How to train your kids.

[pikan]

Both my daughter's canyoneer, ages 15 & 17. They average about 20 canyons a year and have been descending technical canyons since they were 5 years old.

I know a lot of teenages that are canyoneers but many do it as part of a family weekend or were at least intrduced to the sport through their parents.



Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

So @Iceaxe, (and others who have trained their kids to be canyoneers from an early age) how did you start introducing your kids to technical canyoneering? Specifically, what canyons did you start with? Did you lower then until age X? How did you start training them on rappelling before hand? etc.......
I went on a trip with @Mountaineer and his 16 year old son yesterday, and I was really impressed at the team dynamic they shared and how skilled and knowledgeable his son is at a fairly young age. I know this is because mountaineer has been taking his son on trips for a while now. I regret not discussing more on this topic with him in person, so I thought I'd bring it up here on Bogley.
I caught the canyoneering bug about a year ago, and have kind of immersed myself in it, learning as much as I can. One conflict with this has been that it is hard to include my family on these trips, and so time that I would usually spend with them is starting to be used for canyoneering. It's been kind of a balancing act for me lately. An ideal solution would be to combine the two. My wife would LOVE to start getting going on trips with me, but right now she is kind of tied down with our baby. My two oldest daughters (ages 7 and 4...the 1 year old is stoked too, but she'll have to wait! :)) really want to go on some of my trips but I haven't figured out how to do so safely while not scaring them from it. What ways do you recommend doing this?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

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[TommyBoy]

I don't have kids, but I have worked with some of the youth in my ward, and the first thing to do is take them out to a spot where you can practice rappelling and see if they even have the temperment for it. There is a great spot up by Tinney Flats CG, its a climbing spot right by a cattle grate in the road. You can hike up the backside and set up some anchors. Some kids are sort of scared and can be encouraged into going over, but for those that are just terrified, there isn't a whole lot you can do but wait till they are older.

[Kuya]

I too don't have any kiddos, But as we have talked about before, I think that doing some top rope climbing would be an excellent way to introduce young children to the sport. With top rope climbing you often have to HIKE and SCRAMBLE up to the climbing cliffs (depending on where ya go obviously) they get some experience CLIMBING up obstacles, They get experience getting LOWERED after a climb. They get experience tying basic KNOTS and you can teach them how to use a belay device. They can also learn how to BELAY.

After all of that, if they still like it, then getting them to rappel off a 20'-30' cliff might not be as intimidating for them.

all in all, good luck!! Canyoneering with my family is one of my VERY favorite things! :)

[Sandstone Addiction]

Taking your family through a canyon is pure joy (well, for the most part, that is HaHa). I've got all boys, 12, 10 and 6 and while it might take some convincing to get them to get away from their video games, once we do, they have a great time and I'm amazed at how they want to learn, try new things and help out.

Like TommyBoy mentioned, I would suggest to first take them rappelling and get them used to being lowered, tandem rap or whatever you find works best for you. There is also a great spot up Diamond Fork called Red Ledges, the dryfall has bolts, good place to get on rope and a gentle slope to start the rap with no overhang. This area is sandstone and takes some scrambling to get around, so very realistic practice.

I don't think there is a certain age that someone is ready to rap solo, my boys have used different methods in every canyon we've gone through. It took my then 11 year old a while to rap solo, and at first he would only rap with 2 atc's, was kinda awkward, but he had plenty of friction. Wasn't long before he realized that 1 atc was plenty. My 9 year, old at the time, had never rapped before and clipped in and went like a pro and has ever since, except for 1 time. Trevor, who was 4 when we started, loved to tandem rap (2 people tethered to same rap devise) but he soon had to learn how to be lowered because tandem rapping with an awkward start is very difficult and potentially dangerous. Trevor, now 6, has done a few solo raps on belay and is slowly gaining the confidence and skills for scarier raps.

I would say that Keyhole is the best canyon to start with, but it is very difficult to keep young kids from getting cold. The wetsuits they make for kids just don't seem to fit right. I usually belay them from the bottom and piggy back them through the swimmers. Other than that, I think Keyhole is by far the best. East Fork Leprechaun was very fun for my kids and they got through it a lot easier than I could. U-Turn was our first canyon and we liked it a lot. Easy starts to the raps and usually dry. We've also done Echo, Entrajo, and a few others.

I will say that canyoneering with kids takes a lot more time than normal. We usually add 50% more time to the time in the beta. So if the beta says the canyon takes 4 hours to complete, we plan on 6. We haven't passed anyone in a canyon yet.

[Mountaineer]

My son and I started and learned this all together. It allowed us to discuss, wonder, and challenge each other as we progressed. Best part was we were at the same level, thus had no fear of discouragement that could possibly come from experts ridicule or scoffing.

We first took some training, but really gained the most by going with others with solid experience. I truly feel fortunate to have met up with those people, as we are close friends today. The relationship gained I value even more over the skills learned in "how to canyoneer".

The first canyon we did was Granary. We did it after our formal training, in fact the day right after! Yes, we were "beginners leading beginners", but we were armed with a very valuable 3 day course. In the course, we actually went down a couple of canyons while our instructor critiqued our decisions and skills (he didn't lead us, we led him). This was very important to our progression and confidence. (Thank you Jared!)

We continued with the easier canyons (3B), then eventually progressed to the harder ones (3B).

With more canyon experience, and later rescue training, I felt confident to safely take my family and other groups.

It is awesome to share. Especially with your family. You definitely build memories and bonds that will last a lifetime. These last three years with my son I wouldn't trade for anything.

[Mountaineer]

An ideal solution would be to combine the two. My wife would LOVE to start getting going on trips with me, but right now she is kind of tied down with our baby. My two oldest daughters (ages 7 and 4...the 1 year old is stoked too, but she'll have to wait! :)) really want to go on some of my trips but I haven't figured out how to do so safely while not scaring them from it. What ways do you recommend doing this?

Gain experience, make sure you have some wilderness first aid, get some rescue training. For sure you could take them all through the easy ones. I believe slot machine posted some family pics just out at Capitol Reef. There are quite a few just a bit at or above Little Wild Horse in difficulty and fun.

[mzamp]

I think an important thing is to take them places where there is a better chance for them to fall in love with canyoneering. I don't think throwing them into freezing water (like keyhole), exposed raps, bushwhack entrance/exits, scorching heat, spiders (@Mountaineer s son - LOL) would be ideal. Consider bringing them through a non-technical slot and get them begging for more in addition to taking them out to learn to rap.

PS. - I have three girls, but only my oldest (22) is even slightly interested in canyoneering. The other two are not mainly because of the canyon stew they have seen pics of me swimming through.

[hesse15]

PS. - I have three girls, but only my oldest (22) is even slightly interested in canyoneering. The other two are not mainly because of the canyon stew they have seen pics of me swimming through.

mhh what about photoshop with some blueish water from keys island in florida??

[Canyonater]

So does anyone think Yankee Doodle would be appropriate for an intro into canyoneering for my wife and daughter (3 years old). I think they would have a blast. I would be lowering my daughter of course. Or is she still too young?

[ilipichicuma]

If you know what you're doing and are willing to take it slow, and your daughter isn't afraid if heights you could probably manage it. You'd want to just lower her down most of the downclimbs, a couple of them were a little spicy.

[joeb]

The toughest part will be figuring out when to push them or not. This will be kid specific and I guarantee if you push them too hard/early you will turn them off to the sport. On the other hand, the same kid who declares he can't do it later on will puff up and boast about his adventure when you get him to do someone he doesn't initially want to do. Good luck on this one and when in doubt - don't push. Here is what worked with my kids:
1. learned how to boulder scramble and rappel first in a safe place
2. learned about wetsuits and cold water at ocean first
3. did a lot of hiking so they were already used to trails and outdoors
4. Started with Echo & Keyhole

Remember - it is all about the fun and keep the experience short & sweet so they want to do it again.