Climbing with kids

[kellymoe]

I have been climbing a lot more lately and much of it with my son who just turned 11. It has been fun teaching him the tricks of the trade and watching his progression. I am glad I didn't listen to some naysayers who told me to wait til he was older.
This is a shot of my son on his first multi pitch climb and another of him bouldering at Stoney Point and my up and coming daughter on our garage climbing wall.

[ssssnake529]

Our kids were climbing almost as soon as they could walk.


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My oldest is now big enough that he goes with me into the mountains. Nothing better than having your child as your climbing partner.


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[kellymoe]

Those are great shots, lots of fun climbing with your kids for sure. I also got my son on tele skis last winter and am trying to brainwash him to the free heel side but I'm just happy that they both love skiing. I think the only sport that I wont encourage my kids to do is whitewater kayak, I have been boating for decades and have always felt that kayaking is much more dangerous and risky than climbing or back country skiing.

[kellymoe]

A few more shots.
The base of El Capitan and a fun climbing area in eastern California that has yet to be "discovered".

[grahamfitter]

Way cool!

Neither of my kids are particularly interested in climbing but I take them and their friends top-roping periodically and everybody always has fun. On one hand I'm jealous that we don't have those kind of common interests but then again, you can't force people to be who they're not, just give them the opportunities to decide that for themselves. Similarly, I don't play in the band that's currently shaking house off its foundation. We all still enjoy spending time together which is what counts most.

And they get some great genes from their mother who is as big a kid as I am. She doesn't climb often or hard but she's happy to hang out with me on a windy ledge with a good view every now and then. Mostly I'm happy that she's a glass-half-full kind of girl who doesn't consider sleeping on top of a Jeep, with a terminally broken engine, in the parking lot of a Jeep dealer, in a different country to the one we started in, anything to worry about!


I think the only sport that I wont encourage my kids to do is whitewater kayak, I have been boating for decades and have always felt that kayaking is much more dangerous and risky than climbing or back country skiing.

+1 although I didn't need to make that decision myself; their mom exercised her veto rights before I had the chance to suggest it!