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hellmanm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am
I worry that once I hit 40 my body will break down and that'll be the end of my hiking days.
I was poking along for quite some time completing the 14ers, started in 2005 at age 35 and finished in 2015 at age 45. I did a bunch of repeats with my niece in 2016 and then injured my hip in 2017. In 2018, at the ripe old age of 48, I decided that I wanted to do the Centennials. I finished them in 2019. Last year I started on the Bicentennials. I'm looking forward to another 60 peaks this year. I'd argue that it gets better as you get older, you have more experience. Switching from 14ers to 13ers helps too, they are just so much more interesting and peaceful.
hellmanm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am
25 here, and I like having older members around. Y'all are inspiration to me -- I worry that once I hit 40 my body will break down and that'll be the end of my hiking days. Seeing old folks get after it gives me hope. Put up your TRs, make your references to music I've never heard of, fail to understand meme culture, and keep doing your thing. You also help me be responsible, since I don't feel as compelled to do crazy stuff for fear of running out of time.
I do think there are some curmudgeons online, but I think that's less an age thing and more of an "arrogant jerk" thing. If someone is a close-minded, arrogant old person, they were probably a close-minded, arrogant young person. People can change, of course, but it's more the norm that folks will simply display the same traits in different ways. I've had good hiking partners who are in their 20s, and good hiking partners are in their 40s/50s. I've learned a lot from just about everyone I've hiked with.
I'm curious how the final poll will shake out.
Consider yourself virtually hugged. Appreciate your perspective.
Not meaning to brag here, only showing a glimmer of hope from an oldish dude’s perspective (me)... In 2009 I did Whitney’s standard route in 16 hours RT. In 2019 on my 56th bday I did it in 12:25. Felt unbelievable that day. Now, I’ve certainly been and felt old since then but it can still be done with the right focus and training. Things do change in your 40s and beyond but so will your mind in how you approach and manage training. Thanks for listening. I know you didn’t ask for a lecture!
ker0uac wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:03 am
over the age of 50 your climbs don't count towards finishing the list... climbs have to be between 12am of your first birthday through 12am of your 50th birthday
Good thing I finished the List before you finished Kindergarten.
oh then you can't claim to have finished the list then, such accomplishment expires after 30 years.
Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion
hellmanm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am
25 here, and I like having older members around. Y'all are inspiration to me -- I worry that once I hit 40 my body will break down and that'll be the end of my hiking days.
I don't think I'm any sort of inspiration to anyone cuz I'm kinda slow (and I probably was when I was 25, too), but I can say with some certainty that even if you don't take perfect care of your body, you can still be hiking and climbing in your later years. I grew up in the 60's and let's just say that most of the teenagers and early 20's crowd didn't exactly do a lot of healthy stuff then and I'm still getting up to the hills on a fairly regular basis. I am willing to bet you have a long hiking and climbing career ahead of you.
I take the mountain climber's approach to housekeeping - don't look down
hellmanm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:47 am
25 here, and I like having older members around. Y'all are inspiration to me -- I worry that once I hit 40 my body will break down and that'll be the end of my hiking days.
I don't think I'm any sort of inspiration to anyone cuz I'm kinda slow (and I probably was when I was 25, too), but I can say with some certainty that even if you don't take perfect care of your body, you can still be hiking and climbing in your later years. I grew up in the 60's and let's just say that most of the teenagers and early 20's crowd didn't exactly do a lot of healthy stuff then and I'm still getting up to the hills on a fairly regular basis. I am willing to bet you have a long hiking and climbing career ahead of you.
askwjs wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 12:27 pm
I think a good mix of ages and experience levels is exactly what a forum like this needs. I started when I was 37 and was always looking to this site for reports and general information. My son started when he was 12 but started following this site when he was 14. He hasn't mustered up the courage to have an account but I am sure that he would have an interesting perspective on things having 46/58 done and 80 summits in all different seasons and conditions. There is no such thing as starting too early and having climbers your own age to engage with would help spark interest in new people. I know it has helped my son out seeing kids his own age accomplishing Little Bear, Capitol and the other hard ones.
I agree completely that you are never to young to start having such wonderful experiences. One of the people I hiked south maroon with first hiked longs with his parents when he was 6. I try not to think about how different life might have been in my youth if I had discovered the joy of the mountains much earlier than 27 when I joined the CMC.
Nonetheless, it was great back then, I will never forget my first summer and all of the delightful first experiences I had.
It is also a lot of fun that I still enjoy it so much, and continually look forward to more adventures in the mountains.
I am 60 years old and hope to complete the 14ers with some 13ers thrown in over the the next five to ten years. Since I don't live in Colorado, we will see where I am with respect to the Centennials at that point.
I hiked my first six 14ers last summer at age 59. My wife and I had been hiking for about a decade in different places such as Banff National Park, Glacier National park, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Great Smoky Mountains, and RMNP. We bagged some peaks in the White Mountains and the Smoky Mountains in 2017 through 2019. After that we decided to see what we could do at higher elevations.
In July 2020, we climbed Gray's Peak and some 13ers. When we returned to our home in Kansas City, I told my wife that I felt like I was just getting started and I had to get back out to Colorado to hike some more mountains. I returned with a friend the evening of September 8th just as the September snow came in. My friend and I hiked Cupid for an acclimation hike on the 9th, and then on ensuing days, hiked Quandary Peak and the Decalibron in the snow before returning home. I have to admit that this is quite addicting and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since I left Colorado. I have been training intensely and I have two trips planned for Colorado in August and September this year. In July, the wife and I are going to Mt Rainier National Park to hike some of the smaller peaks surrounding Rainier and I plan on doing Pinnacle Peak starting at Reflection Lakes which will be my first class 3 climb. It's elevation is only 6562 feet but it should help to prepare me for future climbs.
If I didn't have obligations with the wife, children, and grandchildren, I would be in Colorado a lot more than I am. Hopefully, I can kick it up to three or four trips a year because I need to be out there.
Regarding the OP's question about older members stepping back, I want more experienced members to stay active in the forum to benefit from their experience. I see snark from every age group and not just the longer term members. Everyone should simply treat others as one wants to be treated.
"Education is the process of moving from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty." (Utvich)
d_baker wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:59 pm
Someone made a private comment to me that they think that those of us that have finished the 14ers need to step back a little and let the new generation (but what generation?) have their time and allow them to have their own discovery and conversations.
Well I'm curious if that is something that everyone in all age groups think.
Is it something about younger groups that don't like some (or most/all?) of the older groups that have either been on this forum for a lot of years or have completed the 14ers long ago (I only finished in 2017, fwiw) or a combination of both. I don't know.
Comments welcome. Let's keep it friendly. I'll try to do the same.
~long time member, getting older, but I do care.
So I am 22 and have been bagging 14ers as a flatlander from Texas for the last 5 or so years and my goal is to summit all 58. I don't feel like there is any reason or need for the "older" generation to step back. If anything, the experience of those that have already accomplished their goals has probably saved lives. There is a reason people hike with more experienced and accomplished hikers/climbers. The "older" generation still plays a vital role in my opinion...
What does "older" even mean in this case? Literal age? Should the 70 year old with 20 14ers go away? What about the 18 year old who's done them all and has a few dozen snowflakes? (Not sure if anyone like that actually exists, but as an example.) Or does it mean those who have simply climbed all of the 14ers? Does it mean the people who have been on this forum for a long time? What about if they have a long-ago join date and low post count? How about any random combination of age/peak count/join date/forum posts? Is the person who sent you the original message simply using "experience" as a synonym for "older"? Why should anyone who posts in good faith go away?
There's room for everyone on the forum regardless of age or experience. If I wasn't taught mountaineering skills by people with full heads of gray hair and decades of experience I probably wouldn't know jack and would have killed myself trying to learn. I believe that posting in good faith and posting quality content are the only things that matter.
