I never expected to be posting this message, but I have retired from climbing.

My last outdoor climb was last October at Yonah. I climbed the Army single pitch section on the fixed cable with a pair of slings and biners. Once at the top of the first route, I anchored my rope for a rap and solo TR back up on my Guardian solo device.

Two groups had come up while I was rigging, so I waited with camera out and shot many shots of the two groups for about three hours. I rapped down, pulled the rope, and told the parties that I was posting the pics on my website and gave the link.

I did a great deal of thinking about why I had not climbed. At that time, I was 60 years old and soon to turn 61. I do not believe that there is an upper limit in years for climbing. I do believe that it is time to quit an activity when the passion leaves.

I went to HP40 with a group and spent two days shooting hundreds of bouldering shots of a great group of old and new friends from my home town. I enjoyed doing the photography so much that I did not care that I was not climbing except to find good vantage points on boulders.

My last trip was to Currahee in North Georgia. I was planning to rap in on "Pepsi" and solo TR back up. This was my 86th trip from Florida to GA/AL/TN/NC/KY venues since beginning climbing in 2003.

I stood at the top of Pepsi and shot a number of pics. When I got ready to setup my rappel, I realized that I had left the rope in my car. I recognized the subconscious process at work, and hiked back down to the car. I just lost the fire. In the face of $3.50-$4.00 gas and a lower income since I retired, I just felt burned out. I had my right hip replaced in 2008, but that was 25 climbing trips ago. I think it is just time for another passion.

I drove to Helen and hiked up to Anna Ruby Falls and shot 200 waterfall shots that resulted in some excellent images. I placed two of these for sale in commercial venues...my first professional offerings since a commercial shoot for an architect's new building in 1975.

I took another trip, but just packed my camera and shot more salable images at Amicalola Falls and Tallulah Gorge. The level of personal satisfaction that I returned home with was complete .

I have made numerous local photographic trips up to an hour or two of driving to some beautiful places in NE Florida. I have photographs on exhibit in 5 different commercial locations, with my first two sales on the books.

I will be continuing with the photography, and I would enjoy documenting climbing trips or any other type of outdoor adventures. Climbing has joined surfing, skateboarding, and running in my collection of great experiences in this life.

My life has been a series of total commitments to high commitment activities. Each reached the point where it was no longer essential part of my identity. Each had fed my driving passion for adventure and finding life at its best when most at risk.

Forgetting modesty for a minute ... I surfed from ages 14 to 55, only giving it up when an arthritic hip prevented me from getting to my feet on a wave. That life passion took me to a year at the University of Hawaii where I occasionally attended a class. I surfed Back Door at 8', nearly died in a 10' swell at Chun's Reef, broke a board at Sandy Beach in another 10' swell, and mastered Haleiwa at 15'.

Passion? My first job when I got married in 1971 was to open a surf shop with a friend. It did not last past that summer, but I recently sold my 50th board.

My second job was teaching SCUBA to young offenders in a wonderful intervention program (JMI). I was able to dive all over Florida and in various places in the Bahamas. Our boat sank between Bimini and Ft. Lauderdale on 10/1/74, and we were picked up four hours later by a US Coast Guard helicopter.

Skateboarding was a high school thing that I resumed with some of my students when Kona Skate Park opened back in the '70s. I skated there more or less often until replacing the hip. One of my sons got into skateboards, so I took him and numerous friends to Kona on a weekly basis.

The arthritis that killed my hip was probably caused by thousands of skateboard crashes where I always caught myself on my right foot. My last Kona trip was on my 60th birthday, on old fogies night when we get a discount rate. I have not looked back, but I think of skating when my crushed elbow (from my first visit to Kona) hurts or when I reach a new walking mileage mark (1,700 miles since the surgery).

Now, it is outdoor photography. Same level of passion, just a different activity.

Why write this? Equal parts of:

1. encouraging people to continue living with passion (I know you would not be a climber without that need), and

2. saying that if things change that prevent you from climbing, or you find that you have moved on, accept it but don't take it lying down. Get out there and find another passion. You wouldn't be climbing otherwise, right?

God bless all of you. I have truly treasured the company of my climbing companions, especially long time partner Jimmy Flanagan.

[Shameless commercial plug: Anyone need an adventure documented in the Southeast?]

Thanks for sharing the wonderful info with us!

I also am very nearly there.

I need a knee replacement, and am avoiding it, because I still telemark ski, and will probably need to retire from that too, once the new joint is in.

When the time finally comes, I'll figure out what to do with my rack. I'll probably give it away to somebody on this site.

Thanks for sharing.

So I am pretty sure you are a scumbag spammer trying to get people to click through the link on your profile.

Care to attempt a defence before XmesoX smacks you with the banz hammer?