In a world soaked in steroids, it’s refreshing to know there is a guy like Hans Florine out there. Florine is a 40-year old speed climber and motivational speaker, and he just kicked ass at the U.S. National Climbing Championships, held at Mission Cliffs in San Francisco. Not sure what sort of tea the guy drinks, but he won the speed climbing division. The second place finisher was all of 18 years old. There was a nice symmetry to his victory. Florine won the first national speed climbing competition held in 1989. That’s 16 years ago for all you math-challenged rock jocks.
I first took note of Florine a while back, when I came across his insane list of the 40 challenges he took on to celebrate his 40th birthday last year (so far he has knocked off 21). Things such as: carry 40 pounds on his body for 4 days (so he could relate to his wife and other pregnant women); knock off a 40 km run; lift 40,000 kgs (about 87,000 pounds) in the weight room; do 400 pull-ups in a day; drink 4 martinis (he only managed 2.5; wimp?); hold 40 yoga poses for 40 seconds each….Well, you get the picture. Florine is a nut, but a nut who has unlimited energy and lives life as if he is decades younger than he really is. Not a bad example…
First-Place Florine: “Oh man, I can’t believe I let this old geezer beat me. Better keep smiling…”
The Earthist Chronicles 