Kid Friendly "Alpinism"

[bedellympian]

Definitely jumping the gun a bit, but my 2 year old daughter keeps saying "I wanna climb a Mountain with Dada!" This summer she hiked up Tumalo Peak outside of Bend under her own power, no carrying... 2 miles and 1300' up. She also tries to climb all the rocks at the bouldering area where I take her. I got her a full body Edelrid harness and she loves swinging around in it. We're going to go TR some mellow (3rd/4th class featured) slabs this weekend. I know it won't be enough and she will just cry when we are done. I have some small summits that have easy (3rd/4th class) scrambles up the backside at Smith that I will take her on for the next step, but I am thinking about something more for next summer and down the road. Anyone got ideas for very mellow but also very safe summits I could get her up? Thinking mellow hike approach, minimal objective hazard, 1-2 "pitches" with big ledges and good anchors. I plan to do the Leo Houlding method where you lead the pitch, fix the line, rap and TR solo with your kid so she doesn't have to deal with any gear. Ideally it would be less crowded so we don't have yahoos trying to go around us. Ideas? Yes, I'm crazy!

[JasonG]

That's a tough one up in these parts....but I admire your drive.  I just went hiking with my kids and that felt like enough.  I am not sure if I know of something that checks all your boxes.....but.....I think anything like that will need to be midweek.  Anything solid enough to be "safe" in the Cascades is going to be popular on weekends.  Even popular climbs still have a fair amount of loose rock hazard.  Maybe drive down to Tuolumne?

Maybe when she gets a bit older things like the Tooth, S Early, Liberty Bell, etc. will be the ticket but I think that is too much for a 3 year old.  But what do I know!

[bedellympian]

Some inspiriation for those of you with kids; Leo and his wife took their 3 and 7 yr olds up the Piz Badile (3000ft 5.7) among many other long moderate routes...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-53652968

https://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/leo-houlding

[JasonG]

I do not have Leo's genes and neither do my kids.  I still hear plenty of whining on a 3k vert trail and they're 13 and 15!

[tanstaafl]

• Not in her immediate future, but an option for the future instead of lead, fix, rap, TR solo would be if you could enlist a friend -- I once happily led all the pitches on Das Toof while my buddy Ken and his 10-year old followed on doubles so he could climb beside her the whole time.  It was a fun day out.

 

Also, this guy has some hilarious kiddie trip reports: https://jimherson.com/climbing/tr.html

[olyclimber]

On 10/5/2023 at 3:57 PM, bedellympian said:

Some inspiriation for those of you with kids; Leo and his wife took their 3 and 7 yr olds up the Piz Badile (3000ft 5.7) among many other long moderate routes...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cumbria-53652968

https://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/leo-houlding

They must have done the North Ridge, which is 5.6.   As a Cascade Hardman who has soloed Das Toof <insert deafening chest thumping noises>, I am not so brave as to solo fifth class with a small child on my back.   

[astrov]

I would think a home indoor climbing wall with juggy holds and thick mats underneath would be a nice addition for a kid who really loves to climb

Edited October 11, 2023 by astrov

[bedellympian]

23 hours ago, astrov said:

I would think a home indoor climbing wall with juggy holds and thick mats underneath would be a nice addition for a kid who really loves to climb

Already got that.

 

On 10/9/2023 at 5:41 PM, olyclimber said:

They must have done the North Ridge, which is 5.6.   As a Cascade Hardman who has soloed Das Toof <insert deafening chest thumping noises>, I am not so brave as to solo fifth class with a small child on my back.   

They aren't soloing. They are using a fix and follow or TR solo method.

[olyclimber]

ah i see it now! you're right, my bad!

[swimsyd]

On 10/5/2023 at 1:14 PM, bedellympian said:

Definitely jumping the gun a bit, but my 2 year old daughter keeps saying "I wanna climb a Mountain with Dada!" This summer she hiked up Tumalo Peak outside of Bend under her own power, no carrying... 2 miles and 1300' up. She also tries to climb all the rocks at the bouldering area where I take her. I got her a full body Edelrid harness and she loves swinging around in it. We're going to go TR some mellow (3rd/4th class featured) slabs this weekend. I know it won't be enough and she will just cry when we are done. I have some small summits that have easy (3rd/4th class) scrambles up the backside at Smith that I will take her on for the next step, but I am thinking about something more for next summer and down the road. Anyone got ideas for very mellow but also very safe summits I could get her up? Thinking mellow hike approach, minimal objective hazard, 1-2 "pitches" with big ledges and good anchors. I plan to do the Leo Houlding method where you lead the pitch, fix the line, rap and TR solo with your kid so she doesn't have to deal with any gear. Ideally it would be less crowded so we don't have yahoos trying to go around us. Ideas? Yes, I'm crazy!

I am impressed! Got a two year old we are trying to get on rock, but have had trouble with the attention span. She did one outdoor climb on rock but lots to learn. Oregons tough since most of the peaks require a good trek to get to them. Mt Thielsen would be easy…but a trek to get to and the dealing with shale trying to get up to the climbing would get old. It’s a drive but we climbed rabbit ears in southern Oregon. It wasn’t hard climbing but might be worth looking at. It’s been a while though so not sure on anchors. Not much for ledges tho. Unfortunately a lot of the lesser known peaks are all treks to get to. Enjoy tho. Maybe we will see you out there sometime and that can give some motivation to my daughter!

[genepires]

while it does not include any technical climbing, labyrinth mountain up just east of stevens pass is a pretty good kid alpinism route.  5 mile 2500ft gain trail to a lake with plenty of camping could be day one.  labyrinth mountain lays above the lake and is a little bit visually intimidating.  But there is a climber goat trail going to the summit with a 8 ft scramble at top.  views good with a couple hours from the lake.

 

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/washington/labyrinth-mountain--2

[JasonG]

Cool!