Climbing and Age Limits
Steph, is it too late for a 52 year old guy, in good shape, to begin to climb? What are the limitations?
Charles
Hi Charles,
My friend Lee Sheftel is one of my greatest climbing inspirations. He’s over 60, and he has been climbing at Rifle for over twenty years. Lee redpointed his first 14a at the age of 59–perhaps the oldest person in the world to have climbed this grade. He also climbed many 13c’s and d’s in his 50s, on his way up the grade ladder. Not only that, he’s done many long routes in Yosemite and the Black Canyon, and penned perhaps my favorite tech tip ever: corraling an absent-minded partner.
Lee is out at Rifle several times a week, since he conveniently lives in Carbondale, Colorado (just outside of Rifle) with his wife Cheryl and lovely Australian Shepherd, Ruby, and works as a full time as a self employed income tax professional. And just to put the icing on the cake, he is a classical pianist, in his spare time. So Lee is generally a superhero, as well as a climbing hero.
I first met Lee at Rifle and was deeply impressed with his climbing at what I consider one of the most physical and techy sport climbing areas in the US. And when he broke the 5.14 barrier, it got me so excited, because he was climbing a grade that didn’t even exist when he was at his “prime” climbing age!
Nowadays kids seem to be starting to climb basically from the day they leave the womb and going directly to train in the gym, and so they almost expect to be climbing 5.16 by the time they are in eighth grade. Like watching young gymnasts or ice skaters, it’s lovely and fascinating to see children and small lizards scampering up unimaginably difficult walls, but it is definitely not what I would call “inspiring.” Since none of us will ever become younger or a small reptile, these impressive feats do not give anyone who is not in that demographic anything to aspire to–and can also make you question if it’s possible to even try….
However, watching someone who is several decades older than you, AND of the same species, climb an unimaginably difficult wall makes you think, “wow, maybe I could do that someday too!” and that is the meaning of inspiration. All Rifle climbers love Lee, not just for his wonderful personality, but because he gives us that inspiration every time we watch him crushing at Rifle.
Lee generously offered to answer your question–with advice that is wise and valuable for any climber.
Thank you Lee!
xxSteph
Charles, my name is Lee Sheftel and i am a friend of Steph’s who forwarded your query to me since I am an “older” climber.
The short answer to your question ” is it too late for a 52 year old guy, in good shape, to begin to climb? ” is NO, it’s not too late (never too late!!).
Although I started a bit younger than you, at 33 years old, to climb, I am considered to be a late bloomer so to speak. I am almost 65 years old now and am still passionate about the sport and climb often. A few thoughts follow on starting out later in life. I will present my “long” answer in two sections to each point; the first section describes how I think you should train and what to expect or not to expect. Then I will describe the possible disadvantages and problems that the “older” climber faces. I will then describe our possible advantage over the younger climbers.
How to begin:
First off you should get out on the rock with an experienced climber and learn the “ropes” and you should start on easy climbs; you should concentrate on on efficiency of movement at first and NOT on powerful or gymnastic type moves. As a matter of fact i would tend to stay away from the climbing gyms at first unless you have access to a gym that has climbs graded at 5.8 or easier. I have a friend who recently started climbing and he is 40 years old. he keeps saying how he needs to get strong and I keep telling him he needs to learn how to climb first and not worry about getting strong. it will come.
-the advantage that younger climbers have over us, especially when they are in their teens or early twenties, is that they are more supple, more flexible, and thus less injury prone. Therefore, take a gradual approach and stretch and warm up prior to climbing.
Secondly, whether you are getting into trad, sport, mixed or whatever type of climbing, the important thing is to understand that you need to be patient; very, very patient. It takes most of us years to get good at this sport. it’s like a martial art or a complex dance routine in many ways. It’s mostly about technique and it simply takes time for your body to understand the movements and body positions needed to get up a given section of rock.
-here us older climbers may have an advantage over the younger ones in that they are typically impatient in both their expectations and in their actual climbing. Remember to be patient and not to expect too much too fast. Younger climbers also tend to “go for it” more and give in to peer pressure and thus often end up injured. Listen to your body. You don’t want to get injured.
Thirdly, the more you climb, the faster you will see progress. Everyone is different in how they develop but i would use an estimate of approximately 6 months of climbing to a year before you should start a strength training regimen.
-regarding this, because the younger climber has hormones on their side they can get strong very quckly and can recover very quickly as well. We typically cannot, so to get fit for climbing, i would concentrate on endurance during the first year or so which means you want to climb lots of pitches in a day and typically longish pitches which usually translates to 30 hand movements or longer on either the rock or the gym. The beginner climber at any age will gain strength simply by default by climbing various routes.
Finally, there are many factors that will determine how proficient you get at this sport. some factors you have control over such as passion, time, access, fitness level and weight (weight is a huge factor in climbing as we are constantly fighting gravity so any excess weight is not to a climbers advantage. If you think you could lose a few pounds then it will be to your advantage to do so) Factors we don’t have control over are obviously our age and genetics. I found that after climbing 10 years or so, my main weakness was that I am not a “powerful” climber relatively speaking. My strength lies in my endurance and perserverance. I continue to train strength periodically but realize I cannot overcome my genetics in this regard. I also noticed that it takes me two to three days to recover from a hard day on the rock or in the gym so expect longer recovery times than the young lads and gals. The main thing is to enjoy yourself. Too many climbers get caught up in the “grades ” of climbs (I am no exception) and i have seen many climbers get burned out of the sport because of it so make sure your climbing and training are enjoyable. that is another area that I think us older climbers have as an advantage in that we get into the sport for the correct reasons- we like climbing!
Hope to see you out there!
Lee Sheftel
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