‘Flailing Fossils’: Vermont seniors build strength, conquer fears on indoor climbing walls
RUTLAND, Vt. (InvestigateTV) — A group of seniors in Vermont call themselves “Fossils,” but we just think they “rock.”
It may be hard to believe, but inside The Green Mountain Climbing Center in Rutland, there are fossils.
“The Flailing Fossils is what we call ourselves,” said Denis Coriell.
Actually, it’s a group of seniors looking upward, roped into a sport they can’t put down.
Seventy-three-year-old Denis Coriell has been climbing inside and outside for years. Her friend Pat Hunter is relatively new to the sport. The earliest climb was, well, far from uplifting.
“The first thing, how frightened I was, I got up that wall about halfway and froze, because I looked down and went, oh my God!” Hunter said.
Conquering fears one step at a time
Pat took a breath, looked up and reached for the painted sky.
“And when I got to the top, we touch our head when we get to the top, the exhilaration was that I could have done it,” she said.
Now seventy-seven, Pat and the other seniors are here three days a week.
“And it made me think of other things I’m not trying because I’m afraid of failing,” Hunter said.
When asked if she was nervous the first time she went up, 70-year-old Candy Jones was candid.
“Scared $#&%less. Totally, totally, it took a full before I was comfortable on the rope,” Jones said.
The 70-year-old conquered her fear of heights one step at a time.
Building strength and camaraderie
“I think it’s camaraderie that the group of people here, and also, you know, the exercise,” Coriell said.
“Strength, upper body strength, it’s something I’ve not had, so it keeps me working on it. Balance, it’s been amazing,” Hunter said.
“The Flailing Fossils. Yeah! That’s a great name,” said Larry Walter.
“Someday it’s appropriate,” added Allon Wildgust.
Hardly the case for seventy-seven-year-old Allon Wildgust.
“Today, for some reason, I had the highest climb ever in my career in this gym,” Wildgust said. “But I failed 4 times. And then, the 5th time, got it.”
Mental and physical challenge
The sport is both physical and mental.
“There’s a matter of trust, trust is really big when you are climbing, yeah,” Coriell said.
“A lot of it is, getting your head in the right place and then getting your core in the wall,” Walter said.
Seventy-two-year-old Larry Walter, like Denis, has been a rock climber for decades. It wasn’t until he got involved with this group that he found a passion for climbing.
“I can still breathe...breathe and smile,” Walter said.
He credits these seniors for making it fun and rewarding.
“You get a whole workout and you don’t really know it’s happening until ..after two hours, oh, I’ve been through something,” Walter said.
“Yeah, that’s my happy place I call it,” Coriell said.
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