Old climbers

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28 minutes ago, Stubby said:

I am 68 and get air sick putting on a pair of thick socks ...

Didn't realise you could still reach your feet, thought that was what the carer was for......

[maybelateron]

I am 61, started climbing 20 yrs ago. Not planning on stopping any time yet, health permitting. 

 

Mick Dempsey sums it up in saying that dragging brash and timber on the ground is harder. I am a faster and more efficient climber now than 10 years ago - experience helps, plan your work as Mick says, also the confidence to drop or lower bigger sections that as a beginner. let the ground crew cut it up. Also kit gets better all the time - zigzag and pulley👍, Blakes hitch/Prussic loop and no pulley/friction saver👎. I also find comfortable spikes with velcro straps a big advance.

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

I found cutting high hedge, on ladder is the most hardest work, not even comparable to climbing, wich u enjoy at 45,planing to die on the tree! 

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Just now, Sviatoslav Tulin said:

I found cutting high hedge, on ladder is the most hardest work, not even comparable to climbing, wich u enjoy at 45,planing to die on the tree! 

Agree found cutting hedge tops with a pole trimmer all day the worst, wrecks your shoulders. So stopped doing it.

[maybelateron]

4 minutes ago, Sviatoslav Tulin said:

I found cutting high hedge, on ladder is the most hardest work, not even comparable to climbing, wich u enjoy at 45,planing to die on the tree! 

Agree 100%. We are on the verge of declining some of the more ridiculously wide tall hedges these days. Even if we can get the MEWP to it, it is still real hard on the shoulders. I think some customers have no idea how hard their hedges are to maintain.

[jarborist]

Have a friend who stopped most of his climbing last year . He was climbing regularly at 68. 

[skyhuck]

I'm 52 in October, I still do all our climbing. Been climbing since my early 20's.

 

I have found fitness is very important, in my early 40's I thought I was pretty fit, but in reality I was strong, not fit. Started mountain biking 4 years ago and realised just how unfit I was. My cardio was shocking. I'd been a mad keen cyclist as a boy, up until my early 20's, so I could tell just how unfit I was now when riding.

 

 I nearly bought a ebike, but I'm so glad I didn't, I stuck at it and slowly my fitness improved, my knees and hips stopped aching. And I started loving it.

 

I now ride a lot, feel really fit and work is so much easier.

 

I don't intend to  stop climbing or riding until I stop working, which will  probably be when I'm dead.

[nepia]

11 hours ago, maybelateron said:

Agree 100%. We are on the verge of declining some of the more ridiculously wide tall hedges these days. Even if we can get the MEWP to it, it is still real hard on the shoulders. I think some customers have no idea how hard their hedges are to maintain.

Totally. 'It's only 10ft tall' - Yes, but once I'm up there I have to reach 8ft across it!  Height - not usually a problem; width - not usually a problem; but the two together... with access from one side only...!

It's not just the shoulders etc that suffer; they impact on the back which impacts on the hips.  And you're often locking knees out to maintain position on the ladder.  Defo worse on the joints than well executed climbing (not that I know much about that but I get the theory 😊)

Edited August 19, 2021 by nepia

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

11 minutes ago, skyhuck said:

I'm 52 in October, I still do all our climbing. Been climbing since my early 20's.

 

I have found fitness is very important, in my early 40's I thought I was pretty fit, but in reality I was strong, not fit. Started mountain biking 4 years ago and realised just how unfit I was. My cardio was shocking. I'd been a mad keen cyclist as a boy, up until my early 20's, so I could tell just how unfit I was now when riding.

 

 I nearly bought a ebike, but I'm so glad I didn't, I stuck at it and slowly my fitness improved, my knees and hips stopped aching. And I started loving it.

 

I now ride a lot, feel really fit and work is so much easier.

 

I don't intend to  stop climbing or riding until I stop working, which will  probably be when I'm dead.

I wanted to say that, but people think I'm crazy when they see me training along my dog on the futball pitch, thing is that if you do similar work every day, only particularl group of muscle is working, so you must stress another ones, its keep heart and blood arteries in  good shape. 

[Sviatoslav Tulin]

9 minutes ago, nepia said:

Totally. 'It's only 10ft tall' - Yes, but once I'm up there I have to reach 8ft across it!  Height - not usually a problem; width - not usually a problem; but the two together... with access from one side only...!

It's not just the shoulders etc that suffer; they impact on the back which impacts on the hips.  And you're often locking knees out to maintain position on the ladder.  Defo worse on the joints than well executed climbing (not that I know much about that but I get the theory 😊)

3 day today, laurel hedge 4m+ high, about 3to4 m width, so ladder from both sides, this is Ireland, land of fences, walls, and hedges. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Sviatoslav Tulin