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fever
Dec 20, 2001, 6:10 AM
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I bring my friends 20 month old son climbing at the indoor gym in Woodstock, VT.
He is close to fitting in a childs harness. Anyone start their kids(or thier friends kids) climbing at a young age? He is good for about 3 minutes then the interest is lost. That is when we go play ball in the cave! (sometimes just as fun) Laura
[ This Message was edited by: fever on 2001-12-19 22:11 ]
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missedyno
Dec 20, 2001, 7:48 AM
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hey, why not. 3 minutes early in life can't hurt, as long as all safety precautions are taken. don't need rumours to fly that climbing kills babies!
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compclimber
Dec 20, 2001, 8:33 AM
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Someone get the name of this kid, he/she is going to be the next Tommy Caldwell.
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fever
Dec 20, 2001, 1:46 PM
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His name is Nicholas. When my scanner gets fixed I have a cute picture of him on the wall, that I will post!
[ This Message was edited by: fever on 2001-12-20 05:47 ]
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case22
Dec 20, 2001, 5:00 PM
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I just had to kick a child out of our gym because of this. His parents were dropping him off and leaving him there for us to babysit! He had been there a month and still didn't know how to put on his harness, tie his knots, etc...and he was 8 years old. We told his Mom he could only come back when she came too and took care of him. I think that as long as the child is mature enough and actually wants to learn, that's great. The only other way they should be there is if the parent is with them. I've got to give you props for taking him up there and not taking the instructors for granted.
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russman
Dec 20, 2001, 5:06 PM
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My son is now 8 months old lil_cwboy and I can't wait until he is big enought ot fit into a harness. I may have my aunt (professional seamstress) make him a harness first so he can start tryign to learn jsut after he is walking and starting ot climb naturally. Personally I would not dream of dropping him off...i want to climb with him
look forward to seeing a pic.
The Russman
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thumper
Dec 20, 2001, 9:15 PM
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My last trip to the gym was a nightmare because of some kids. 5 of them, none older than 7, just running back and forth on the wall screaming and screwing around. The parents were nowhere to be found. The kids were screwing with people gears, playing directly under climbers doing leads... Every 30 seconds you'd hear "hey kid..." There are so many people that donate dna to a kid, they don't know how to parent, don't want too, and expect everyone else in the world to take care of their kids.
Sorry rant. Not to say that a young kid w/his parents is a problem in the gym. Lots of them and everything works out fine.
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jules
Dec 20, 2001, 10:18 PM
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When I have kids, they'll be climbing as soon as they can walk
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arete2
Dec 20, 2001, 11:51 PM
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I wish I would have started climbing when I was that young. I waited till I was 18 instead. My kids are gonna be masters of the wall, at least I hope.
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squeeks
Dec 21, 2001, 12:21 AM
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just hog tie the kids that are running around. thatll keep them outta the way. actually im kidding. dont most of your gyms have age limits unless they are accompanied by parents?
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larryclimb
Dec 21, 2001, 1:19 AM
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I took my Grandson 4 and Grandaughter 3 to the gym for the first time. They have climbed outside before. They played in the cave made a couple climbs back to the cave back to the wall, we did this for 4 hours. We all had a great time. We also used the gym in Woodstock, VT.
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socialclimber
Dec 21, 2001, 2:10 AM
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My son is almost three, he's been climbing since he was two. Climbing comes pretty natural to kids that age but a trip to watch a local comp really got him going. At first I made a body harness from a long peice of 25mm tape, til I found a harness made by Singing Rock called the Brio. It's a universal size so it will fit kids or adults. just make a sholder harness out of a short sling and Bob's your auntie.
He seems to show more intrest climbing when not many people are around. Once the place starts filling up, all he wants to do is swagger around wearing his harness with a screw-gate on the belay loop, looking people and their gear up and down and telling them "I got a curry-bina too! he's a three year old gear-head
The first time we went he climbed for an hour. When he tires of it he likes to chase a tennis ball around at the other end of the hall. We go to the gym maybe every second week and he explores for new rock with me almost every weekend, though those days might be numbered cause his 16kg is gettin pretty hard to lug around in the backpack. Best of luck with yours.
[ This Message was edited by: socialclimber on 2001-12-20 18:16 ]
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fever
Dec 21, 2001, 3:54 AM
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The gym at Woodstock is run by my friends, so having him there is never an issue due to we go at off times and stay out of the way. I believe that kids should not be dropped off by parents when they are too young. Parents should also ask the gym how their kids behaved if they do feel they are ready to be left alone to climb. At the normal workout gym there is a rule that kids under 15 need to be supervised if not at a class or in a program. the end
Have have a great holiday everyone! Laura
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graniteboy
Dec 21, 2001, 4:26 AM
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I take my niece and nephew climbing, and we started them out at ages 3 and 2, respectively. They both love gym climbing, because there's music, and they've been outside a few times too. They have a bit of a hard time (mentally) with heights above abt 20 ft on toprope though, so we don't expect them to climb any higher than they want to.
All told, I thought I got a young start at the age of 12, but these guys are tearing it up, and they're 7 and eight now.
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vbrgclimber
Dec 22, 2001, 3:50 AM
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i started when i was 8 or 9 but never went unsupervised, it was always with a birthday, or the youth night at the gym i work at now. Now tho, a lot of times kids'll be dropped off there,and run around or swamp the boulder, so its kinda annoying but at least they are into climbing..i guess
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