In earily 2009, I returned from a climbing trip to Red Rocks and realized I could no longer walk without being in excruciating pain.

I tried rest and rehab. I tried swimming and more rest. It just got worse. I started taking Advil every night just to sleep. My body started to atrophy, my powerful legs shriveled. My belly grew. My 50th birthday was right around the corner.

I felt like my life was over. I looked in the mirror. I traced the lines on my face from many years in the wind and sun. My grey hair covered my bald spot. You know, suddenly I was 50. I realized that I never had a plan for what I was going to do when I hit 50. I don’t mean business wise. I have done alright there. I mean life wise. I had lived to pursue my outdoor dreams for so long I could not envision myself doing anything else.

The Doctor told me my hip was completely done. You have osteoarthritis and all the cartilage is basically gone. The X ray reveled bone spurs, bone cysts on my pelvis. But worse, the hip had no cartilage left. The femur surface was damaged. My Doctor suggested we schedule surgery for a total hip replacement.

I had no idea what to expect. Desperate, I started a thread on super topo to see if anyone was climbing after hip replacement surgery. Thanks to the gallery, I received many positive stories about climbers that still were climbing hard after recovering.

So, I decided to get the surgery. Followed by 3 months of hell. At this point the Doctor OK’ed me to go back to the climbing gym. 3 more months later I left for my 1st climbing trip. I did not know what to expect.


Trip # 1 Cochise stronghold AZ.

We camped in the East stronghold, our first objective was the classic climb on the whale, Moby Dick. We met two climbers from Alaska, who in 2 days could not find the base of either climb they tried to find. That gave me a little pause.

The hike to the base was pure hell. We turned left too earily and wasted a lot of time and energy before we realized our mistake. We did figure it out and got going the right way. What use to be my favorite part, approaching climbs , was now torture. We sat at the base of the climb and I was totally ready to puke. A Japanese couple was on the first pitch. My friend Ken commented “that looks pretty easy”. I’m thinking it looks sustained, runout and every bit of the 5.8 rating.


Looking at this strange formation at the base of the whale, six months from surgery, ready to puke, I racked up. But the higher I got, the better I felt, and I realized I was actually having a really good time. Before you know it we were on the summit. I was pretty stiff, but I felt great being on the move after nearly a year.


I was happy to make the summit. The rap off the back side of the Whale is a free rapel, followed by a strenous snow covered descent. What would have been a very easy day for me before the injury, left me happy but suspect at my condition.


Next was the Ewephoria on Sheeps head. A beautiful climb rated 5.7.


The approach was much easier than Moby Dick, but I was having a tough time carrying any weight at all. My buddy Ken carried everything. I asked him on the trip because this guy is tough. I promised to do all the leading if he would do all the heavy lifting.



Climbing, I felt OK. I decided to lead the 5.9 finish of “too tough to die” which was super cool. Being somewhat immuature, I yelled out at the top of my lungs when I topped out "I'm too tough to die". On the way down I tripped and almost went flying head first. I still didn’t have full flexability in my leg. Back home I rested and healed more for 6 weeks, then off to Red Rocks for a little more.

First up was a relatively new climb on the Brownstone walls called Amatron. Rated 5.9 I was thinking it would be a good step up. I felt stronger on this trip but was still extremely weak when it came to carrying a pack and doing approaches. I made the same deal with my friends Howard and Todd. You carry I lead.


A good hike up Juniper Canyon and we arrived at the Base of the climb. Upper Juniper Canyon is just outstanding. The huge Rainbow wall dominates the view, with the Brownstone wall, like a ships prow, sailing from the gun site.


P2 is the crux with a short bit of 5.9


This climb is very cool because the 3rd pitch has the most interesting chocolate patina I have ever seen in Red Rocks.


Lucky for me this climb was beautiful, all the pitches were fun, but it was not of a serious nature. So we knocked it out without too much trouble. I fell on the descent again, but again I was lucky. Landing on a catus, I needed both guys to pull me out. I was pretty much unscathed. My hiking still needed a lot of work. We attend the festival and did some more climbing. But significantly I felt like I was on my way back to being whole again.

Next stop Devils Tower and the needles. I guess the monster had grown pretty big while being out for a year. That’s what I call it “the monster”. The only way to “Kill” the monster is go climbing a lot.


Well, we just did the Durrance route, same deal, you carry I lead, new partners. We had a great time, Frank Sanders was right behind us the whole way up so needless to say the banter was extremely fun. He kept teasing the beautiful Chloe, the French women who owns the Climbing gym in Ft Lauderdale where we all train.


I was a little worried leading the Durrance crack, my right side was going to take a lot of abuse. Frank told me most people don't style this pitch, they just get up it. He was right.


We took the Baliey Direct to the top.


I found it very cool that the sign “no climbing beyond this point” has been replaced with a new sign. So off we went to the needles.

One climb we did was call the “Tent Peg” in the ten pins area. First climbed By Royal & Liz Robbins in 1963, it was rated 5.7. I started between Super Pin and tent peg which turned out to be extremely hard. I couldn’t help but think Royal cruised it in hiking boots in 1963.


I have wanted to do Needles Eye forever, but I decided I was not quite ready yet.

Here I am sitting on top of tent peg, thinking to myself, THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR. Now this trip almost killed the monster, but not quite. So, off to the next climb.

The Tennessee Wall TN.

We were a little late in the season for T wall but I had two young rope guns with me on this one. I could barely wrestle the sharp end away from either of these guys hands. I carried a pack. Granted the approach to T wall is nothing, but I was proud that I could carry my fair share again. We jumped on Golden Locks 5.8


Ivo, the Bulgarian, grabbed the lead. Everytime I climb with him I claim the first Bulgarian ascent of that route. I don’t know if this is true, but it is something I insist on claiming. I know that this makes him a little uncomfortable because he is a very humble climber.

Next was Razor worm, I have to tell you I have never seen so many spiders in my life as we did at T wall.


The climbing in Tennesse is excellent. I was very impressed. I will be returning soon.


So now I am back home. I just observed my 1 year anniversary since my surgery. I really did this trip report to give people who have been seriously hurt hope. For all you guys and gals out there, if I could have a new ball and socket put in my pelvis, and a titanium rod inserted into my sawed off and drilled out femur and pick up right where I left off is truly amazing. If you are atheist, it’s the dream of modern medicine, to the believer, it is a gift from the great one. But more importantly, if you are sitting at your PC, looking at trip reports on Super Topo, feeling that you have got too old, or some injury could end it all, pause. Ask people for stories of hope. Hope and conquest over the physical limitations of the body. Most important take to heart what is said. It could give you a few more years.