My 17yo son asked for trad gear for Christmas but has never climbed outside of a gym.... Advice please

My family has been climbing for a few years...  Mostly at a Movement gym and we also have a home bouldering wall we built during covid.  Our oldest son asked for trad gear because he wants to just "mess around" and teach himself outdoor climbing.  He specifically asked for rope, nuts, slings etc. and the book. Downward Bound: A Mad! Guide to Rock Climbing....   As his parent I know he is not ready for this step yet.  I appreciate the type of climbing many on here do, but I realize he doesn't really have any risk-management skills and has injured himself doing random "I'm tough" type things quite easily.  I realize making a mistake outdoor climbing could severely injure him or worse so I am not going to let him just fiddle around by himself.  I also realize he will be an adult before long so these will be his choices then.  

I am interested if any other parents have been in a similar situation.  I am also mainly wondering what the best path is to get him to where he wants to be and also learn about risk/reward and responsibility along the way.  I know all climbing has risks.

He has only ever top-roped in a gym.  Is the best route to get him an "intro to lead" class and hope he takes an interest in learning that at the gym?  Then after that find an intro to outdoor climbing with a guide or through the gym, followed by moving on to trad climbing?

I think your idea of pivoting the gift to a course is a great direction. Giving a teenager a trad rack and hoping they figure it out on their own feels just about as sketch as handing them the keys to a motorcycle and hoping they figure it out on their own.  There are a lot of AMGA certified guides teaching outdoor trad leading courses that are pretty cool experiences overall.  Here's an example:

https://www.alpineinstitute.com/catalog/learn-to-lead-trad-rock-climbing-leadership/

Thanks Chris.  It's nice to see what a course looks like and costs as well.

I’ll second Chris’s advice plus whatever gear he needs to follow. :)

If you’re around California I echo the above responses and say use Bob Gaines and Chris Baumman of Vertical Adventures in Joshua Tree/Tahquitz.

Before I ever trad climbed or really climbed outdoors I took a couple days of trad courses with them and it was for sure the best thing I ever did when starting to climb. 

Some professional instruction, along with a set of quick draws, slings, lockers, helmet etc. so that he can learn to sport climb outdoors would be a good alternative to a trad rack.  

Hans Climberwrote:

My family has been climbing for a few years...  Mostly at a Movement gym and we also have a home bouldering wall we built during covid.  

Seems like a good opportunity for you both to pick up some new skills! Take a course or two together (intro to lead, gym to crag, hire a guide, etc) then put them into practice outside. Even just setting up topropes together will teach y’all the foundations of anchor building, rappelling, rope management, basic safety skills (tethers, knots, etc) and climbing etiquette in your area.

If you want to get him a nice present, a Grigri and/or rope should break the bank sufficiently. A 17yo who has never climbed outside should probably not own a trad rack—but should definitely not be gifted one.

I am also mainly wondering what the best path is to get him to where he wants to be and also learn about risk/reward and responsibility along the way.

I’m also curious about this. Sadly, I’ve met climbers in their 20s and 30s who still seem to struggle with basic risk-assessment.

Side note: who is he planning on climbing with? If he just wants to follow 5.easy with someone who is experienced and safety conscious, then maybe the thing he’s asking for is perfect. But if he wants to go lead some classics with a single set of nuts and an equally unexperienced belayer, I’d discourage that.

+1 to classes/guided instruction. Think he will learn much more from having some memorable hands-on experience. And can follow that with a helmet and some other basic gear to get started (maybe some crack gloves or tape?). Maybe a copy of the latest ANAC journal ;-) 

I would add, think it makes sense for him to learn how to lead in the gym, follow/clean, and rappel before going further into trad climbing.

Thanks again for the responses.  To answer a question above, he doesn't have any partners.  He has only done top rope with myself belaying.  We also have another son who is 15 but I'm 99% sure he isn't going to be interested in climbing outdoors.  He usually sticks to bouldering as he doesn't like the height with ropes.   

A few years ago I would have got into lead climbing myself, but covid set me back quite a bit.  I have been focusing on regular fitness/running for now!  Covid wasn't kind to my family (bloodline family).  All our kids and my wife did fine with it.

I think I will go with a gift certificate that he can use to take a class and get into some new techniques at the gym.  Hopefully that will fulfill his desires for now until he is ready for something like the guided outdoor course Chris C mentioned above.  He honestly doesn't have a ton of time to devote to climbing when in school as he is a pretty competitive runner in cross country and track.  I also already bought a pack of slopers for our home wall which is one type of hold we didn't have yet.  Hopefully all that fills his climbing interest for a year or two while he hopefully matures more!

When I was 15 I learned gear placements by begging for my parents to buy me a day of guided climbing in the gunks. (I also read lots of books.) Any certified guide will do a day of teaching like that if you ask. You and your son should hire a guide together and learn! So, I agree with everyone else who made a similar rec.

Just a small caution about parents tagging along on the course or with the guide.

During a local annual climbing course here, the leaders tended to split family and close ones up onto separate teams for the duration of the course. Reason being that too often one person usually tended to not allow the other the autonomy needed to learn.

What prevented autonomy was quite variable. And some pairs probably would have been ok together through the course. But the risk of not really learning as an individual can have a high consequence later. You, Hans, probably understand this. But many do not.

Bill Lawrywrote:

Just a small caution about parents tagging along on the course or with the guide.

During a local annual climbing course here, the leaders tended to split family and close ones up onto separate teams for the duration of the course. Reason being that too often one person usually tended to not allow the other the autonomy needed to learn.

What caused that was quite variable. And some pairs probably would have been ok together through the course. But the risk of not really learning as an individual can have a high consequence later. You, Hans, probably understand this. But many do not.  

Good point. I did it with a friend—worked very well.

Alec Owrote:

I did it with a friend—worked very well.

I would add to my last that, otherwise, taking a course together can be really rewarding and more than double the learning. At the end of the / each day, a pair can together share what they learned, which often occurred in different ways and to different degrees.  I was lucky to experience that  with my son as we were both beginners at the time.

I wouldn’t say you should get him a rack but he’s not too young. He’s about the age a ton of people start. 

That’s the age I was when I bought a set of nuts. Not too long after, I bought 4 cams. Armed with no knowledge and no books, just the common sense of a teenage boy, I headed to my local area and proceeded to devise a clumsy setup to lead solo easy routes. This was literally how I learned to place gear.

Over time, I used the gear to set up top ropes. And I started teaching my friends how to belay so I’d have someone to go with.

I wouldn’t say we were ever all that safe but we survived. Within a year or two, my energy for climbing brought me into contact with much more experienced climbers. At that point, I really started to advance.

My story isn’t unique. I bet there’s at least 20 people reading this right now who also taught themselves how to climb as a dumb teenager.

There're a bunch of climbing parents out there. Look around and find some for you and your son/family to hook up with in your area. Most climbers love to teach and connecting through kids is a great way to meet likeminded climbers.

Second for sending your kid solo to get maximum benefit on his first guided trip if thats the route you choose. Then he can teach you what he learned afterwards.

For outdoor gear Black Diamond, Metolius, Wild Country, and Totems all make excellent cams and for stoppers, off-sets are the way. Nothing like getting a brand new set of stoppers for Christmas!

If you are in Colorado, I recommend courses with the Colorado Mountain Club. They are good value (less expensive than commercial schools), and you'll get connected with the community and potential partners.

As everyone stated, a guided day would be huge, but I really think you should involve yourself as well, it’s fun and super informative. This way you also have the tools needed to make informed decisions. Great father and son activity!  

The one thing I would say, is try and get an idea of what you want to get out of a guided trip. Do you want your son to learn how to place gear? There’s plenty of kids his age out there doing it but they were climbing outside well before, typically.

From the info you provided, I’d suggest you both learn how to set safe top rope anchors. That way you can go out and get your feet wet. At 17, my friends and I were doing that and quickly progressed into leading sport and then in college, trad.  It snowballs quickly, but I think a guided trip, rope, webbing, static line and locking carabiners is the way to start.  Lotta $ to spend, but not my business.  

If you learn to safely set top rope anchors it gives you both a lot of freedom to explore. As a x-country runner myself, climbing was a welcomed change of pace and was good for my headspace.  

Good luck! 

If he wants to climb outside, get him outside! Buying more holds for your wall or taking a course inside probably isn't going to scratch the itch of rock climbing. If you aren't able to safely lead, I would start by hiring a guide and going together (unless he doesn't want to be climbing with you). Are you interested in learning to climb outside? Depending on the area, it doesn't take much skill or require risk taking to set up top ropes. Learning to lead is useful, but often not necessary for getting out there.

I would also say that there are a ton of great resources on YouTube for learning how to climb outside. Watching them won't give you the experience you need, but it will give a baseline of knowledge to understand why a more experienced partner is doing what they're doing.

One other thing as a fun project idea, is to build a small setup at home for practicing important skills. I have a little two-hanger setup with chains on a block of wood at home, useful for practicing/teaching things like anchors, rappelling, multi-pitch transitions.

get him some ball nuts and a locking carabiner

Rope, Grigri, 10 Quickdraws, a couple shoulder length slings and 2 locking carabiners.  Learn to lead in the gym, and then transition outdoor top roping and eventually leading.   Much easier to learn rope management while sport climbing, and then transition to gear later.

I had my first rope and draws around 16 or 17, and started buying cams and nuts around 18 or 19.  I would find sport routes with the occasional piece of gear to build confidence.

And yes, a course is a great idea.