RRC Archives

What's the longest you've ever gone without climbing? And when you were able to return, how hard was it to get back to your origional state????

1.5 yrs...... I've never been as good as I was.... I embrace my suck.

i had to take 3 months off when i broke my knee. i was back at my previous level before I could walk properly. I was also only 21, the young bounce back quicker.

8 weeks off for a broken wrist. still not back to the same level but it's only been 4 months and i haven't climbed very much due to that pesky thing called snow.

I've climbed about 6 times in 3 years. Officially as well as I'm going to be, working hard at getting back in shape and I hope to climb again this spring. I always sucked, so I should be about par when I return. I love to climb.

I will let you know sometime this fall, when I, hopefully, start climbing again...

3 months with tendinitis in my foot. In the next 2 months, I improved from doing two 5.7's in an evening to doing four climbs 5.9 and under. Then I sprained my ankle and was out for another 2 months. Took me a year to get decent mobility back in my foot/ankle. Three years later, I still don't redpoint as hard as before (school & work keep getting in the way), but I onsight harder.

I took about two months off with a knee injury once, and also another two months when I broke my collarbone. I came back quickly and actually improved after these injuries. I think time off is important for both mind any body. But you need to stay fit - luckily I was able to cross train with these injuries.

There was a span of about 12 years between my discovery of sport climbing and my last free solo of Sallee Hall on the campus of Western Illinois University. It took about a month to get back the finger strength, but after two years, I still won't climb more than 15 feet without protection.

I took off about 9 months after a serious spine/neck/shoulder injury (2006). I sent a couple of 5.12c's before the injury and when I started back I got shut down on 5.8's and had to work through the grades all over again. It took several years for me to get it back -- while dealing with other minor injuries along the way.