Climbing with the kiddies
On beauty and horror
I recently wrote a new post for the climbing gym where I’m a member about the uptick in running into families with kids at outdoor climbing areas. Read that here. It’s more an op ed and less a researched article, but is at least entertaining? Read it and let me know!
The topic was on my mind because, well, it always is. I’m often writing and reflecting on our years of dragging our kids around to climbing areas locally and across the country with much affection and a TON of nostalgia. Those were the good ole days, right?
Well, yes and no. More like a combination of beauty and horror, where beauty won us over more often than the horror. Or we just had amnesia for the horror, and we would end up asking the question, wouldn’t taking the mess outside be better than staying home? The answer to that was yes, most of the time, unless it was raining.
I do miss climbing with the kiddos, but it’s been great getting back to just Brian and me. Still on #brianandjen2.1.1, in case you’re wondering. Then all the whinging and fighting we have to manage is our own. Plus, we can take naps in the middle of a climbing day with impunity, which may have always been our favorite thing to do all along. If you’re gonna climb hard, you gotta nap, people.
This is also an opportunity to celebrate our oldest son's recent birthday. He’s 23!
So, I here’s a throwback to those days of beauty and horror, but this time, it’s something written by Brian a billion years ago— okay, only 20— when he moonlighted as Boy on a Bike at our home webpage, anklebiter dot net. He gave me permission. Sort of. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t!
Lessons Learned
We’ve just returned from our first trip to the New River Gorge with two children. Two lessons were learned.
First, we lack the energy and/or patience to climb with a three year old and a six month old. While we managed to do a reasonable number of routes on Saturday (given our rather un-alpine start), today was a wash. Both boys were tired and grumpy from getting considerably less sleep than usual, and they needed near constant attention from us at all times. We can certainly handle them for a day trip (as we did last weekend at Coopers Rock), but a full weekend is a bit beyond us (and, really, them) at this point.
Second, I am still a climber. There has been some doubt about this, since I haven’t been to the gym since February or March, and I have spent more time on my bicycle. But, a few moves into the 5.11 I started with on Saturday, I realized why I have been climbing for nearly fifteen years. The simple flow of moving on stone, feeling out the ripples and edges, creeping ever upward. For a moment, I even entertained the idea of training again, to make the most of our meager time at the New. I thought the better of it, though, knowing I have not the time nor the motivation. No matter, I could always climb, just climb, even if it means top-roping 5.11, failing miserably on 5.12, or padding up 5.7 on gear. Climbing, just climbing, for the joy of it.
It’s likely we won’t try to make the trip the New again for some time. We will, however, make more frequent trips to Morgantown, or explore some of the newer, local crags, whose existence we ignored when we had the time and energy to travel further south.
Yes, I am still a climber.
Posted on 4 June 2006
And lest you forget that I occasionally write outside in the big wide world too, here is something I had published this week (unlocked link)! Loved working on this one SO MUCH. Let me know what you think!
As a future father, I have some insecurities about how a child will impact my climbing. I wonder what my Beauty:Horror ratio will be. And I wonder how to continue guiding with a baby (there SO much travel involved). But I just keep telling myself that I (we) can figure it out. And I try to learn from climbing families when I see them in the wild.
I'd be happy for you to explain the numbers to us non-climbers that love reading about your climbing!