Climbing hard later in life

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This was posted on RCTM.com:

Inspiring story Mike!!! It’s very cool to read about your redpoint process on all of these routes, to compare it to my own and to hopefully learn something from it. I just turned 30 and sent my first 14a this year, and with your new book in my hand I am hoping to keep on pushing the grades in years to come!   - Chris

Congrats Chris! That’s a great accomplishment. I did my first .14a around the same age–just as I was entering my prime
Mark

[Michael Hall]

Very psyched to have just gotten the new book...looks like a classic. I am already putting it to work. I have been climbing on and off for coming on 20 years, and am about to turn 35. After coming back to climbing in the past several years I have gotten stuck bouldering about V8/9 and sport climbing 13a/b, which was my max back in college. 5.14 has been a life-long goal; by your thinking, how realistic is it and in what time frame? I feel as psyched and fit as ever, but am curious on how long progression "usually" takes later in life. - Michael

[MarkAnderson]

I think 5.14 is definitely realistic. Many climbers have started "later in life" and still made significant improvement. For me at least, there isn't much difference physically at age 37, compared to where I was in my 20's. If anything I'm healthier and physically superior in every way (except for my hairline!)

It's really just a question of commitment. The biggest negative change I've noticed is that I'm not 110% psyched 24-7 like I was when I was younger. That, and I have a lot more responsibilities that take time away from climbing. Perhaps that's why I get injured less often

As long as you can stay motivated, and you have the flexibility to make climbing a high priority in your life, you can keep improving.

The time question is much more difficult to answer. Patience is essential, there really are no shortcuts, and trying to pursue them usually results in injury that further delays progress. It's not uncommon for someone who is new to training to improve a letter grade or more in a season, but the more training you have under your belt, the longer it takes to improve. I would shoot for a letter grade per year for the first two years, then half-a-letter-grade per year after that. FWIW, I managed to improve 1 letter per year from 13a to 14a, so you may be able to match that, or perhaps exceed it (I was 26-30 years old during that period).