Climbs that are good for kids
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I'm soliciting climbs that would be good for kids. My girls are 7 and 9 and are quite good climbers for only being out a handful of times. What I'm finding is that the girls can climb stuff with smaller feet or crimpy edges but have trouble on moves that are reachy for them. They're both relatively short... so holds that are within reach for a teenager are a big throw for them. |
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Hey Jeff, |
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Thanks AB! Sounds great. :) |
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At Rumney, both upper vader and vader have some climbs that are great for kids, below new wave, 5.8 crag, triple corners. My 11 yr old daughter loves leading at Rumney. |
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the 5,6,7 at Jimmy cliff "middle" would be good. they are not reachy and are fairly slabby past the first few bolts. can do Clippity and Lady and the tramp on the true slabs. (great views from the top of all of these) |
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Yeah, I would think upper Darth at Rumney will be pretty good for kids. Juggy climbs tend to be better for them than the moer techy slabs. Younger kids have impressive power-to-weight ratio; as long as they can reach the hold, they can and will yard on it. Trusting their feet on slabs, not so much. |
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If you're in the S.NH area, Deer Leap in Windham is a sweet place to bring the kids. Less than vert but not slabby, easily TR'd and aside from 1 or 2 5.12's, most of the climbing is sub 5.8 and juggy. It's never crowded and the walk in is a breeze too. Took my lil' brothers here when they were around that age, and they dug it. |
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Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch is great. I haven't done any of the routes on the face yet since I'm not yet climbing trad, but the chimney is excellent for kids. There's a couple routes around the same side as the chimney that can be done too, and everything except the face can be done with a 60m top rope. If you climb trad, then go and make a day of it! |
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Cathedral has the North End. Fairly easy to set up topropes. Generally a cool crowd or at least there was 20 years ago. |
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Great suggestions. I'm going to add these rumney routes to my todo list: |
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If you've done Dirtigo, you should have turned around and done Wimpy-Gilman too. ;) |
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Nuthatch is tricky as hell haha maybe their tiny fingers will like it though. |
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Jake D. wrote:Nuthatch is tricky as hell haha maybe their tiny fingers will like it though.The thing I like about nuthatch is that the rope is directly above them pretty much the whole time. Hanging around and trying to figure out how to move upward is one of their favorite things. |
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Great Thread! Any one have some other great routes for kids/ beginners? |
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Travis Dustin wrote:Great Thread! Any one have some other great routes for kids/ beginners?Guides take beginning parties out to Jockey Cap all the time to learn the tricks of the trade. The side wall is small and well featured. I've never climbed there though. MA actually has a lot of nice areas for kids. Mostly because the crags are smaller and easily topropeable. Places like Crow Hill, Hammond Pond, and Redrock are where many generations of kids learned to climb (myself included). In NH, I'd agree with other posters that Square Ledge (near Pinkham) is my favorite beginners area. The setting is great and the climbing is easy. The Chimney is probably one of the perfect first leads and a great little top-rope. The front face is pretty spectacular for new climbers and very easy. Edit: In Pawtuckaway, don't miss the Dome and Ridgeline climbs either. The Dome in particular has nice easy long top ropes climbs. it's usually much quieter than the Slabs and because it's up high and more exposed gets less bugs. Jim |
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Jeff of you see this and haven't done it yet, Cafe au lait is likely not a good one for the kids. Did it last weekend, my girlfriends 11 year old daughter (5'3" tall) had trouble with the start. My 10 year old daughter gave up and was barely off the ground. My 7 year old son made it to the cave though. There's a ton of rope drag if you top rope it. The crux is definitely the start. There's better climbs for kids at Rumney, IMHO. |
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Family Crag at Shell Pond |
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Dan Felix wrote:Jeff of you see this and haven't done it yet, Cafe au lait is likely not a good one for the kids. Did it last weekend, my girlfriends 11 year old daughter (5'3" tall) had trouble with the start. My 10 year old daughter gave up and was barely off the ground. My 7 year old son made it to the cave though. There's a ton of rope drag if you top rope it. The crux is definitely the start. There's better climbs for kids at Rumney, IMHO.Yeah, you're right - the start can be a little tricky. The reason I thought it might be good is because you end up stemming up above. Thinking again, this might be tricky for kids with small legs. In general, when my girls get put in sticky spots (whether it be the start or higher up)... I'll let them get at it for a few attempts until they get frustrated and then I give them a little belay-assisted dyno. A week or so ago we finished up the easier climbs in the Jimmy Cliff alcove. Sydney enjoyed following the Alcove Crack as well. I also let her follow up Nuthatch and she loved being the chimney. She had no problem squirming and scumming her way up through the parts where she wasn't finding the feet. She loved the exposure too! Of course, this might not be for everyone. What are your suggestions for better climbs for kids at Rumney? Do share! :) |
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jim.dangle wrote: Guides take beginning parties out to Jockey Cap all the time to learn the tricks of the trade.I learned to climb at a summer camp in maine. . . our trips were to Jockey's Cap (Left side), Cathedral's north end (practice slabs right?), and square ledge. All were great IMO for varied reasons. |
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Whitney Gilmam...I did it with my wife and son when he was negative 8 months old. But he hasn't been climbing in the almost 4 years since....Hmmm neither has my wife. |