Climbing Until What Age

[Duffer]

Hey Guys How Long Do You Think You Could Climb (what Age Do You Stop) I Am 47 Years Young! And Still Climbing But Not All The Time But As I Get Older I Ask My Self How Long Can We Last. The Duffer

 

[rebelman]

I'm forty two, I plan to do all my own climbing for another eighteen years. I can't train a ground man, don't have much hope of training a climber. Plus all the others make their business with spikes and topping, then get a bucket and do more of the same. Gradually I'll change over to dogwoods and crepe myrtles and japanese style on shrubs. The one guy with balls that I could work with cut his rope(not while working with me), bad negligence. Mountain biking and Karate help. Ever had knee surgery? Try a Karate form called walking in the dark. I could rant a while, but I'll just shut up now.

 

[JimL]

guy at work is 58, climbs with the best of them.

 

[Duffer]

I Hop That I Will Be Able To Climb At 58, All I Know Is That The Older You Get The You Have To Stay In Top Shape.

 

[Dadatwins]

I would say you can climb as long as you feel safe for yourself and your ground crew, and consider yourself productive. If its your own biz then you set the pace, but working for someone else I would imagine the productivity part would be a factor. Funny thing about this biz is by the time you learn a lot of the tricks and can call yourself really good, old father time usually comes along and starts the knees cracking, elbows tingling and the shoulders aching. There are plenty of good (productive) climbers still out there in their 60's and I say as long as they are having fun, go for it.

 

[Duffer]

Hey Guys There Has To Be More To Say About Growing Older In Our Trade

 

[Tree Machine]

42 and in my prime.

 

[Kate Butler]

I've worked with a fellow in NY (Long Island) who is (so help me God)) 75 years old and climbs every day. He says "I'm not as fast as I once was, but can still get the job done."

 

[Thor's Hammer]

My Father was still climbing at 60. does'nt do as much now, but he still can if needs be.

 

[kf_tree]

the best climber i know is 50 i know another guy who is 70 and change.....but he's kind of done now, more because of attitude than ability though.

 

[treeseer]

at 55 I'm planning on a couple more decades. A gradual slide. A black guy I worked with at UNC climbed into his 70's; they had to make him quit. I learned a bit from a guy named Wachtel in Wauwatosa WI who climbed 9slowly) into his 70's.

I may never do another big removal, unless I have to, but that's out of preference not physicality.

 

[RedlineIt]

I'm 45, and tree work is a second career for me. I'm in much better physical condition now than I was at 25 when I was twiddling tiny screwdrivers and keeping bank machines going for a living. Now there's a job that was killing me, in and out of Air Conditioned environments all day long, breathing in clots of paper dust, fingers soaked in permanent ink, wearing a bloody tie. And THE STRESS!

Every customer I met was a bank manager who was mad as hell that that their machine was down, I wasn't there 2 hours earlier, even angrier if it would take 2 hours to fix the bloody thing, and ready with contract defaults to sign if I took even moments longer than the contract minimum. God forbid the bloody thing needed a part I didn't have, or worse, a part not even in stock at the shop. Just recalling this has my bile rising.

Two summers ago, I rode a 1000cc sportbike from Vancouver to Toronto in 48 hours on a $200 bet. Over the Lakes.

When I have to slow down and need to buy a Harley, I will let you know.


RedlineIt

 

[Old Monkey]

When I came on AS and had to pick a name I chose Old Monkey because I felt old in comparison to all the young climbers I see. I'm only 38 and hearing from all the older climbers on the web makes me wish I chosen a different moniker. What I have noticed is how bad I feel if I don't climb. If I take two weeks off of climbing my back hurts, my knees get stiff and my energy level is low. I plan on climbing as long as I can for my health.

 

[a_lopa]

second best i know is 47 :angel:

 

[underwor]

Still going at 58, it is my summer job from teaching. One of my instructors was 76 when I started with Davey. He did not climb much, mostly due to a 70' fall in the 50's when a "light weight" chainsaw cut his rope and bounced off his chest after he hit the sidewalk. As you can imagine, he had a bit of a stubborn streak. I will keep at it until it is not fun any more.

 

[KentuckySawyer]

42 and in my prime.

Me too!

Except for the 42 part. Prime at 29.

 

[tam]

sweet. good on you man. i'm 17 just so i've got a few years to go.

 

[Caledonian]

When I came on AS and had to pick a name I chose Old Monkey because I felt old in comparison to all the young climbers I see. I'm only 38 and hearing from all the older climbers on the web makes me wish I chosen a different moniker. What I have noticed is how bad I feel if I don't climb. If I take two weeks off of climbing my back hurts, my knees get stiff and my energy level is low. I plan on climbing as long as I can for my health.

Agree completely, anymore than 3 days off and the aches and tiredness start.

Got to stay active.

 

[Xtra]

Well, I just hit 43 today. I'm putting in 50+ hrs of climbing per week and I'm in better shape today then 4 years ago when I left my desk job in the corporate world.

There's an old guy around my area who did trees on weekends. He retired at 65 and had too much free time so he went back to doing trees full time. Now he's in his mid 70's and still going strong.

 

[chicken89]

little off topic, but my grandpa climbed power line poles into his 60s. using buckets made it too easy for him. now i have an old set of climbing gear. though aged, he still has good ideas on climbing and different ways of tying knots.
as a company mandate, he had to perform an arial rescue every week... i am still working on my first