rock climbing advice ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you belay for someone who is your weight or bigger? I only have about 30 pounds on DC, and he is really bulking up fast.

Climbing gyms usually have anchors so you can anchor yourself to the floor when you are belaying someone heavier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you belay for someone who is your weight or bigger? I only have about 30 pounds on DC, and he is really bulking up fast.

Climbing gyms usually have anchors so you can anchor yourself to the floor when you are belaying someone heavier.

Yep. And I have delayed my husband who has 30 pounds on me our entire climbing "career." And I'm only 5 2

[Anonymous]

The rec clubs are great and they belay each other. There is a waiting list to get on them though. I wouldn't expect to get in this fall. The climbing club is also available for more serious climbers.

[Anonymous]

You could check with REI for a class he could take at outside at Carderock.

[Anonymous]

As others have already said - some gyms have auto belay devices he can use (assuming he meets the weight requirement), and he can use the bouldering area - some gyms have pretty elaborate bouldering areas.

ordinarily I would say he make should just make some friends there, but I wouldn't trust kids that young to belay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is getting into rock-cliimbing at the encouragement of exDH. I'm fine with climbing as a sport for DC, but a little puzzled about the logistics. My understanding is that rock climbing requires a partner to belay. Gym staff do belaying only on the weekends at a cost of $30 for 3 climbs. DC wants to climb more than just occasionally, so the $30/3 climbs is getting old. I encouraged exDH to take a course and learn how to belay for DC. ExDH tried, but for a variety of reasons that is not working out.

How do other families manage this? DC doesn't seem to climb well enough to "make a team" which would provide climbing partners or supervisory staff. The instructional opportunities that provide belay partners or instructors seem fairly limited - 6 weeks, very basic -- and seem like DC would outgrow this quickly, yet class seems like a natural place to find other kids who could be climbing partners outside of class.

DC is 13 y.o. Can he just show up at the gym and magically some other customer will offer to belay him? DC has taken a course, is quite big and strong for his age and could, in theory, belay for someone else... but, do you just let anyone belay you at the gym? I mean, I'm not sure I'd look at any 13 yo and think, "I trust you to stop me if I fall." Conversely, do you think it's safe to tell a 13 y.o., "go to the gym and hang out and see what strange adults will play with you..." Clearly, since I don't climb, I don't understand the social and safety dynamics at work in this environment.

If you are a rock-climber or you have kids who climb, please recommend your location (we are in Upper NW/BCC area), classes, how you found a reliable belay partner or any other wisdom about how to help a kid spend time and develop in this sport.

Thanks!

He can boulder by himself

Thanks! I suggested that, but he rejected it, and I don't understand why..... Is it less cool? Is there something special equipment in order to do it? We just bought his own harness, but he doesn't have climbing shoes yet. Does he need a different kind of lesson to be able to do it successfully?

in the actual climbing world bouldering is definitely the cool kid approach--its harder and less dependent on gear. Some people are drawn to the gear, though, so that might be a part of it for your kiddo currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DC is 13 y.o. Can he just show up at the gym and magically some other customer will offer to belay him? DC has taken a course, is quite big and strong for his age and could, in theory, belay for someone else... but, do you just let anyone belay you at the gym? I mean, I'm not sure I'd look at any 13 yo and think, "I trust you to stop me if I fall." Conversely, do you think it's safe to tell a 13 y.o., "go to the gym and hang out and see what strange adults will play with you..." Clearly, since I don't climb, I don't understand the social and safety dynamics at work in this environment.

If you are a rock-climber or you have kids who climb, please recommend your location (we are in Upper NW/BCC area), classes, how you found a reliable belay partner or any other wisdom about how to help a kid spend time and develop in this sport.

Thanks!

Rock gyms usually have a message board for people looking for climbing partners. They usually specify what days of the week and times they can come. They sometimes specify gender and weight, but as another PP pointed out it is possible for a 100 pound woman to belay a 200 pound man using the anchors so it doesn't matter as much as you would think.

During peak hours, usually after work, you can sometimes show up and find a partner. Sometimes the front desk will informally keep track of this. You just tell them you're looking for a partner and they will nod their head over to someone else who is waiting or if you're the first one they will direct the next person to you.

I think chances are low that someone will magically offer to belay him. It's a back and forth. He climbs, they belay. They climb, he belays. You should buy your son a grigri or other belay device that has a safety catch mechanism and make sure he knows how to use it properly. Most climbers I know would feel comfortable having a 13-year-old belay them with one of these devices.

IMO, I think it's perfectly safe for him to go and interact with adults there. There are often really good kid climbers and all the older climbers know them and interact with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not let someone I didn't know belay me, and I am pretty sure that I wouldn't let any 13 year old belay me. I've not infrequently seen even adults asleep at the wheel while belaying and said something to them when I noticed that they were not taking up slack (when it got to be like more than 10 feet of slack and they were clearly zoned out).

OP, can you take a class and learn to belay? It's really not hard, and few people will care about your kid's safety as much as you will.

Um, why didn't you just yell "Slack!"

[Anonymous]

If a 13 year old offered to trade belays with me I'd give him one belay and say no thanks to him giving me any.

Earth Treks staff does not help people find partners. There's a message board but that's it.

There is a website called climbfind but a 13 year old is going to have trouble winning people's confidence.

[Anonymous]

Another idea might be to pay a high school kid to "babysit" and belay him. I'm sure there are climbers who are already members would be happy to make the money, or kids might be happy to have you pay their entry fee so they can climb after helping your son.

[Anonymous]

Another PP mentioned this, but OP if you are interested in earth treks for your son, definitely get on the wait list now. We did that a year ago for our DD, and by January she was off the list and into a rec club spot. She LOVES it. She's 12, so not doing any competing yet, but I can't say enough good things about earth treks. It builds enormous confidence in these kids, and my DD walks out smiling every week. She was bummed that it didn't go through the summer.

[Anonymous]

In general, adults do find climbing partners by showing up to climbing gyms, but I'm not sure I would want my 13 y.o. to do that. It would be awesome if you could find a trusted adult that likes climbing who could take him, or talk to the gym and see if they have some community suggestions.

But I also think you should learn to belay, simply because it'll give you a better idea of what your son is doing and the risks involved. I'm 5' and weigh about 100 lbs, and I've belayed men close to twice my weight in outdoor climbing settings. That's not an ideal situation, because a large fall will likely mean both climber and me getting whipped around...but from a safety perspective you can stop a lethal fall even with a large weight differential. In fact, I've seen men allow way too much slack for other men so that falls become scarier than need be. By contrast, I'm hyper-vigilant while belaying because I don't want there to be a lot of slack since it will make it harder to stop the fall.

It might depend on the type of self-belay device, but generally speaking self-belay requires additional climbing skills which he may not yet have. I know climbing gyms have fancy contraptions, though, so maybe they would have something that mimics having another belayer, but I can't think of how that would work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DC is 13 y.o. Can he just show up at the gym and magically some other customer will offer to belay him? DC has taken a course, is quite big and strong for his age and could, in theory, belay for someone else... but, do you just let anyone belay you at the gym? I mean, I'm not sure I'd look at any 13 yo and think, "I trust you to stop me if I fall." Conversely, do you think it's safe to tell a 13 y.o., "go to the gym and hang out and see what strange adults will play with you..." Clearly, since I don't climb, I don't understand the social and safety dynamics at work in this environment.

If you are a rock-climber or you have kids who climb, please recommend your location (we are in Upper NW/BCC area), classes, how you found a reliable belay partner or any other wisdom about how to help a kid spend time and develop in this sport.

Thanks!

Rock gyms usually have a message board for people looking for climbing partners. They usually specify what days of the week and times they can come. They sometimes specify gender and weight, but as another PP pointed out it is possible for a 100 pound woman to belay a 200 pound man using the anchors so it doesn't matter as much as you would think.

During peak hours, usually after work, you can sometimes show up and find a partner. Sometimes the front desk will informally keep track of this. You just tell them you're looking for a partner and they will nod their head over to someone else who is waiting or if you're the first one they will direct the next person to you.

I think chances are low that someone will magically offer to belay him. It's a back and forth. He climbs, they belay. They climb, he belays. You should buy your son a grigri or other belay device that has a safety catch mechanism and make sure he knows how to use it properly. Most climbers I know would feel comfortable having a 13-year-old belay them with one of these devices.

IMO, I think it's perfectly safe for him to go and interact with adults there. There are often really good kid climbers and all the older climbers know them and interact with them.

Not all gyms allow these kinds of devices.

[Anonymous]

I have never heard of a gym that does not allow grigris and other belay devices that have safety features and I have been in climbing gyms all over the country.
Are you thinking of self-belay devices which are completely different?