Intro and question

[phaedrus78]

Hey,
I'm new here to the bogley. I've been into the outdoors for my entire life, I grew up as the only son in my family so my dad and I went out camping, backpacking, hiking, jeeping, hunting, shooting, canoeing, climbing, etc. at least once a month year round.

Now I'm a dad myself with 3 boys (7, 5, 3) {not to say that my daughter, our youngest won't hit the trails with us when she gets old enough} and I'm taking this summer to get them serious about the outdoors and se the course for our future.

My wife loves hiking and camping as well, a goal of hers is to scale Kilimanjaro when the our youngest gets old enough.

A quick question to the climbers here. I've climbed and repelled a lot during my teens, but really low-tech, my dad was a Green Beret so we hit the climbs with rope, biner, and swiss seat. I want to learn more about climbing and current equipment so that we can do some serious mountaineering as the family ages; also, my son really wants to give climbing a try (again he's 7). So my question to you is how should I go about this and is my son too young for lessons/summer camps?

We live in Saratoga Springs, I attend BYU and will graduate April '08, studying Bioinformatics, then we head to law school in the fall.

Our Fam's plans and activities for this year:
Already spent 3 days of hiking and camping with the fam down in Goblin Valley.
Done some geocaching in Provo canyon and west side of lake mountain.
Heading to Diamond fork for a fathers and sons outing tonight.
Hiking in Waterton NP in July (the Canadian side of Glacier NP).
Zion

[tanya]

Now I'm a dad myself with 3 boys (7, 5, 3)

A quick question to the climbers here. I've climbed and rapelled a lot during my teens, but really low-tech, my dad was a Green Barrette so we hit the climbs with rope, biner, and swiss seat. I want to learn more about climbing and current equipment so that we can do some serious mountaineering as the family ages; also, my son really wants to give climbing a try (again he's 7). So my question to you is how should I go about this and is my son too young for lessons/summer camps?

Welcome! Zion is awesome.

Here are some kid activities to do while in Zion, however they are on the safe side rather than the getting them out climbing side.

Maybe you could start with some canyoneering and they can do some easy downclimbs to start? Red Cave in Mt. Carmel near Zion would be great for that.

http://www.zionnational-park.com/zkids.htm

http://www.eastziontourismcouncil.org/zkids.htm

[phaedrus78]

Tanya,
Thanks for the links and ideas!
Fantastic!

We went to Zion NP a few years back and hit a few trials (weeping rock, emerald pools, and we went about 2 miles up the river), soon after we arrived I realized I should have been more informed on the area, so I had planned to research the area and get a good plan in place and now, thanks to you, I have some good resources to start that research.

-todd

[accadacca]

Welcome to bogley. . .home of all your outdoor questions.

[JP]

Howdy & Welcome

[Sombeech]

Welcome to the site!

[stefan]

welcome to the forum.

A quick question to the climbers here.

a good question you should repost in the climbing and mountaineering forum:

bogley: climbing & mountaineering

but when you do, make sure to spell it rappelling so you don't draw the potential sarcastic jab about how you smell or something.

[RugerShooter]

Welcome

[tanya]

Tanya,
Thanks for the links and ideas!
Fantastic!

We went to Zion NP a few years back and hit a few trials (weeping rock, emerald pools, and we went about 2 miles up the river), soon after we arrived I realized I should have been more informed on the area, so I had planned to research the area and get a good plan in place and now, thanks to you, I have some good resources to start that research.

-todd

I see you have already done many of the classics. There are some easy 'slots' in and around Zion you can do with kids. The 3 year old and 7 year old though will be quite a ways apart in abilities.

You might want to try some easy scrambling on routes like Pine Creek (not the technical slot), Shelf Canyon, Hidden Gardens, Separation Canyon, Tunnel Canyon and things like that. You will find them on this hiking list. The list goes from easy to harder....

http://www.zionnational-park.com/hik...ional-park.htm

We do have a lot of climbers in the group that can give you suggestion more in the area of climbing.

[phaedrus78]

Thanks guys, just got back from our fathers and sons overnighter, we had a blast and grabbed a few caches.

stefan, thanks for the pointer, I figured I had spelled it incorrectly, but laziness kept me from looking it up and apparently almost lead me into an experience that would have made my first climbing post too memorable

Tanya, thanks for the additional follow-up! Yeah, the age gap does add frustration at times, I'll check these out.

[JP]

Thanks guys, just got back from our fathers and sons overnighter, we had a blast and grabbed a few caches.

Great to hear