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Re: [lena_chita] Tito Traversa:
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JasonsDrivingForce
Jul 11, 2013, 3:34 PM
Views: 18493
Registered: Apr 3, 2009
Posts: 687
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This situation really hit home for me. My 5 year old son was the one who got me into climbing. I had no experience with climbing before that. I simply was terrified of heights my entire life. Over the last 4 years my son’s climbing has progressed rapidly partly because he was inspired to push his limits by young climbers like Tito. He also has been inspired to climb hard outdoors. However, I have absolutely no outdoor climbing experience so I couldn’t make that happen without the help of our climbing gym instructors. We have been to our local climbing spot(Pilot Mountain) so many times that I can’t count them all. Each time has been either with a guide(Fox Mountain Guides) or with his climbing gym instructors. And on every occasion I have gone with him, only allowed him to top rope, and made him wear a helmet at all times. I know all of the other kids ask why his dad is going on the trip when no one else’s dad is there. I simply tell them that it is because I am a photographer and I take pictures for the gym. The real reason is that I simply want to be the one responsible for his safety. I double check everything I can with him and I make him sit out when he doesn’t make safety his number one goal. I know at some point I will have to just trust that I have instilled the importance of safety enough in him to let him go on these trips without me. However, at 9 years old it is still hard for me to come to grips with that. He has also had several opportunities to climb at the Red on lead with experienced and consciousness parents and other experienced young climbers. I have turned them all down because I just wasn’t confident enough in his leading and my abilities to identify a dangerous situation because I haven’t done it before. This incident with Tito has made me even more concerned that I wouldn’t be able to identify all of the dangerous situations that occur with lead climbing. I am not sure if I would have been able to spot that the quickdraw setup was improperly assembled. I am not accustomed to using any of the rubber stoppers like that. That being said eventually I will have to let him have his independence. I will have to trust not only the people he goes with but I will also have to trust his own safety skills. I am not sure at what age that will be. Maybe 10, 11, or 12 years old like Tito. Perhaps sooner. Perhaps later. All I know is that as a parent the worst nightmare I have ever had was waking up after the thought of my son falling from the anchors. I can’t imagine the suffering that Tito’s parents are going through right now. The loss of my children is my biggest fear. I only hope that I have instilled enough sense of self-preservation in them so that we don’t ever end up in a situation like this ourselves.
(This post was edited by JasonsDrivingForce on Jul 11, 2013, 3:37 PM)
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