#78 When the Gear Might Not Hold: Cutting-Edge Rock Climbing at 74, Mentorship Across Generations, and Why Boldness and Growth Don’t Have an Age Limit

What does it mean to stay bold — not in your 20s or 30s, but in your 70s? What does it take to trust your body, your judgment, and your preparation when the stakes are high — and there’s no one left to impress but yourself?

In this episode of Ageless Athlete, we meet Rob Matheson, a climber who recently completed one of the UK’s most legendary and serious routes: The Bells, The Bells!, a bold sea cliff climb in North Wales known for its minimal protection and high consequence.

But this episode isn’t just about climbing.

It’s about what happens when we keep moving toward challenge — not recklessly, but intentionally. It’s about how our relationship to risk evolves with age. It’s about mastery, aging, and the subtle difference between quitting while you’re ahead… and knowing there’s more to uncover.

We talk about:
 – How composure and clarity become more important than strength with age
 – What boldness actually looks like after 60 years of experience
 – The difference between perceived fear and actual danger — and why that matters
 – Mentorship — and how his father taught him to climb, and how he passed that on to his son
 – How media pressure affected his decision to try the route again, and what he learned from it
 – The quieter, more personal reasons we keep pushing ourselves long after we have to

This conversation begins with a difficult climb. But it expands into something much deeper — about growth, trust, identity, and what it means to stay fully alive as we age.

Whether you’re an athlete, a parent, or simply someone curious about what comes after midlife, there’s something here for you.

Check out Rob's fantastic Youtube channel! 

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