Old-man strength is a very real and remarkable trait, only surpassed by old-man braggadocio. While the latter is normally confined to diners and coffee shops, a 91-year-old recently put his money where his dentures are by becoming the oldest person to climb Wyoming’s Devils Tower.
Dr. Bill Weber got the idea in his head after reading a story in National Parks magazine about an 87-year-old breaking the age record last winter.
“An 87-year-old? Damn, that’s something I could do, I thought,” Weber told the Casper Star Tribune. And he did, climbing the Tad route in 16 hours the day after his 91st birthday with two guides and his two sons — 58 and 63 years old themselves. (Insert Mandelbaum reference here.)
Now, you may be thinking, there’s no way I’d take my 91-year-old pops up Devils Tower. So how’d he convince them? By channeling Bilbo Baggins, naturally: “I said, it’s my party, I’ll pick up the tab, I would just like it for the three of us to have one last adventure.”
Main photo via Jeff Finley on Unsplash
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