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JasonsDrivingForce
Jun 23, 2009, 7:28 PM
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So my 5 year old son and I decided to finally go outdoors and do some real climbing this past weekend. My son’s coaches organized a trip to Pilot Mountain North Carolina for the whole kid’s team. They also setup all of the gear and top ropes for us since most of the parents are not climbers.
My son literally jumped out of bed at 6:00 AM on father’s day, ready for the trip. We both piled into the minivan(A.K.A The Family Truxter) and headed west towards Pilot Mountain. However, we made a quick stop for some Dunkin Donuts and then we were right back on the road.
As we approached the park my son finally got a glimpse of Pilot Mountain. He said, “Dad why is it flat on top and why doesn’t it have any snow on it?”. I think he was expecting Everest instead of Pilot Mountain. However, he said he was very excited to get to the top of the mountain and start climbing.
We finally pulled into the parking lot about 9:00 AM and we headed down to the routes after we snapped a few pics of the scenic view.
Since my son had never climbed a top rope outside of a gym before, we asked him to let the more experienced kids go first so he could watch them. He obliged reluctantly.
Finally, it was his turn to climb. He jumped right up and after a quick check of his gear and the exchange of “Climb?...Climb on.” He was off. He seemed to take right to it. The height wasn’t bothering him a bit. I on the other hand was nervous just standing at the bottom looking up at him.
He seemed so relaxed and he was singing a song as he climbed. I listened carefully and realized he was singing the Oompa-Loompa song from Willy Wonka.
It was cute to see him enjoying climbing so much. It helped that the other kids were between 8 and 14 years old. He really looked up to them and they all cheered him on as he climbed.
The coaches urged me to run to the top of the route to get some videos from above. I thought, “ok sure I can run up there and snap a few pics from the top”. Boy was I wrong! First off it was a lot harder running up that hill than it was coming down it. You can hear me “out of breath” in the videos from the top.
Second I am still not too fond of heights unlike my son who is just fearless when it comes to that. The coaches said just lay down on your stomach and take the video over the edge. Without being roped in, there was no way I was getting anywhere near the ledge. I just found a nice spot on an adjacent route to film him from. That is definitely where the 12x optical zoom comes in handy.
He climbed for the next few hours and he seemed to be enjoying it the whole time. I finally convinced him to eat lunch and he devoured both his and my lunch. Then it was right back to climbing again.
2:00 PM finally rolled around and most of the other kids had left. However, my son was still trying to complete the only route he hadn’t climbed yet. You could tell he was totally beat and he finally called it a day. I was glad that he did. Even though I hadn’t climbed at all I was exhausted from running up and down the hill and belaying on an empty stomach.
We slugged our way back up the hill to the car and the second I strapped him into his car seat he was asleep. He slept the whole way back but when he woke up he said “Dad, that was a lot of fun! Can we do that again tomorrow?”. I just laughed and said we will go again soon enough.
It was the perfect ending to an awesome father’s day. Here are some links to the video I made of my son climbing.
Regular link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaxeXdSJS0U
HD Link
http://www.youtube.com/...xeXdSJS0U&fmt=22
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la_rouche
Jun 23, 2009, 7:45 PM
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That's awesome. Congrats, man. This is one of the reasons I want to have kids. Hopefully in the next few years.
As a side note, I'm pretty sure the Oompa Loompa song will be in my head while I'm at the gym tonight.
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JasonsDrivingForce
Jun 23, 2009, 7:57 PM
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la_rouche wrote: That's awesome. Congrats, man. This is one of the reasons I want to have kids. Hopefully in the next few years. As a side note, I'm pretty sure the Oompa Loompa song will be in my head while I'm at the gym tonight.
My bad! Sorry about that. I still can’t get it out of my head.
There is nothing better than watching your kids have fun playing a sport! My daughter does Gymnastics and Ballet and she just loves it. My son does rock climbing, tee-ball, runs 5ks, and basketball.
When you have young kids you will spend all of your spare time chauffeuring them from one sport to the next. Enjoy playing sports for yourself now. When you have kids that will all change(for the better though).
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cracklover
Jun 23, 2009, 8:14 PM
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Nice TR! The place looks a little like the Gunks.
Cheers!
GO
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desertwanderer81
Jun 23, 2009, 9:02 PM
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I saw a 3 year old climbing at lover's leap this weekend.
He got a scrape on his finger so I tore off a piece of my wrist wrap as a bandaid and he was happy.
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desertwanderer81
Jun 23, 2009, 9:07 PM
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ohoh, I just watched the video.
Next time he hang dogs the rope like that, give him penalty slack!!!
Heh, chalk bags always look so silly on the little ones when it's the size of their rear ends!
Looks like fun climbing! I love the way the rock there is shaped.
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JasonsDrivingForce
Jun 24, 2009, 3:10 AM
Post #7 of 16
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desertwanderer81 wrote: ohoh, I just watched the video. Next time he hang dogs the rope like that, give him penalty slack!!! Heh, chalk bags always look so silly on the little ones when it's the size of their rear ends! Looks like fun climbing! I love the way the rock there is shaped.
Yea he does tend to "Hang Out" on the rope a lot. But he is 5 so I cut him some slack(or in this case removed the slack). He has plenty of time to learn to push through the pain.
I want him to learn to enjoy the moment right now. He definitely did that on Sunday. He may have asked me to drag him up that last wall but by gosh he was the last one out there on that wall.
He knew it was a special experience and he knew to get everything out of it that he could. I think that is rare in a child so young but I am biased.
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cracklover
Jun 24, 2009, 4:05 AM
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JasonsDrivingForce wrote: desertwanderer81 wrote: ohoh, I just watched the video. Next time he hang dogs the rope like that, give him penalty slack!!! Heh, chalk bags always look so silly on the little ones when it's the size of their rear ends! Looks like fun climbing! I love the way the rock there is shaped. Yea he does tend to "Hang Out" on the rope a lot. But he is 5 so I cut him some slack(or in this case removed the slack). He has plenty of time to learn to push through the pain. I want him to learn to enjoy the moment right now. He definitely did that on Sunday. He may have asked me to drag him up that last wall but by gosh he was the last one out there on that wall. He knew it was a special experience and he knew to get everything out of it that he could. I think that is rare in a child so young but I am biased.
I totally agree. It's nice that he's learned to trust the rope. At some point he'll decide for himself that it's a goal to do "X" without using the rope. Until then, it doesn't matter.
GO
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lena_chita
Moderator
Jun 24, 2009, 2:15 PM
Post #9 of 16
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I'm glad you both had fun! It is awesome that your son has no fear of heights. My 6yo loves bouldering, but won't go above 10 feet, rope or no rope.
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donald949
Jun 24, 2009, 4:23 PM
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Nice TR.
Glad you had a good time/fathers day.
Regarding hanging, I let my boys, 5/7 yo, hang on the rope all they want. As it is all about fun at that age. My 7 yo is getting it, and actually doesn't really hang on the rope any more. In fact climbs faster than I can pull in rope sometimes. 
Good Job!
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boymeetsrock
Jun 24, 2009, 7:13 PM
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Nice TR. Looks like you both had a lot of fun !!!
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REAL
Jun 25, 2009, 3:57 AM
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Registered: May 13, 2009
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Dude your story put tears in my eyes...!! I can't imagine if I ever have kids what feeling this would be like.
I was at Pilot Mountain about 10 years ago and told my friends "I will climb that one day" not even knowing there were routes established or even knowing anytihng about outdoor climbing, and of course none of them knew anything about climbing. I had just started in the gyms and a few years later had to stop due to my knee falling apart (too many surgeries to list). So now I'm back at it and about a month in - so glad to see pilot mountain is still open to climbing. I will have to live up to my word now. ;-) (nice soundtrack to the video btw. How can "Hungry" not motivate a person?) Keep up the family fun my friend, thanks for sharing.
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rtwilli4
Jun 25, 2009, 5:02 AM
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Man that brings back memories... those were some of the first routes I ever did and I've spent a lot of time leaning on that same tree on the last route!
I'm glad you guys had a good time.
Is he wearing your helmet or do I wear a kids helmet?
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JasonsDrivingForce
Jun 25, 2009, 1:59 PM
Post #14 of 16
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rtwilli4 wrote: Man that brings back memories... those were some of the first routes I ever did and I've spent a lot of time leaning on that same tree on the last route! I'm glad you guys had a good time. Is he wearing your helmet or do I wear a kids helmet?
I bought him a helmet at REI(The orange one in the first climb) that I thought was a kids helmet. It wasn’t though. It seemed to fit him fine at the store. However, when he started sweating it just started sliding around on his head.
One of the older kids had a “real” kids helmet and swapped with him(Blue helmet) after the first climb and that made all of the difference.
I was wondering, do kids really need a “Climbing Specific” helmet? Would a bicycle helmet work just as well? He has a nice bicycle helmet already. That would have saved me $50.
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donald949
Jun 25, 2009, 5:38 PM
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JasonsDrivingForce wrote: rtwilli4 wrote: Man that brings back memories... those were some of the first routes I ever did and I've spent a lot of time leaning on that same tree on the last route! I'm glad you guys had a good time. Is he wearing your helmet or do I wear a kids helmet? I bought him a helmet at REI(The orange one in the first climb) that I thought was a kids helmet. It wasn’t though. It seemed to fit him fine at the store. However, when he started sweating it just started sliding around on his head. One of the older kids had a “real” kids helmet and swapped with him(Blue helmet) after the first climb and that made all of the difference. I was wondering, do kids really need a “Climbing Specific” helmet? Would a bicycle helmet work just as well? He has a nice bicycle helmet already. That would have saved me $50.
Bicycle helmet is what I do. Course I take them cragging were the danger or rock fall is small, so the thin shells are OK and its more for bump and bang protection like falling off a bike.
If rock fall is more of a concern, a Snow Boarding or Skate Boarding helmets would have a thicker shell.
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charley
Jun 26, 2009, 9:30 PM
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Great tr. Nice to read about a father and son enjoying time together.
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