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Gearing up your kids for rock climbing |
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Written by Julie Chapman
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Monday, 21 July 2008 |
How old do you have to be to learn to rock climb? It doesn’t seem unusual to think of a teenager learning how to do this sport, but some may hesitate about younger kids. Well, the answer is that kids are strong, flexible, adventurous, and essentially natural climbers. Any parent with a set of bookcases already knows this. With the right gear, there isn’t much of a minimum age for rock climbing.
But what does it really take to gear-up the under-12 set for this cool-sounding sport? It is pretty much the same as it is for any age. Most kids will be bouldering or top-rope climbing, and with that, their gear needs are quite simple.
Required: rock climbing shoes, harness, climbing rope, locking carabiner, belay brake
Optional: chalk bag and chalk, helmet
Although the type of gear doesn’t change much from adults to kids it is important to have the right fit, and many rock climbing gear companies are adding kid-inspired styling to get youngsters more excited about their own gear. The two main pieces of gear, shoes and a harness, are what you need to rent at a gym, or buy on your own, in order to start climbing. They are also the pieces of gear that afford the greatest variety.
Shoes come in many different styles as far as color and design, but they are fairly straightforward in that the fit is simple: as tight as you can stand and still manage to walk. No more time on your knees at a shoe store, pushing on the toe of your child’s new shoe and asking them to wiggle their big toe so you can see if they have room to grow — if they say their toes are squished but they can still walk a bit then that’s a good fit.
The idea behind this is that there will be no slippage on the foot as they maneuver on the wall, and their toes will act as one toe, helping them stand on small toe holds with just the edge of the shoe.
Harnesses are the other main piece of gear for climbing. This is where there really can be a difference between adult gear and kids gear. Most older kids, four or so and up, will do fine in a waist and leg harness, just like an adult. However, there are also body harnesses available, which go around the waist and legs, like a normal harness, and also around the chest and arms. The reason one might choose this type of harness would be if they were helping a very young child climb, age 2 or 3, who may not have the balance and strength to keep their body upright when suspended from their waist. It can also afford a little more security, to parent and child, when a very young child is climbing — one more point for a rope to be secured to them.
If you aren’t ready to invest in your own kid-gear quite yet, don’t worry. A good gym, like Momentum or The Quarry, will have rental gear in children’s sizes, both shoes and harnesses, and obviously all the ropes, carabiners, and belay devices are part of the gym as it is. Your only expense would be an optional chalk bag and chalk, though for the casual climber you can certainly get along without them. Don’t balk at expense (even all together, it would be nothing like outfitting kids for skiing), just get out there and climb, you can ease into your own pieces of gear little by little if the sport really captivates your children — but be prepared, it probably will.
For more details about our family adventure at Momentum the kids' perspectives and a parent's perspective .
For more information on rock climbing opportunities for kids go to www.momentumclimbing.com or www.quarryclimbing.com. |
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