We left Sunriver at seven o'clock in the morning with a lot of excited faces in the back of the minivan. I was so psyched to climb and get the kidlets & hubby outside for the first time. My best friend, Deb, was a little concerned how one of her kids might do since neither had climbed before.
As we approached Terrebonne, hubby pointed out Smith Rock to the kids and told them that's where we would be climbing. Suddenly the minivan got very quiet. The excitement drained from their faces. The smiles disappeared. No one seemed excited to climb. Someone whispered, "That is so high." Another, "Do we have to go all the way to the top?" All five kids thought they would be climbing the huge face they could see, hundreds of feet into the air. Hubby, of course, didn't correct their wrong assumption. Before the fear and trembling got too far out of hand, I explained we would be climbing different routes that were much lower and easier. I also added no one had to go all the way to the top and could come down whenever they asked. A huge group sigh of relief could be heard. Crisis one averted!
We arrived at
Redpoint a little before eight. I'd booked a guided half day climb with
First Ascent for the seven of us. Deb just wanted to tag along and take pictures. The price included gear though I used my own. I choose First Ascent because they have a great reputation working with kids and that was going to be the key for this being a successful outing/intro for the kids. I managed to get all three of mine loving snow skiing this past winter so rock climbing is next!
After everyone got their shoes, we headed to Smith Rock Park. We were going to be climbing at North Point. One of our guides, Zach, got me setup with all my climbing gear back in April at Redpoint, and my kids remembered him. They were happy he would be taking them climbing. I asked Zach if I could go with him when he set the top ropes. I figure the more times I see it done, the more comfortable I'll be doing it myself. His first route choices were already taken so we moved to the other side and put on our harnesses. Once again, the most scary part was setting the anchors. We clipped into the bolts at the top and I got a lesson in anchors. I learned about SRENE and how to set two top rope routes using one rope in a W configuration.
Our other guide Nina (pronounced Nine-ah) led the rest of the crew down to the climbs. There was a lot of scrambling over rocks. At one point, Debbie and hubby had to remove their packs to squeeze through. We suffered one injury during the approach and our first tears of the day. My eldest fell and her hand landed on something that stuck a bunch of white splinter-like things in her hand. We picked as many as we could out and used water to wash out the rest. Luckily it didn't keep her from climbing. Crisis two averted.
Our oldest got over the splinters in her hand and gave each of the routes multiple attempts. She found the hand holds difficult, but didn't give up. Each time she hit a route she went higher than the time before. She made it past the roof on Jersey Shores, but just couldn't continue on. When asked what her favorite part of the day was, her answer: "The climbing."
Zach and Nina talked to us about what we would be doing out there. They showed us techniques like smearing, edging and stemming. They also went over a few rules such as keeping our helmets on due to rockfall and not bouldering. Then it was time to climb. They went over the figure eight knot with each of the kids as their turn came up.
Our seven year old son has been the most timid of my three kids, but he was the first one to step up and want to climb. All five kids had problems understanding how they could get through trouble spots, but they all did excellent thanks to the guides who made sure the kids felt safe. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, his answer: "the hike out" which was a "spicy" scramble up to the top.
Our youngest was a real trooper. She would only let Nina belay her, however. The two became fast pals. We think it might have had to do with the saying on Nina's T-shirt, "Climb like a girl." Rose fell and scraped her knee on her second attempt up Lean Cuisine, which led to the second round of tears, but a bag of candy we had hidden in one of the packs worked its magic and as soon as I pulled it out, the tears stopped. One piece and she was ready to climb again. This time, Zach came over to give her a few pointers.
Here's another shot of our youngest making her way up Lean Cuisine. She didn't make it all the way up, but she did great considering it was her first time out and she's only four! She was much more interested in showing off for those watching her than the actual climbing. She also gave Jersey Shore a shot, but it was getting close to her naptime and she just wanted to be done. I asked what her favorite part was. Her answer: "The hike in and the girl who belayed me."
This shot shows you how two of us could climb at once. Hubby is on the left being belayed by Nina and our oldest daughter is on the right being belayed by Zach. Hubby, who has summited Hood, Shasta, Whitney and Popocapetl, said rock climbing was harder than Alpine climbing though it didn't take as much endurance. He was using his arms too much rather than his legs. That kept him from reaching the top because his arms kept getting pumped.
This is Deb's oldest, age 11, on Jersey Shore. He had never climbed before so this was a real challenge for him. He did great thanks to all the help from the guides, who as I'd hoped were excellent with the kids (and adults, too!) I asked what his favorite part was. His answer: "Everything."
As for me, I really felt myself moving up the climbing learning curve. A few of the techniques I learned the last two times out started making sense when I put stuff together.
Deb's youngest (9) is a natural athlete and though he'd never been climbing before he rocked. He sent both routes and loved every minute of it. When I asked what his favorite part of the day was, his answer, "Making it to the top twice."
The funny thing about climbing was none of had ever been to Smith Rock so we had no idea what to expect. Deb and her family had been in Yosemite last week and saw climbers at the base of El Capitan. She assumed Smith would be the same-a flat area with a few trees where you could sit and watch the climbers, not being up on the rocks right there at the ropes.
This was the "spicy" way out that my son loved so much. Zach carried the youngest out to make sure she reached the top safely. It was an awesome day. I felt great climbing and made it to the top each time I climbed! But most of all I loved watching the kids climb and seeing them improve as the day went on. We topped it off with a stop at the Sun Spot for ice cream cones. A great summer day that's for sure!
Climb on!
