TBH, it was so long ago that I totally expected to be starting from scratch. I am guessing that I'm progressing a lot faster than I might have when I was 20.

TBH, it was so long ago that I totally expected to be starting from scratch. I am guessing that I'm progressing a lot faster than I might have when I was 20. I think you're right that it's largely mental, though working carefully on my footwork and other technique has helped with some easy gains. Simply getting that idea about how it works helps-- in my day tpo day life, I generally haven't needed to move like I do when climbing. Even when I was 20 I couldn't pull 5.12. However, I've been able to successfully do harder "5.11" at my gym. I don't think that will translate to rocks... I could be way, way off base, but the 5.10s in my gym feel a lot like I remember the 5.8s I used to climb back in the day. So I am super curious how this gym work will convert to climbing in the larger world. Ultimately my goal is to be able to do things like the casual route on the diamond, so I am not aiming to do super hard routes, just committed stuff that takes a lot of skills. I just got a rope and some draws, though, so I'll be seeing how the gym translates to actual rock over the next couple of weeks.