[stone]

Progress (at any rate), lack thereof, and regression could all make an interesting read, if only to look out for what to avoid! Contentedness with any of these options would also be nice to read.
I think slow progress over a long time frame is perhaps even more impressive. It must require a lot of dedication and attention to keep subtly refining everything.

That call for tales of contentedness has made me think I should join in. I don't think a wish to improve has ever really been what has driven me. I have always had a half-arsed interest in improving but I've always climbed because I like it, and if what I've done hasn't led to improvements, that hasn't ever got in the way of my motivation.

I was an extremely un-athletic and timid teenager when I first wanted to climb (after seeing the Mt Blanc massif). My parents got me an instructed climbing holiday in Wales as an (amazing) present (they don't climb). I joined a climbing club and went to an indoor wall a couple of times with that club. There was an inordinate ratio of sitting around in a pub listening to their racist jokes rather than climbing.

I then went to Edinburgh Uni. The club there had a system where on a given date the club always went to a certain place regardless of the forecast etc. So there was a lot of climbing in the rain. Outside of club trips, in term time I did a little trad climbing at places like Ratho quarry. In the Uni holidays I got some factory jobs and hitched to Stanage for the weekends. I also had some trips to Chamonix. Each year my trips to Chamonix got lower budget and longer. I sacked off trying to find people from Uni to go Alpine climbing with and instead just hitched out and looked for climbers there. I only went to a climbing wall a couple of times during that period. I trad climbed to E3 and winter V and did a bunch of Chamonix routes like Walker spur, N face of Droites, Freney Pillar etc.

I did a Phd in Leeds. First thing I did in Leeds was a spur of the minute trip to Yosemite to do the Nose with pretty much the first climber I met there. The Leeds Uni climb at that time seemed really into Scottish winter climbing. I got a lot more of that done there than I had when at Edinburgh. They used to only decide on the venue on the drive up at the 10pm Friday forecast. I think The Shield Direct VII 7 was my top winter route. I went on an interesting trekking peak trip to Pakistan.

I did very occasional trad climbing when in Leeds and not harder than before. I did quite a lot of local grit bouldering -doing sort of circuits of problems in the 6s. I pottered at Leeds Uni bouldering wall. I think I went once to Malham  and once to Kilnsey to try sport climbing. It seemed impossibly desperate and totally beyond me. At the end of my time there I went to Ceuse and tried to climb routes in the 6s first go. I loved it but by then I'd moved in with my better half and I realised abandoning her for climbing holidays didn't work well for us.

We then moved to Salisbury. I sport climbed in Dorset mostly trying to onsight stuff and trad climbed at Swanage and Pembroke (to E4). The first F7a+ I did was onsight. That is the only time I have ever properly onsighted a F7a+ putting the clips in (I think I was 31years old).

Next we moved to Glossop. I first of all tried trad in the Peak because I thought Peak sport was mostly to hard for me. The great, easily protected, readily onsightable trad routes soon started to run thin. I tried Peak sport. I came across people sieging harder sport routes who I could relate to and who made me think I might also be able to do that (sorry if that's grossly insulting of me Shark  ). I also was introduced to more intense bouldering. I did my first F7b+ then F8a s and fn7B then got lymphoma and was back to worse than novice level (v big struggle to do fn3 ). But I really enjoyed rebuilding and did Waddage F8b and Bens Roof 7C a couple of years later in 2007ish.

Since then, I suppose it has been a gentle decline. I wonder though whether the hardest climbing for me were 2015ish failures, getting past the last clip on Nemesis F8a+ or getting into the Rattle and Hump part of Stamina Humps F7C+. I also think, for me, Caviar F8a+ was harder than Waddage F8b and I did Caviar in 2017. I last did a F8a+ in 2018, last did a F8a in 2022, last F7c+ in 2023, last 7B was last month. I'll still keep trying Nemesis and some F8a projects until I stop enjoying them (or do them!). I've not climbed indoors for a few years now.

[Fiend]

Trad:

Major progress:

Falling practise.

Reading the Rock Warrior's Way

Being very tactical with routes in terms of timing, conditions, readiness, etc.


Minor progress:

Doing some sport redpointing and getting used to doing harder moves on lead (this would be major progress, but every time it's happened I've coincidentally got injured soon after and set myself back)


Sport:

Major progress:

Falling practise.

Bringing bouldering tactics into sport to cope with the physical intensity.


Minor progress:

Realising that despite redpointing / sieging being an inherently grim and miserable experience especially on the revolting chossfest that is Pennine limestone, the people involved and the scenes are actually quite friendly and welcoming (see: stone's post above)


Bouldering:

Major progress:

Heeding conditions and friction (absolutely essential).

Using more bouldering mats (starting out pre-pads, I was useless as even the lighter Fiend v1.0 landed like a walrus).


Minor progress:

Realising that bouldering is morpho bullshit and knowing that there is a huge scale of personal feasibility for any given gradestimate.

Refining my tactics including doing a lot less climbing in a session and a lot more brushing, brushing on a stick, patioing, plotting and planning, resting, cooling skin, etc etc.


Overall:

Major regress:

DVTs and significant weight gain (10+kg on already maturely developed muscles / tendons / ligaments).

Coming from a highly athletic background of....err....painting toy soldiers.

Neurodiversity and depression (a major inhibition in early, pre-falling-practise, pre-RWW days, but also crops up since).

Various arm injuries


Minor regress:

Digestive issues that inhibited me for a year or so.

General aging.

Various knee injuries.

[Wellsy]

Don't worry Fiend, Liam might be an ex-weightlifter 8A+ highballing wad, but you'd thrash him in a game of Warhammer

[Fiend]

I don't even actually play Warhammer 

[Yossarian]

This thread is SO interesting. I think a combination of syke and consistency is the most important thing, preferably combined with proximity to rock. Age much less important. As you'll see, lack of consistency has always been my biggest problem - I can blame a lot of that on having undiagnosed ADHD till about 2 years ago.

Late 80s - got taken out on the Kent sandstone by a mad uncle who used to do a bit of old alpine stuff. Massively syked. Spent next few years avidly reading climbing books.

Early 90s - School had a new but extremely old school vertical DR wall. This basically ended up being my favourite thing in the world for 5 years. Ended up borrowing / acquiring various bits of trad gear and treating it like a micro crag, inc leaping off the sports centre roof onto small nuts. Amazed this didn't go badly wrong. Also did lots of Kent sandstone up to English 6b ish but didn't climb anywhere else whatsoever.

Late 90s - Year at one university in London then swapped to another. Both those first years I went on every trip going and got very syked for trad. Got to E1 fairly rapidly, but no-one else really climbed harder than HVS. Harder grades just seemed out of reach in some mystical / unattainable way. Then got distracted by dance music and related things.

Early 2000s - Moved back down south. Syke returned. No walls within about 2hrs, so climbed on the sandstone as much as I could. Started doing grit weekends here and there, in doing so realising that there were plenty of amenable things at higher grades and ticked off a few E3s. Was also doing a bit of sport on Portland, but tb was getting vaguely spanked at 6b (vertical Portland shell balancing is totally my anti style, though didn't really appreciate this at the time). Bored with lack of training facilities (and unclimbable wet winter sandstone) I built a board in my bedroom which was 4ft wide at about 20deg which was virtually all I climbed on for a couple months before a trip to Kalymnos. Was hoping to maybe reach the heady heights of 6b+, instead did a 7b+ with a couple of days work, a ton of other stuff and tried a couple of 7cs. Went to Siurana a few weeks later and nearly flashed 7b+. Rest of that year I got away with quite a lot of gritstone bouldering to low 7s (almost completely lost track of what I did manage) and tried some safer grit E5s but didn't get to the top of any of them.

Then I had a bizarre sleepwalking / climbing and falling out of a window accident which I was extremely lucky to walk away from. Crawl away from, as I had smashed my right calcaneus. Took most of a year to recover from. When I did get back up and going again I got more into cycling, ended up doing various hare-brained trips around India / Vietnam etc which must've sated my appetite for adventure. Build another board at one point, did some bouldering in Australia, a few other days and weekends very sporadically, but the syke wasn't there. Then met my now ex wife, who liked the idea of trying climbing but never really did, then kids.

2016 - Shortly after daughter's 5th birthday, and old enough to climb at the shiny wall not too far away (45 minutes is by far the closest I've ever lived to one). I figured if she liked it then I might dust off the gear. She was proper syked within about 10 minutes. I was in fairly shit shape, ate and drank too much, but my fingers still felt good. Did lots there together over the following few years, along with bits and pieces outside.

2019 - We did loads that year. Her first grit bouldering and routes. Went to Font and did my first 7something since my early 20s. Tried harder things like King of the Swingers / Jungle VIP in Devon which didn't feel miles away. Got my sport back to where it kind of was years ago doing Empire of the Sun with Duncan. My weight was finally back down to low 80s kg. Alas, my marriage fell apart that autumn, I got a job in London which involved 4+ hours commuting every day, climbing completely ground to a halt, few weeks of M&S nibbles and train beers and I'd put all the weight back on. Then covid.

2020 - Once lockdowns started I got a bit of training syke back. Did a couple of Churnet trips. Signed up for some coaching from Buster, shortly before a Font trip with both kids. Tried hard but I was 20kg heaver than the previous year. Failed to climb any of the 7s I tried. Carried on intently with Buster's stuff whilst the walls were closed. Then have a bookmarked note in a training diary from a day when the walls opened in December along the lines of how I'd never ever felt anywhere as strong at any point in my (obvs rather mad and chaotic) climbing career before. Minor syke explosion. Then went to Anston Stones and realised I'd forgotten there'd a little more to it than that.

2021 - Ex wife and kids and I were all still living in the same house, which didn't make everything particularly easy. Training  a bit here and there, trip to Churnet, couple of separate weeks in N Wales, didn't really get anwhere. Got ADHD diagnosis in the autumn (about 35 years late but hey ho).

2022 - Carried on like that. Handful of Swanage sport trips to 7a. Also bit of unspectacular Portland bouldering. Then finally got some momentum going re selling our house, which ended up turning into the most physically and mentally exhausting flat out couple of months of my life and basically broke me. I was in a shit state after that, and my old heel injury had flared up with the beginnings of arthritis, so at one point I couldn't even walk. Took kids up to Scotland some time later and started to feel a bit better. Had previously harboured plan to go to Frey for a winter of mountain adventures (had a month of leisure as kids were off to see grandparents in Tasmania) but abandoned that and went to Margalef for a month instead. Completely untrained and weighing around 2x as much as all my belayers. Had some mad notion of climbing something hard and bouldery, a few examples of which I did at least attempt to shunt (La Bombi and Ahoo Mé faccé Vede), before twatting my ankle and nearly squashing Ted falling off one of those things in the lay-by before Laboratori. When I could put weight through it again I tried to repoint Voladerum. In my head I could imagine it feeling exactly like my cup of tea, but as it was it felt like I was wearing an enormous heavy rucksack.

2023 - Came back. Reinstalled garage weights, pull-up bar, etc. Did that plus almost exclusively climbed on the board at the wall for the following 3 months. Went to Font and felt amazing / realised I could make little bits of progress on things much harder than I'd done before. But still failed to get to the top of anything significant. Went back, trained hard, managed to lose a bit more weight, but then undid most of that midsummer. Went back to Font in August. Initially too hot and head wasn't into it. Then tried a few things inc Envie d'Ailes at Elephant. Got mega syked by this, esp inc surprising some 20something American wad who clearly thought I had no chance. Had a few sessions but it wasn't go to happen that trip. Went home properly syked, started dieting quite successfully. Then had relationship breakdown, dealt with it by throwing myself into finishing long-standing writing project which completely took over, almost forgot about climbing and drank too much. Best bit of work I've ever done, but everything else went to shit. Went to Brione end of December and barely put my shoes on.

2024 - Not bad training till halted by strained oblique, and then injured wrist trying to install board in my garage. Have lost some weight (with the help of a nutritionist) but still hovering around 100kg. Aiming to get to mid-high 80s by the summer. Leaving for Font this week but wrist still feels a bit fucked so fairly philosophical about getting anything done.

Obvious lessons are the impact of things I can't really control - massive fluctuations in syke / enthusiasm / effort and general chaotic approach to life is something that's never really going to change. Also, living fucking miles away from any decent rock. Over the nearly 40 years I've been climbing on and off, apart from days on the local sandstone I reckon I can remember pretty much every day climbing anywhere else (because there really aren't that many, and I was generally so excited).

What I can control / improve on - I don't have a particularly healthy relationship with alcohol, and when I do have any I tend to graze on ludicrously unhelpful things and put weight on massively quickly. The main way that seems to help with keeping focused (which I do really struggle with) is to always have a proper trip in the diary and a project I'm syked for. And to try to not let life problems derail that. The other thing is trying hard to finish a problem rather than dicking around on it. It's a tricky one though, because I mainly climb with the kids and coming close to falling off the top of something is very different with them vs doing it with a load of big blokes spotting.

Physically, despite the various ways I've abused my body, I don't actually feel very old at all. Perhaps because I didn't train loads when I was younger so I've to got anything to compare it to. I often stack board sessions 2-3 days in a row depending on how I feel. I've abused my fingers in a variety of ways, generally go very close to absolute limit when fnigerboarding / Tindeq pulls, etc and have never had a proper finger injury (very, very foolish words, man). I generally feel pretty strong, but I also think I could get miles stronger (at 47). The thing that's so frustrating (which hopefully I will sort out this year) is the tantalising idea of what it would feel like and what I might end up climbing if / when I was 15+ kg lighter again.

Edit - got a bit carried away there, tho it was quite cathartic. Next time I'll do it like Dickens, in monthly instalments with nail-biting cliffhangers...

[seankenny]

Increasingly, the phrase "Dave Macs left field belief" could refer to any number of things.

He'd make a great subject for a folk song. Take note any troubadours out there, you could rhyme 'belief' with 'beef'.

Also “batty” and “pattie”, and “vegetable” with “unacceptable”, etc etc.

[haydn jones]

Increasingly, the phrase "Dave Macs left field belief" could refer to any number of things.

He'd make a great subject for a folk song. Take note any troubadours out there, you could rhyme 'belief' with 'beef'.

Fiddled around for a bit on GPT, made me laugh what it can spit out.

(Verse 1)
In the shadow of Ben Nevis' grandeur,
Lives a climber with a heart so pure,
Dave MacLeod, from Lochaber's embrace,
A son of the mountains, with an unwavering grace.

(Chorus)
Oh, Dave MacLeod, where echoes call,
In the Highlands' cradle, he stands tall,
With Beef and Belief, he faces the wall,
Defying limits, heeding the call.

(Verse 2)
On the vertical canvas, he paints his dreams,
Scaling cliffs where the echo screams,
Echo Wall, his masterpiece, stands alone,
A challenge awaiting, carved in stone.

(Chorus)
Oh, Dave MacLeod, with routes so bold,
In his hands, the mountains unfold,
With Beef and Belief, he sets the pace,
In the kingdom of rock, an eternal embrace.

(Bridge)
Through the mist of Lochaber, his spirit roams,
In search of challenges, far from home,
With Beef and Belief, he blazes his trail,
In the heart of adventure, he'll never fail.

(Verse 3)
Around the campfire, legends are spun,
Of Echo Wall, where the climb's begun,
With Beef and Belief, he takes the lead,
Scaling heights where few would tread.

(Chorus)
Oh, Dave MacLeod, a beacon bright,
In the realm of rock, he's a guiding light,
With Beef and Belief, he conquers all,
In the cradle of mountains, he stands tall.

(Outro)
So let us raise our voices high,
To Dave MacLeod, against the sky,
With Beef and Belief, he blazes on,
In the heart of adventure, forever strong.

[stone]

.......I don't have a particularly healthy relationship with alcohol, and when I do have any I tend to graze on ludicrously unhelpful things and put weight on massively quickly.
.......The thing that's so frustrating (which hopefully I will sort out this year) is the tantalising idea of what it would feel like and what I might end up climbing if / when I was 15+ kg lighter again.

I saw a great lecture by Steve Peters about his "chimp paradox" stuff. It touched on work he had done helping people to eat and drink as their rational conscious mind wanted rather than being derailed by compulsions. He said that the problem is that the rational part of our mind is far slower than the impulsive part. But we also have a rote-learned habit mind that has a much better chance of intervening ahead of compulsions. So he gets people to do brief daily mental drills to strengthen up that rote-learned good behaviour. That then saves them from compulsions.

He said he started his career with rehabilitating criminals and then branched out into helping elite athletes etc.

[cheque]

(Dave Mac “move to Lochnagar”)

I think you mean Lochaber.

I thought this was a pleasingly absurd deliberate pisstake of Dave Mac's leftfield belief that living in one of the wettest parts of the Highlands is the golden ticket to maximising one's climbing potential.

It’s probably a reference to the longstanding UKB trope of Dave Mac commanding people to uproot themselves and move as close as possible to rock if they want to be serious climbers.

Last year I looked into the origins of that and found that, although he moved very close to Glen Nevis himself and enthuses about the climbing opportunities he enjoys as a result, the idea that he gave such aggressive advice is a myth we created based on the memory of how annoyed a few forum members got about two sentences in a really pretty innocuous blog post he wrote.

[PeteHukb]

Enjoyed reading people's tales of progress and regress, and it prompted me to reflect on my own journey. Like Fultonius I turn 41 next month and can look back, mostly happily, on over twenty years of underachieving.

Started climbing indoors at uni in Glasgow (2001-06), never pushed beyond the 6s as my mates weren't climbing that hard so it felt unachievable. Started a bit of mostly self-taught trad up to about E2. Bit of indoor bouldering towards the end but it was only just becoming a thing. Criminal underexploration of Scottish mountain crags and outdoor bouldering, as I was basically the keenest climber I knew.

2008-11 (My late 20s.) Moved to Manchester for work, didn't know anyone, so found some climbing partners and did a lot more - first trad E4s (Honcho and Bionic's Wall at New Mills), first 7A boulders, and started dabbling in a bit of UK sport "to get fitter for trad". Must have started fingerboard training a bit around now. First sport trips abroad too, often with my sister who'd also been sucked into climbing. A fun few years with lots of trips to North Wales and Fair Head, and a decent amount of trad mileage.

2011-15 Moved to Yorkshire for work. Got more sucked into sport and started very slowly working through the grades at Malham and Kilnsey. First proper siege of anything was on New Dawn over a very wet 2012 season. First 7c 2012, then took another two seasons to get up 7c+ (Mescalito then The Ashes). Then climbed my only 8a to date - Subculture - in 2015. Also climbed my only 7C (The Keel) in 2012, and bouldering defo took a bit of a back seat thereafter with sporadic 7Bs but not really projecting much.

2015-present (30s) Got married in 2014 and spent a year in Zambia 2015-16 - a country with a fair bit of rock but completely devoid of developed climbing. Had some fun machete-ing our way to find crags and avoiding African bees while top-roping off trees. Came back to a busy couple of work years and then had kids 2017 and 2019. Managed to climb 7c+ (Herbie) a few months after coming back in Zambia (validating the weekly sessions hanging off bits of wood in our garden getting eaten by mosquitoes), but then sport took a predictable hit from Covid and two small kids. I managed the odd 7B boulder and a few random E4/5 solo/highballs, but didn't climb 7c+ again until 2022 (Mighty Fine Ass, Henry's Route, Myra - at least one of those counts!) with a concerted training effort.

In 2023 I gave myself a SLAP tear on (not off!) Freeborn Man at Connor Cove and wiped out my hopes to climb 8a. Thanks to Biscuit (of this parish) that's a lot better this year and if I can fight against the combined forces of the weather, my lack of overall volume, my kids getting ill, work, and my own ineptitude, I might climb 8a again. (Or not.)

Overall: no friends/commitments + living somewhere convenient for climbing = progress. But, importantly, I can still climb some really fun stuff while juggling all the rest.

[T_B]

Here goes…

TL; DR climbed loads, always climbed on boards, got inspired by/climbed with people better than me, had good, supportive climbing partnerships.

11 – recorded ‘Stone Monkey’ from Channel 4 onto VHS. Watched 100 times in a row. Bought a pair of Boreal Ballet 2s. Trained on a bridge and used heel hooks as much as possible.

12 - Built a wall in my garage. Vertical walls with glued on rock holds, 45 degree board in the eaves with a big drop onto the concrete floor, hanging board for foot-off traversing.

15 – led A Widespread Ocean of Fear. First E5.

17 – stayed in Llanberis for the summer. Watched Elie Chevieux flash Jerry’s Roof. Did Barbarossa second go in a pair of size 6.5 Boreal Lazers.

19 – took a year out. Climbed The Scoop (E6/7) on Strone Ulladale with 1 fall on the first pitch. Spent 3 months climbing in Yosemite and Canada.

20 – went to Sheffield Uni. Built a replica of Jerry’s Roof in the cellar. Climbed first F8a in El Chorro (Lourdes) and did Jerry’s Roof (Font 7c) in the Pass.

21 – climbed for 4 months in Australia. Met Nic Sellers at Arapiles/Grampians.

22 – moved back to Sheffield and into a house with Nic, Steve Adams and Ed Brown. Joined The Schoolroom.

25 – did 1-5-8 on the Schoolroom campus board, Pego’s and Basic Ben’s (Font 7c) on the 50-degree board. Renegade Master solo ground up.

27 – first 8a+ Grooved Arete at Kilnsey the same week as doing Staminaband (first Font 8a).

31 – first 7c+ on-sight, Terradets.

32 – redpointed 8a+ in Tarn. Came home and did 4 x 4s on the Wave in my lunch hour. Climbed Parthian Shot (first E9) in early October (Seb had advised your hands got too cold on the route for a mid-winter ascent).

35 – kids. Focused on bouldering. First non-traverse Font 8a (Dark Art). Broke heel in autumn 2013.

38 – Schoolroom re-opened. Trained on the 50 degree and on F8a+ circuit. Climbed Schoolboy (7c) for the first time, repeated Basic Ben’s and some other 7cs. Did 1-5-8 for the first time in 13 years. F8as in a couple of goes. First F8b redpoint, in 2 sessions (Rodellar).

39 – started bouldering/training with Dave Parry. Did a bunch of Font 7c+ - 8as outside including Badger, Badger, Badger. Tried Pump up the Powerband (Font 8a+/F8c) after doing PUTP. Got as high as slapping the gaston – high point in terms of climbing difficulty. Burnt out a bit.

40 – got close to Turd Reich on the 50 degree (benchmark 7c+) but injured left ring finger pulley. Started mixing up running with bouldering. Built a board in the garage and kept my hand in with short sessions.

41 – Wavelength Sit (now 7c), Corridors of Power (7c+) and Roof of a Baby Buddha (7c+) in same day. Best day of bouldering on paper.

44 – re-ignited trad partnership with Tuffty after a 10-year hiatus. Climbed some E5s and Jub-Jub Bird (E6) 2nd go.

45 – 47 – tried to balance life/work/running/climbing. Climbed a few E6s on-sight/flash and headpointed a bunch of E7s. Font 7c started to become elusive…

48 – …trying to prioritise climbing over running and have trained consistently through the winter (more volume, Depot boards). Made some other lifestyle changes and have started to see small improvements again. Managed a few Font 7cs…

In terms of “progress” realistically I’m looking to slow the decline! I’d be pleased if I was still climbing Font 7c/F8a/E7 at 50 but I am more motivated by the shared experiences around climbing now (still happy to boulder on my own mind you). My biggest climbing weakness has been identified (by my wife) as my lack of core – due to being tall and relying on lank. It’s likely also the reason for my sub-par footwork. So that’s quite a positive as it’s something to work on as I get more decrepit.

[stone]

I read other people's posts with great interest and realised mine was fairly meaningless due to lack of age info. I'm 53 and 5/6ths ish.

[Bradders]

Go on then, nice to read others so here's mine.

2012: age 22 started climbing indoors
2014: started climbing outside for the first time. No idea when I did my first 6s etc. but first 7A was Red Baron in late 2014 at the age of 25.
2015: went on absolutely loads of trips, 4 separate weeks I think in Font plus 10 days in Albarracin, did my first 7B+s age 26
2016: still 26 started a flexible working pattern, initially one day off a fortnight but eventually morphing into two half days each week. As such, my ability to get on rock regularly improved massively, outside of holidays. Still went to Font and Albarracin a few times. Did first 7Cs in January and then in March Red Baron Roof 7C+. Spent the rest of the year consolidating at 7C, although also struggled with a knee injury that definitely set me back at times (e.g. Albarracin in November I basically couldn't even try most of the problems I wanted to do as they were all too left leg dependent).
2017: built up a good head of steam in the first half of the year, then started really projecting and think it was around this time I started climbing regularly on the Depot 50 board. Then age 28 late in the year had a mega run doing my first 5 8s in the space of about 6 weeks including my one and only (on paper) 8A+. Massively aided by a run of weather that seems incredible it ever happened now, plus doing things that completely suited my style.
2018: early in the year did another couple of 8As then got injured and recovering from this lasted until about Jan 2019
2019: I rate this as the best year I've had. Loads of volume around the 7C mark age 29-30. Long trip to Rocklands obviously helped volume wise and could have been even better had I not badly bruised both heels falling off A Splash of Red, missing all the pads, on day 4 of the trip. Then had another good run late in the year doing another handful of 8As.
2020: pre-covid was going brilliantly doing another couple of 8As and feeling in the form of my life. Then despite having all the elements to maintain form during lockdown (flexible working from home, board, fingerboard, etc.) I massively regressed.
2021: got some form back and did a couple of 7C+s very quickly but massively burnt out projecting. Found lockdown very hard going. Took a break to do some sport climbing. Struggled on 7bs in late April but did my first 8a at the end of August. Just in time, as my daughter arrived shortly after.
2022: ticking over early on what with learning to be a parent, then picked up a bad wrist injury. Recovery took until early Autumn then was head down training although did manage a couple of 7C+s again later in the year.
2023: age 33 did my personal hardest ever problem early on in the year. Climbed on rock loads particularly in the first two thirds of the year, helped by spending a month each in Ireland and Austria. Handful more 8As throughout the year, but later on shut down on a local project.
2024: flexible working pattern forcibly removed (along with everyone else at my firm), so what with the weather and everything else I'm now an indoor climber.

Hopefully included enough to show how up and down it's felt although reading it back perhaps it doesn't look that way on paper?

I think my best periods have always coincided with climbing really consistently on rock, which is perhaps both a physical / technical boost but also psychological, as I'm just so much happier when I can get outside regularly. As such, I'm still a big believer in the simple principle of Dave Mac's advice; i.e. do what you can to make it possible for you to climb on rock regularly. There really is no substitute.

Other key thing is injuries, or rather avoiding them. Easier said than done of course. 

[IanP]

As others have said really interesting reading other people's  experiences, so here's mine (apologies for the length):

In summary, another story of an up slope of progress followed by life/injury etc regression and  reclimbing(!) the slope repeated a few times over the years.

80s (teens/early 20s) - introduced to climbing by my dad , my younger brother and I started climbing on our own in the Roaches area progressing to HVS/E.  Gaining a driving licence allowed exploration further afield including peak limestone and Wales and climbing my first E2s including Vector and Left Wall. At Manchester University didn't manage to fit into the uni club cliques but continued to climb with my brother and a couple of other people and also started to train at the McDougall and Armitage centres.  Progessed to climbing E3 fairly solidly and a few E4s (though failed on plenty) and youthful stupidity got me up an onsight solo of my first E5 (Track of the Cat)

90s (20s/early 30s)- my brother stopped climbing in the late 80s and I started work and I had a couple years doing less climbing though kept up with visiting walls and some bouldering/ soloing.  In the early 90s joined the KMC club in Manchester and found some keen climbing partners interested in trad and the developing sport scene.  Partners plus better walls developed my climbing and by the mid 90s I'd climbed my first proper E5 and redpointed 7b+.  The mix of trad and sported continued through the 90s climbing E5s, os up to 7b and some fairly quick 7c rps.  Was never a great boulderer but did climb on the grit and got some trips to Font and climbed up to 7A+

00s (30s to early 40s) Another end of decade change came with the birth of my daughter in 99.  I continued to climb intermittently for the first couple of years but started back more seriously as she got a bit older.  Managed to fit in climbing around family life and now mostly a sport climber worked my way back up to climbing 7c in 1995 and then training regularly at Broughton climbed my first 7c+ (Herbie at Malham) in 2007.   Inspired by this I continued to train and climb regularly and in 2009 aged 42 climbing my first 8a (Baboo Baboo).  During that period I also consolidated at 7b os (though only ever managed 1 soft touch 7b+ os) and managed 7c in a session.

10s (40s to early 50s) Yet another end of decade change with mountain biking accident resulting in a separated ac joint. Fortunately no surgery was required and after a few months off I was climbing again and a year later built back up to 7c+.  Over the next few years I continued to climb but also got back into the mountain and road  biking and this together with family, ill parents and work challenges meant less climbing.  Later in the decade things got better and I commited more to climbing again (also helped by the fact that my daughter belatedly took up climbing and got very keen).  This culminated in 2018 where a decision to change jobs allowed me to have 6 months off which coincided with the best summer weather in decades.  Aged 51 I managed to climb my  second 8a 9 years after the first and had probably my best year ever in terms of sport redpointing.

20s (to 57) Initiallly lockdown and then the continuing illness and passing of my father in law reduced climbing a bit but I still managed to get out and really enjoyed climbing with my daughter (including some Spanish trips).  In the last couple of years early retirement has allowed me climb more again and despite some injury issues (including a ruptured bicep tendon last year which turned out to be less serious than you might expect) I've got lots done up to 7c, nothing on paper as hard as I did a few years ago but have managed some good second go / quick rps by my standards and more  recently some of my best onsights in quite a few years.

Thoughts on progress: I've climbed on and off (mostly on) for more than 4 decades now.  I've always enjoyed climbing indoors as well as outdoors and have been willing to put some structure into training at the wall but not really done much 'more serious' training (fingerboarding, pull ups, weights etc).  As I get to into my late 50s I'm aware of aging in some ways (recovery time, (even!) less strength/power, bad knees) but by some measures I'm still climbing fairly close to my best.  Though it's possible that quite a bit of this is achieved by playing to my strengths and the joys of a Spanish soft touch (thank you Chulilla)!.

Most importantly I'm still really enjoying climbing, whether it's winter Mondays at the wall with the other retirees, trips with friends to Spain, climbing in the peak with my daughter or finding there's still great new places to explore in the UK (finally getting to the Diamond was a highlight of last year).  It's no exaggeration to say I feel really lucky to have had (and still have) climbing in my life.

[stone]

I've always enjoyed climbing indoors as well as outdoors and have been willing to put some structure into training at the wall but not really done much 'more serious' training (fingerboarding, pull ups, weights etc).  As I get to into my late 50s I'm aware of aging in some ways (recovery time, (even!) less strength/power, bad knees) but by some measures I'm still climbing fairly close to my best.

As a fellow 50-something, I'm really interested in you sharing your experiences of this. I'm working but I'm very fortunate in generally being able to shift the days I'm working to fit weather forecasts and do half-days etc so long as I get the working time one way or another.

If I'm honest, a lot of what has directed what I've done off-the-rock lately has been convenience/laziness. However I did have in the back of my mind the idea that I was training for injury avoidance rather than really for performance. That led me to only do fingerboarding, ring stuff, weights etc and at home. This is party due to the convenient wall I used to go to closing but also partly due to having in the past picked up injuries via wall climbing -which seemed profoundly counter productive to me.

It's interesting that we've more-or-less gone in opposite directions on this (perhaps due to me being dumb). I'm interested in anyone's perspectives on this.

[ali k]

Good thread. Interesting to look back now on what feels to me like a career that's come to an end, but I guess that's only the case if you judge it in terms of pure performance.

Age 12 - Went on an indoor course at local wall (Hudds) and then joined the kids weekly session. Must have been ok as I placed 3rd in a regional comp that year (Adam Dewhurst won by a mile).

13-18 - No climbing. Unfortunately never had anyone to take me outside and indoors just wasn't cool enough a hobby for a teenager (how times change!). Often wonder what would've happened if I'd stuck with it for those crucial years.

18-20 - Uni. Joined the climbing club. Lots of psyched people. Mostly bouldering and easy grit trad. Did Demon Wall Roof as first 7A. First trip to Font in the easter hols - mega. Think I failed on Cul de Chien roof that first year. Had a forced trip to Malham one day when everything on grit was wet - failed to RP Consenting Adults and vowed never to go sport climbing again. Did the Keel (7C) - a bit of an outlier as I was generally only bouldering 7A/+. Managed first proper E4 at the end of one summer (Grand Illusion at Almscliff), but only due to lank - another outlier as I was generally tradding HVS-E2. Another few awesome trips to Font, ticking around 7A/+.

21/22 - Final year of uni realised I needed to do some work, then went straight to NZ afterwards so basically stopped climbing for a year or so. Got mega pumped on a VS when I got back.

22-25 - Did a few Euro trips climbing low 6s and realised sport climbing could be ok. Got really psyched, mainly for bouldering and trad again though. Had a succession of trips to Font culminating in flashing L'Abbe Resina (7C), which is still my hardest I think. Revisited Malham where I put Consenting to bed and started working through the grades there. Raindogs as first 8a. Headpointed End of the Affair as first E8 but didn't really enjoy the experience. First 8a+ (GBH) on my 25th birthday followed by a 6 week trip to Ceuse. Moved to Catalunya for what was supposed to be one winter so I could carry on sport climbing, but turned into 5 years.

26-28 - Ridiculous amounts of sport climbing in Spain and elsewhere. First 8b, then 8b+. Onsighted 8a and flashed 8a+.

29-30 - Started getting bored of sport climbing, then just climbing in general. Dislocated shoulder. One day at the crag just decided to sack it off and went and bought a MTB the same day. Stopped climbing. A year later moved back to the UK (Bristol).

31 - Dislocated shoulder again. Did bits and pieces, mainly trad climbing. Trip to Kalymnos where I got completely spanked on low 7s and burnt off by old mates climbing way harder, which lit a bit of a fire.

32-36 - Met new climbing partner who was massively into training. Did first ever supplementary training with him. Went back to Kalymnos and onsighted a load of 8a's. Climbed 8b again. Got into trad redpoints. Did a load of E9s. Did 8b+/c (Helvetia) which is probably the hardest I'll ever climb.

37 - Could feel the motivation draining away. Dislocated shoulder (other one this time). Still tried to keep things going. Moved up to Yorkshire. Had a brief resurgence where I did Predator (8b), amongst other things.

38-39 - Bought house and DIY replaced climbing (and everything else!). I did enjoy having a new project and learning different skills though.

40 - Had baby. Enjoying the odd indoor session occasionally just for fun. Any time I think about training at the moment I just get flashbacks of going round and round a circuit board and shudder. Hoping little one gets into climbing so I can see him enjoy it. I feel like if I had a year of climbing and training I could get back up to 8a-b sport relatively quickly but I doubt that will happen now if I'm honest.

[andy popp]

Sorry, this is even longer than some of the others. Then again, I am older.

1978 (aged 14): follow a Diff and a multipitch Severe on Avon Sea Walls the first day. Hooked. Third day out I solo a Severe, also on the Sea Walls. The next two years are the most traditional of apprenticeships: hillwalking in North Wales, bivvying, some climbing, tweed britches. The teacher who takes us doesn’t climb above Severe, so progress is extremely limited.

1980 (16): move to Hereford, where I don’t know or meet any climbers. The nearest climbing is at Symonds Yat. I have a hugely unreliable moped. Despite these unpromising circumstances, over the next two years I manage to climb a surprising amount and across quite a range of places in the South-west. By summer of 1981, which includes a superb trip to Buis les Baronnies, I’m well established at HVS, a grade I’ve had no experience of following. Spring 1982 (18) I accidentally climb E2 (Machete Wall), missing any experience of E1, with exception of following Diadic. Have a superb summer hitching around Devon and Cornwall, climbing a few more E1s, then a week back at Avon, which includes 8 E1s and another E2. Obviously, there’s been nothing remotely resembling walls or training at this point.

Sept 1982 (18). Move to Stoke for college. Meet Nick Dixon, Al Williams, and others. The effect is unsurprising. By Easter 1983 I’ve led E3 and over the first half of the year get my first taste of following E4, E5 and E6. During the summer I can probably claim E5 by swinging leads on Ivory Madonna. I haven’t led E4. I suppose some “training” begins, lifting weights (lat pulldowns mainly) in the gym at Stoke poly and semi-regular trips to the wall in Altrincham, where there’s lots of larking about and endless traversing.

1984 (20). Start onsighting E4s, then E5s and eventually two E6s. Soloing is kicking in: onsight Suicide Walls 1 & 2, Suicide Groove Direct Finish, Capital Punishment and Javelin Blade in a couple of hours.

1985 (21): consolidate at E5 and 6. Onsight grit E6 for the first time.

1986-8: slightly doldrum-y years, including one (unhappy) year in London. Climbing E5, sometimes E6, but no improvement. Two undistinguished Alpine seasons

1989 (25): again, no improvement on paper, but a bit of step-change. Onsighting E6 very often and with a high degree consistency across wide range of styles. Unsuccessful but hugely enjoyable trip to the Himalaya.

1990 (26): the previous year had obviously laid some groundwork. Climb first five E7s – three of them ground up, one of which is later upgraded to E8 (which I’m definitely taking). No sport climbing as such but one of the E7s is now bolted and 7c+. Still nothing really resembling training.

1991 (27) – 1998 (34): move to Sheffield and am like a kid in a candy shop with eastern grit, which I had barely scratched before. Winters on grit and summers down Cheedale. More E7s and first E8s. Onsight grit E7. Generally, 7b+ to 7c+ goes in a session. First two 8as, both go first rp in a session. Boulder up to 7C. Just generally very large volumes of climbing, go to the Foundry and some of the early boards very occasionally. Life begins too, first child in 1994 and second in 1998, when I also finish my PhD. Huge pool of people to climb with but special shoutout to Danny Brookes, Stuart Bolton, Joe Picalli, Jez Portman and others.

1998 - 2000 (34-36): move to Widnes. I’d been climbing at Pex since ’86 but had never been to Helsby, which I totally fell in love with, doing lots of new routes there. Climb 7C+ and then 8A at Pex. Also getting much more into my career. Move house in 2000 and friends build an excellent board in my double garage, enabling the first meaningful training I’d ever done. Lots of great new climbing mates: Pete Chadwick, Euan McCallum, Will Simm etc.

2001 (37) – specifically Sept. 10th 2001, the Helsby love affair culminates in FA of Time Regained, with hindsight my last E8. Within weeks my wife is diagnosed with the illness that will consume the next five years.

2001-2006 (37-42): constantly worsening health of my wife and growing commitment to a career that I love sideline climbing, though I never stop and still use the board very regularly. My wife dies in 2006. Children are 8 and 12.

2006-2016 (42-52): more regular climbing resumes and I get back to E6/7b+/7B+. Deeply into the weeds of Cheshire esoteria, more new climbing pals, esp TomTom. Career is now paramount as well, and I remain a fulltime single parent throughout this period.

2016 (52): move to Pennsylvania – there is climbing nearby but I never meet any climbers. Climb up to 7A on scrappy local bouldering crags.

2019-2024 (55-60): move to Copenhagen, Covid, second wife hit by (different) chronic auto-immune disease. I’ve been to the wall here a few times but with no prospect of getting on rock I’m not motivated. But I remain extremely motivated by a career I still love, which is why we’re here. Become cold-water swimming bore.

Despite slowly petering out, I can look back at my time climbing with gratitude and fondness – no regrets at all. I’ve been derailed by events beyond my control at times, but I would also emphasize positive choices made, especially in terms of work. I am very privileged to have found something that I find just as rewarding as I found climbing. Apologies if this all seems very indulgent.

[IanP]

It's interesting that we've more-or-less gone in opposite directions on this (perhaps due to me being dumb). I'm interested in anyone's perspectives on this.

Definitely not you being dumb!  I claim to no great sophistication in my training beyond a basic strength, endurance , power endurance mix and over the years have come to the conclusion that my main target is find a balance between training to be able to climb the stuff i want to alongside enjoying my time at the wall.  Pretty sure that this means it's sub optimal for anything like maximum performance but also feel that the available extra performance gain might not be that great in terms of raw numbers.

On the other side the weaknesses in my climbing are pretty obvious (in particular my weakness!) and as I get older I do think some more conditioning work could be useful for injury prevention / general resilience and also maybe some work to try to at least retain what strength I have.

[IanP]

Apologies if this all seems very indulgent.

Not at all, think we're all enjoying a little bit of self indulgence here and you seem to have more justification than most!

[tomtom]

My climbing career is in two halves.

23-30. Started climbing at University - instantly found something that  tall scrawny people were good at and within a year was leading E3. Bouldering didn't really exist then. Had a couple of tendon injuries that then held me back but carried along at about E1/2 level for a few years during Undergrad and then PhD.

Moved to Mid Wales.

40-52. Move to East Yorkshire and got back into climbing with local people/leeds club. Kind of ditched the club stuff fairly quickly, but Bouldering had been 'discovered/re-invented' in my time away and it suited my lifestyle well. Moved from Mid 6's to 7A in about 18 months - then a few 7B's etc.. Moved to Manchester when about 45 or so - climbed alot more. Covid gave me a chance to train intensively and I came out of the first couple of lockdowns breaking through a 7B/7B+ plateau to get into the 7C's. Peaked with a couple of 7C+'s in 2022/23.

Since then I've gradually moved away from climbing. I still get out every couple of weeks and enjoy the movement - but I'm glad I don't have to train/climb hard three times a week to stay at that level. Its sometimes a disappointment to not be able to do a move/hold a crimp/lock off as I used to - but its no biggy. My body feels a bit better for it too. Finger tweaks and back pains gone - dupytrens receeded/not an issue. I've also enjoyed using the time to do new things - and the challenge of fresh learning curves has been great for me. Before this I had started training/eyeing my first 8 - which kind of felt like it would be a good thing to peak on, but I don't really mind and very much look back on the last few climbing years with a sense of personal achievement and happiness.

[stone]

That's an inspiring flourishing after already having climbed for 30years Tom!

I was a bit taken aback by this:

Bouldering didn't really exist then.

I think I remember you being on Scottish winter climbing trips with the Leeds Uni club in the mid-90s. Didn't you ever go bouldering to Caley/Almscliff/Stanage_Plantation with the same bunch? My bizarre cuboid pad that I still cary around dates from back then (I last used it yesterday ) That "One Summer - Bouldering in the Peak" video came out in 1994. I even remember seeing Matt Birch trying (the future) High Fidelity on a top rope back then. I think people like him were doing the Keel on a regular basis. I may be in a complete muddle with all of this.

[Davo]

Agree with you Stone. Bouldering was very active back 30 years ago, there were just less people and no pads!

[tomtom]

That's an inspiring flourishing after already having climbed for 30years Tom!

I was a bit taken aback by this:

Bouldering didn't really exist then.

I think I remember you being on Scottish winter climbing trips with the Leeds Uni club in the mid-90s. Didn't you ever go bouldering to Caley/Almscliff/Stanage_Plantation with the same bunch? My bizarre cuboid pad that I still cary around dates from back then (I last used it yesterday ) That "One Summer - Bouldering in the Peak" video came out in 1994. I even remember seeing Matt Birch trying (the future) High Fidelity on a top rope back then. I think people like him were doing the Keel on a regular basis. I may be in a complete muddle with all of this.

Thanks Stone - yes managed to get quite a lot out of the second stint! 😀

Yeah - I remember doing pebble wall and other crucifix things at the cliff - but at Caley it was always routes. Had one of the first Yorkshire bouldering guides (with the bed symbols instead of stars for quality). So I’m being a bit fast and loose with the facts there - but boulderi ny  wasn’t anything like what it is nowadays from memory. Maybe that was also my perspective/what I was into then. I really don’t remember any pads though - just beer towels! It was never really called bouldering either - more short routes/soloing or technical problems.

Morells wall and a trip to secret garden also spring to mind to. IIRC when we went to SG it was 93 and was excitedly described (by Matt Dickinson I think) as a new spot! 😀

On a trip to stanage back then - the edge would be packed with route climbers and plantation would be deserted.

[ianabbot]

What a great thread! Some hugely impressive blasts through the grades, but its been just as interesting reading wise words on acceptance of inevitable decline! (And it's prompted me to look back on some really fond memories).

1990 (aged 26) Colleague took me to Castle Naze and Windgather and I seconded some Diffs

(27) Moved to Edinburgh, learned to lead at Traprain Law. First Severe and VS. 'Training' at the premier indoor facility that was the legendary (for all the wrong reasons) Meadowbank brick-built wall.

(29-32) Moved to Shropshire. Progressed to HVS (Sctrach Arete, Tremadog) First E1 (Devil's Alternative, Clwyd limestone) was downgraded to HVS, so I think my first real E1 might have actually been Hangover (on the Grochan in the Llanberis Pass). I'd definitely not recommend that for first of the grade - I've been scared many, many times whilst climbing, but never more so than on that! First E2 (Seams the Same, Lanberis slate) also subsequently downgraded, so first official E2 Black Wall at LLanymynech.

(33-37) Moved to Mid Wales. E3 (San Melas, Roaches) Loads of classic E2s and E3s in North Wales. Occasional forays to the grit, where I had what was probably my most successful day ever, at the Roaches, doing Smear Test E3, Appaloosa Sunset E3 and Wings of Unreason E4 (I know everyone dynos the finish of that and then declares it easy, but since I've never been able to jump I had to use the static/smear beta and I still think that's the hardest move I ever did on a route). A couple of other E4s (Weasels Rip My Flesh, Cwm Glas Bach and Scheherezade, Llanberis slate).

So in 2001, everything was looking great - to be honest, I just assumed I'd continue to improve and start looking at harder stufff....
 
(37) Diagnosed with severe Ulcerative Colitis, rushed to hospital and within a fortnight had my bowel removed, given a permanent stoma and bag. No longer able to wear a harness, spent the next two years recovering. Started indoor bouldering at the Plas y Brenin wall.

(40) Feeling some progress and tentatively considering giving outdoor bouldering a go.... at which point my consultant said my rectum needed removing. Even bigger surgery, incision from belly button to lower back, flexibility and core completely destroyed. I couldn't see any prospect of climbing again and decided it was game over.

(40-51) Nothing....

(46) Moved to the Highlands

(51) Randomly decided to try indoor bouldering again. Unsurprisingly weak AF, but it felt great!

(52) Ventured outdoors and loved it. First 7A (Barry Manilow, Ruthven)

(53) Font trip with family. Boiling hot, fell off some F4 slabs, didn't do anything above 6A+ - brilliant!

(55) First 7A+ (Dirty Salt Licks, Ruthven)

(59) Summer holiday in Ticino with family. First 7B (Light my Fire, Chironico) though got shut down on plenty of low 6s too!

2024 (60 - SIXTY! Bloody hell!) Would I like to climb harder? Of course. Will it happen? I very much doubt it. If I can eke out another soft, in-my-style 7A this year then I'll be delighted. And I'm not really too fussed, because sitting at the bottom of beautiful boulders in the Gotthard Pass last summer, sharing attempts on the most incredible problems with my two sons, reminded me again what a brilliant thing bouldering really is. The fact that I've had a second go at it at this point in my life just makes it even more special.

[Duma]

We have a winner