How old are tree climbers?

Joe Mahr had something to say about the age of recreational climbers. So I decided to take this inquiry to its own thread. How old are the climbers here? I know as a child I would scare my parents by waving from the treetops. Of course as a child I never climbed with gear.

I am 56 years old. I am a certified arborist and started my profession in 1978. I was a rock climber in Estes Park, Colorado, previous to my tree work days. Previous to rock climbing were my childhood tree climbing days.

A remark was made that tree climbing is for older people. There seems to be a bigger population of older people that take is seriously. At least they are more visible to me. But then again older people tend to have more time and money to do this tree climbing thing. Maybe it is the desire to return to childhood pursuits.

Any younger climbers here? I would love to talk to someone younger than 15 for their opinions.

I'm the youngin', I think. 25. Been climbing since I was about 18 or nineteen. (So about 20% of my life, at least!)

love
nick

I've told so many lies about my age that I had to run down to the Waffle House and check with the waitresses -- Becky Sue, Betty Sue, Bobbie Sue, Linda Sue, Mary Sue and last but not least Debbie Lou -- to see if any of them knew my true birthday.

"Yeah! Right," replied Becky Sue. "Last week you told me you were 21 and on the way to becoming a famous rock star...!"

"You slurp them thar grits faster'n any ol' geezer in the place," said Betty Sue. "You gotta be younger'n 85 or so...!"

"Weeelll! You still got all your real teeth," said Bobbie Sue. "An' you was able to eat Cookie's biscuits without choppin' em up with a chainsaw first...!"

And so it went, until I got around to Debbie Lou. The acknowledged 250-pound queen of the breakfast platter, with a vocabulary more ribald than a drunken sailor's, had these words of wisdom for me: "Hon, you're only as young as you feel, and you shore were feelin' good a minute ago." (The rest of Debbie Lou's comment was deleted out of respect for common decency.)

Now that all of this has been exposed, I'll admit to being a very young 55 years old. How many 55 year old men go out jogging almost every morning, hike for miles through the mountains with packs of gear on their backs, then climb 100-foot trees for the fun of it?

Yep! Debbie Lou has it right: You're only as young as you feel...!

Originally posted by Wild Bill
...until I got around to Debbie Lou. The acknowledged 250-pound queen of the breakfast platter, with a vocabulary more ribald than a drunken sailor's,...

Yo Bill, Nice Post.
That’s the kind of lead-in that thread-legends are made of…
Yeah, the same Debbie Lou that used to work Ernie’s Bar & Grill back in 98. She was known as “Big Dee” back then.
<The amount of self control it just took to not go on an off-topic jamboree with Bill’s post can never be appreciated>

A bit more on topic…
* I’m 48 years old which I would assume is about average for this group. Been climbing “trees” a bit less than 2 years.
* I am impressed with Nick’s early start in rec-climbing.
* It would be nice to see some of the users list a bit more info in their profile/bio. It’s very interesting to know a little about who were talking to here.

Hi, My name is Ben and i'm responding to the websites request for thoughts from a young climber . I really enjoy treeclimbing, I have only been out 2 or 3 times to climb but I would have to say, it is a very fun experience. The one time I actually did a good amount of climbing was at Dawes Arboretum and it was my first time climbing. It isnt, in my opinion, a very nerve-racking experience because you can see all of the safety precautions put into the process of climbing the tree, but sometimes when I would get really high it was good to keep in mind the classic saying, "Don't look down". Climbing trees, I think is a wonderful experience. It almost completely intertwines you with nature and give you a very peaceful feeling of almost being able to fly, and just being up in the canopy of trees, away from any worries. These are just a few of my thoughts on treeclimbing but I would probably bore you to death if I were to go through all of them.
-Jims son Ben age 12

I'm 44 and became introduced to tree work at an arboretum in Kentucky around 1979, where I also learned the fine art of backing a tractor hitched to a two axel wagon. Recreational tree climbing represents a return to tree climbing for a myriad of reasons, but they all fall under the broad category of safe adventure.

Regards,
JimK

Hi Ben. Thanks for your reply. I am glad young people find tree climbing as much fun as I do. I do not think you would bore any of us here. A big reason older people climb trees is because they want to feel young again, like a 12 year old. Older people sometimes get so busy with life they forget how to be young.

That “floating in air” thing you mentioned. I call it the “Peter Pan” effect. It is indeed like floating in air. Especially when you swing around.

Do you have a tree climbing name yet? Mine is “Treeman”. Think about a name for yourself. The reason we have climbing names is because we become different people when we are up in a tree.

I'll be 30 in July, I climb with a guy who is 7 days older than I, his wife climbs too.

A few weeks ago, a neighbor invited Judi and me over to "see their Christmas tree." It turns out that it was a ruse for a surprise birthday party.

They brought the cake (a wonderful German chocolate cake--sorry you weren't there to enjoy it with me!) with lighted candles for me to blow out.

Judi asked me how many candles there were; I looked--there were seven. I thought for a moment and said that was the correct number for me--that if we took a to the b power, and that quantity to the c power, where a + b + c = 7, that was my age.

I voted for Bill Clinton.

How old am I?

2+2+3=7

So...2 squared cubed= 48? Are you 48?

How about 3 squared squared. That'd give us 27. Are you 27?

love
nick, I like math

So let's see here Jim W,

These are the set of three integers that add to 7:
1 1 5
2 2 3
1 2 4

Taking all combinations, these are the ages derived from (a^b)^c:
1,5,16, 64 and 81

Your voting record, eliminates 1,5,16 and 81. I doubt a WWII generation person would vote for Clinton - possible.

Therefore, I believe that you're 64. Otherwise you write as if you're in your energetic 20's.

I always have German Chocolate cake for my birthday.

Regards,
JimK

I vote for 48, if only because the name Judi fits in that generation. And 48 goes with our tree climber demographics. But we need more info.

oh, I messed up. 3 squared squeared doesn't equal 27. Can't you tell I LOVE math!

love
nick

36 here, and I am teaching my 4 & 6 year old children to climb. Prior to getting involved in tree climbing, I caught them climbing the rocks on the side of our house! That along with my curiousity, caused me to take a class, learn, and get the gear. Now, they (or me) won't climb even a ladder without gear. They love it - I think mainly its the fun of putting on the gear and hanging with daddy. I've also enjoyed teaching my 6 year old the knots.

Thanks for the responses, guys! I particularly appreciate JimK's comment about my writing like a 20-year-old! Jim and Brad (via U2U) got it correct as 64.

We have to consider all possible permutations of all integers that sum to 7; they are: 1,1,5; 1,2,4; 1,3,3; 2,2,3.

One possible age that wasn't mentioned is 27 (3^1)^3 or (3^3)^1. The possible ages are 1, 5, 16, 27, 64, and 81.

As you know, I mentioned the vote for Mr. Clinton because that would rule out 27 and younger.

Actually, I wanted to use some very subtle hint to restrict the range, but just couldn't think of anything in the time I had available. I liked Ponderosa's comment about Judi's name--that's the kind of thing I wanted. Maybe something about my learning knotcraft before synthetic ropes were available (when I was a Boy Scout) would work, except that I don't know when synthetics became commonly available.

I also assumed that you would rule out an 81-year-old tree climber. But I bet there are some out there--ones who can do it better than I can! (I'll check back with you in 17 years and let you know if I'm still climbing.)

So, yes, I'm 64 plus a few weeks--so far, I'm apparently the resident geezer here.

Now that "kernsloth" will know my age for sure (he kindly never asked), he may want to take a course in Geriatric Wilderness First Aid before we climb again.