hungry, but also never really lost much weight just got tired and grumpy and injured.
If I eat what is deemed "enough" for sport gains, I have more energy right up to bed time, feel better in the mornings, more psyched for training, but definitely carry some extra kilos. I suspect this is just the body I have to deal with...