What It’s Really Like to Start Climbing in Your 60s

When I turned 64, my youngest daughter Erin invited me to go camping in Joshua Tree with her family. I was so happy to have something to do on my birthday. After the last of my four children moved out of the house—and my business of 40 years turned into an endless grind—I had been feeling a real sense of aimlessness. I needed an escape, but I didn’t know what it might be.

My daughter never mentioned that she had scheduled an afternoon of guided climbing for the two of us. After a day or two of camping, she drove me into the park to meet up with Nelson, the climbing guide she had hired. I recall standing at the base of a massive rock formation, putting on the rented harness, shoes, and helmet. I tied into the top rope with a figure 8 knot.  But when it was time to step onto the rock, I froze with terror. I could not move.

“… this is a sport for strong young people. It’s most definitely not for a city gal of 72”

“Would you be willing to put just one foot on the rock?” Nelson said. I put my foot on the wall. He negotiated again: “How about one more foot?” Just like that, Nelson coached me up 80 feet of rock. Though I shook and trembled the entire way up, by the time I reached the top, I knew that rock climbing would have to be part of my life.

It takes time to reinvent yourself. It takes time to shake off an old structured life lived for decades, and create a new living thing. It also takes courage to make decisions about leaving family, job, home, and grandchildren behind to try something new.

Over the next two years, I slowly made that transition. I returned again and again to Joshua Tree. I began looking for homes there, climbing more and more on each trip. Finally, I sold my home, said my goodbyes, and made the 600-mile move with my fiancé Tony.

One of the biggest challenges of committing to this new passion and life? My health. I am a Type 1, insulin-dependent diabetic with several other autoimmune disorders. I suffered from chronic fatigue and depression in the dreary Northern California winters and it was only getting worse year after year.

In my fantasies, I thought the desert might heal me. I saw myself trotting alongside the coyotes, out in the wild. I wanted to eat simply, live simply, and let the sun and pure blue sky heal my body and soul. And I was willing to gamble everything to see if I could make this fantasy real.

Over the last five years, this is exactly what has happened. Nine months out of the year, I rock climb with an incredible teacher and mentor: Bob Gaines, an original Stonemaster. During the summers, I am out almost every morning alone, hiking, exploring, and scrambling. I have had the feeling that I am becoming feral. I lose time out there, and get carried away scrambling around boulders, buttresses, and caves. Sometimes, I forget to come home. I’ve learned about snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, chuckawallas, and cholla cactus. It’s taken time to understand sun angles, shade, hydration, and wind directions. But I have finally found perfect peace in this wilderness.

As for rock climbing itself, this is a sport for strong young people. It’s most definitely not for a city gal of 72, which is the age I will be in September. For that reason, I take great pleasure in doing something so difficult and adventurous. I have had to learn to think like an athlete, including managing my diabetes carefully. I hired a registered dietician, who has coached me in eating an amount of protein that will allow me to build strength and endurance. My mentor Bob has told me that “balance is the first thing to go” in the aged. So I have focused on doing balance exercises daily.

“I have had the feeling that I am becoming feral.”

When I first topped out on a route at 64 years old, I had no idea the amount of effort and planning that would be required to seriously rock climb, especially “at a certain age.” So my motto has been to “suit up and show up” and do my best each and every day.  But where my friends are sedentary and more or less done with their adventures, I am really just beginning mine. It has been wonderful to lose fear of so many things, to feel capable, and to finally feel peaceful about aging.

Tips for climbers starting in their 50s, 60s, or 70s

Want to start climbing in your 60s? From getting on my first route at 64 to climbing into my early 70s, here are a few of my best tips for anyone who wants to start climbing later in life.

• Think and train like an athlete. This includes honing in on sleep, recovery, and nutrition more specifically than you may ever have done before. Unless you are already very fit, rock climbing will present some big physical challenges.
• Bring your sense of humor and humility to the rock. Almost everyone will be stronger than you and a better climber than you. Your goal must be simply to be the best climber you can be.
• Know that many of your rock climbing days will be “Type 2” fun (i.e., you’ll really enjoy it the day after, when you reflect on the amazing feats you did yesterday). But it might not feel so fun while you are doing it. There will be times you will ask yourself why you ever wanted to do this.
• Over-prepare for contingencies when you are out. Whatever physical and medical needs you have in daily life, you want to be able to deal with them as needed. Bring extra water, medication, food, backup batteries, etc. It doesn’t hurt to have and know how to use a device like a Garmin InReach with an SOS button for emergencies.
• Allow yourself to fantasize. Have fun dreaming of big climbs on your wish list and celebrate your adventures.

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