Sally Seah reaches her left hand skyward, latching onto a jagged edge of limestone that’s about the width of four credit cards, stacked together. The 63-year-old grunts and pulls, tendons and muscles in her forearm flexing, as she hoists herself just high enough to release her right foot.
The senior rock climber looks down – not at the forest floor, leering 10 metres below her, but for a minuscule nib of rock jutting out from the cliff face. She tests it with her big toe, before gingerly weighting it and stepping up.
Her rubber shoes yield just enough friction to keep her from slipping off the wall as she shoots her right hand out to a stone wedge, big enough this time for her to grasp it firmly with her entire hand.
She reaches down, pulls up her rope, and clips it into a metal anchor secured to the crag as her son Wilson cheers below. Sally relaxes into her harness as she’s lowered, enjoying the view of the fog-covered rice paddies in the distance.
Six years ago, before the silver picked up rock climbing to pass time in retirement, such a feat would’ve been unthinkable. But today, it’s just another Tuesday – albeit one spent scaling natural rock walls in the rural district of Huu Lung, northeast Vietnam.
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Senior rock climber scaling new heights
Rock climbing isn’t one’s usual idea of a retirement hobby.
It is an inherently risky endeavour – it falls into an entirely separate category for extreme sports, for example, when buying insurance – whether you choose to climb indoors on artificial walls (where plastic holds are screwed onto wooden panels) or on natural rock.
In Singapore, the latter can only be found on the granite walls at Dairy Farm Quarry. However, several accidents over the decades have led to the site’s closure.
Even without the risk of unseen dangers like falling rocks, the physical nature of the sport means that scrapes and bruises are common, as are pulled tendons and strained muscles on the fingers and forearms.
Nevertheless, Sally avers that rock climbing can be an enjoyable and rewarding sport for silvers, even those who start later in life like her.
Her first experience with the sport came at around age 57, after she had retired from her day job at a printing company.
I was feeling very bored. My younger son, who's very interested in climbing, asked me to join him. The first time I tried it, my hands and arms were so sore (laughs).
The mother of two says,
Though she was previously an active hiker, the senior says that climbing presented a new challenge to her muscles. But she persisted, partially because of just how “addictive” she found it.
Don't look down on it as just 'Oh, climbing, so just move your arms and legs and go up'. You have to be aware of how you want to grab each rock, how to position your body, and where you look,
she says.
"If you make one wrong move, you’ll fall off."
But when you try and try again, you slowly get higher, until you reach the top – it's so exciting,
she adds.
Rock climbing is a full body (and brain) workout
Sally now climbs up to four times a week, rotating through Singapore’s roster of indoor rock-climbing gyms. These gyms regularly update the challenges on the walls, meaning that climbers can usually alternate between devoting their energy to repeatedly trying a climb until they complete it, or climbing new ones.
I'll usually stay for a minimum of two hours, but if I have a climb that I really, really want to finish – or my kakis are around – sometimes, I’ll be there for almost six hours,
the silver explains with a laugh.
Indeed, she considers rock climbing as much a physical workout as it is a mental and social one.
You can't really climb without paying attention. You must activate your brain to think about what to do next, where to go and how to do it,
she says.
When you're resting on the ground, you’re still active too. Chatting with friends, discussing the moves with new people. It's not like the regular gym, where everyone is very focused finishing their workout, and then they go home,
adds the senior.
With that said, Sally recommends seniors to take additional precautions when trying out rock climbing compared to friendlier sports. She sticks to roped climbing, where climbers don a harness that’s secured to a rope that catches them in case of a fall. Bouldering, which is rock climbing closer to the ground protected by a mat rather than a rope or harness, is something Sally does only occasionally.
Although bouldering in general is usually considered easier than rock climbing, there is the risk of landing wrongly.
When you’re older, you shouldn’t take chances with your knees,
she explains.
"Better to be safe than sorry."
Senior rock climber heading into the great outdoors
According to Sally, climbing outdoors is an altogether different beast, and not just for the lack of air-conditioning.
Natural rock faces are just that – natural, which often means they’re only maintained by volunteers or not at all. The bolts and anchors that you attach safety equipment to can get rusty, and even the rocks themselves may become loose after years of climbing. Even manoeuvring the rope that protects can get tricky, as it might get snagged on jagged rocks.
All of these require knowledge and awareness that only comes with experience.
Outside, your life is in someone else’s hands. They are holding on to the rope that will save you, so you must trust whoever you go with.
Says the silver,
Senior adventurers should also be aware of other factors like unpredictable conditions and a possible trek from carpark to crag.
Go with someone experienced and do your research. I've hiked for 45 minutes before even reaching our climbing spot, which means it won’t be so easy to get out if anything happens,
says the senior rock climber.
Those who manage to overcome these obstacles will be duly rewarded with a different flavour of rock-climbing challenge and great views. Sally, who now heads overseas regularly for rock-climbing trips, sees it as a way to explore places she wouldn’t normally go – and carve out some bonding time with her adult son.
Our relationship was always good, but I've gotten closer with Wilson thanks to rock climbing,
says Sally.
"It was an enjoyable way for both of us to spend time together and have fun with a sport we love."