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crazy_fingers84
Nov 18, 2008, 9:39 PM
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I came across this video today while I was bored at school.
http://chrislindner.com/...g_5.10_at_age_4.html
I thought I would share it . . . To think of what I could be doing if I was climbing at 4. Hell, my first 5.10 trad lead was when I was 24.
Too bad he turned out to be to be a sport climber.
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hosh
Nov 18, 2008, 9:50 PM
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amazing. One day, maybe my 2 year old son will be doing this? He already TR's 5.3! (is there such a thing?) He's fearless, I may be able to get him doing some trad as soon as I can convince the wife. (He also asks me about ice all the time!)
hosh.
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858jason
Nov 18, 2008, 9:54 PM
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crazy_fingers84 wrote: I came across this video today while I was bored at school. http://chrislindner.com/...g_5.10_at_age_4.html I thought I would share it . . . To think of what I could be doing if I was climbing at 4. Hell, my first 5.10 trad lead was when I was 24. Too bad he turned out to be to be a sport climber.
Damn kids, get off my rock!
Robbins Crack was my first 5.10 trad lead at age 36.
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dreday3000
Nov 18, 2008, 9:58 PM
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Damn, that is pretty impressive. That said, I heard that Chris's dad step over the line between encouraging and psychotic quite a few times.
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spikeddem
Nov 18, 2008, 10:00 PM
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Seems to me they're actually pretending he's bouldering: "Don't trust the pieces, Cam."
The plan is to just catch him if he falls?
I don't like it.
Impressive though.
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suilenroc
Nov 18, 2008, 11:30 PM
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In reply to: I thought I would share it . . . To think of what I could be doing if I was climbing at 4. Hell, my first 5.10 trad lead was when I was 24. Too bad he turned out to be to be a sport climber.
According to Chris Linder in the movie Spray... His father was trad climbing, took a fall, some pro blew, and he broke his back... I think i'd switch to clipp'in bolts too.
(This post was edited by suilenroc on Nov 18, 2008, 11:42 PM)
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c22
Nov 18, 2008, 11:47 PM
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Did you know that Tom (Chris' dad) cut off the body cast to climb? That he still climbs trad, that both Chris' mom and dad, in their 50's still climb 13's or that Tom was an Olympic Gymnast on the high bars?
It's a whole family of badasses. Tom has a bad rap for a few moments at the crag, but that's what you get when you raise a child in the public eye. Tom was stern, but both father and son say that things got blown out of proportion by the media. Mr. Lindner's a really good guy, but strict to. Definately not psychotic though.
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c22
Nov 18, 2008, 11:49 PM
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Oh, and I believe that chris climbed his first 12 at age 6 and his first 14 at age 14.
And he absolutely boulders also.
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yokese
Nov 19, 2008, 12:05 AM
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Cool vid of Chris (for some reaon I couldn't see it in FireFox, but in safari it works ok)...
In RC there is a picture of him SOLOING that very same route when he was 4 years old.
http://www.rockclimbing.com/....10a_1992_72869.html
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johnwesely
Nov 19, 2008, 12:16 AM
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And the responsible parent of the year award goes to...
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johnwesely
Nov 19, 2008, 1:55 AM
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Me too...
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Hennessey
Nov 19, 2008, 2:01 AM
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me three
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johnwesely
Nov 19, 2008, 2:07 AM
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I just hope that one day I can be that irresponsible.
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deltav
Nov 19, 2008, 2:33 AM
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As a new parent, I can say that while I once thought the same thing, I know now it is a very stupid thought. Yes my kid will climb, and yes starting young, but no, not free soloing at age 4.
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evanwish
Nov 19, 2008, 2:51 AM
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deltav wrote: As a new parent, I can say that while I once thought the same thing, I know now it is a very stupid thought. Yes my kid will climb, and yes starting young, but no, not free soloing at age 4.
i still don't freesolo much...
i just wish i started out climbing alot younger.. I climbed really young, but that was once a year..
i think most of us here wished we started earlier.. we'd all be so much beter.
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milesenoell
Nov 19, 2008, 3:16 AM
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I started at 28 and used to grumble about how it would have been great to have started in my teens, but now I'm thinking that even that would have been waiting 10 years longer than necessary. I can't find any harnesses that come anywhere close to as small as my 20 month old son's size though. My brother got the smallest harness he could find and is still waiting for my nephew to grow into it and he's coming up on 4. We joke about just duct taping him into it. Anybody know where to look for super small harnesses?
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TradEddie
Nov 19, 2008, 3:34 AM
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In reply to: not free soloing at age 4.
Climbing 2 feet above someone who can easily catch you is hardly free soloing but that vid was a clean trad lead, and no matter how rehearsed, or how much help having smaller hands and feet was, that is impressive. His parents felt he could do it, and were obviously right
Congrats to the kid, my 5yr old can do 5.5 on TR, but he can't fully retract a big cam!
TE
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jt512
Nov 19, 2008, 3:36 AM
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c22 wrote: Did you know that Tom (Chris' dad) cut off the body cast to climb?
That's one Tom Lindner story I hadn't heard. Wouldn't doubt it a bit, though.
Jay
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shockabuku
Nov 19, 2008, 3:37 AM
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Poor kid, here's his dad pushing him into the counter-culture, what's he do to rebel? Join the Young Republicans?
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jt512
Nov 19, 2008, 3:39 AM
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shockabuku wrote: Poor kid, here's his dad pushing him into the counter-culture, what's he do to rebel? Join the Young Republicans?
Actually, he became a professional climber. What is it with kids today?
Edit: I think Chris's idea of rebellion was becoming a boulderer for several years.
Jay
(This post was edited by jt512 on Nov 19, 2008, 3:40 AM)
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TradEddie
Nov 19, 2008, 3:42 AM
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milesenoell wrote: Anybody know where to look for super small harnesses?
Apparently you need full body harnesses for very small kids. Petzl's Ousititi (maybe spelled wrong) fit my skinny son at 3-1/2 yrs. It did have two straps at the back that looked really loose until he got bigger, but it was snug and secure.
TE
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spikeddem
Nov 19, 2008, 3:58 AM
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TradEddie wrote: His parents felt he could do it, and were obviously right TE
There's a certain probability that anybody will drop something or make a silly mistake. As we become more knowledgeable and our bodies become more adept through repetitive movements, we can lower the probability. This child is four.
Chris and his parents got lucky. They beat that probability.
Any speculations on what would happen to the image of climbing and/or access if a four year old was killed/injured trad climbing?
What kind of fucking excuse could the parents POSSIBLY offer?
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sed
Nov 19, 2008, 4:05 AM
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I have 3 kids, ages 1, 4, and 6. While watching this I was impressed by the maturity level of the kid, his calmness. His father must have been a good teacher and patient with him. I guess everyone has the right to raise their kids how they see fit but this seems over the top to me. I can hear the fear in the father's voice during some points in the climb. He wasn't able to see the placements to determine if they were good. Spotting the kid, even a 40 pounder, is not really practical from 25 feet up. I'm trying not to be too critical here because I do set up TR climbs for my 4 and 6 year old and some people would surely criticize me for that too. I personally could not witness that kid climb if he were my son, I would probably throw up - that's just me.
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yokese
Nov 19, 2008, 4:18 AM
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TradEddie wrote: In reply to: not free soloing at age 4. Climbing 2 feet above someone who can easily catch you is hardly free soloing but that vid was a clean trad lead, and no matter how rehearsed, or how much help having smaller hands and feet was, that is impressive. His parents felt he could do it, and were obviously right Congrats to the kid, my 5yr old can do 5.5 on TR, but he can't fully retract a big cam! TE
I think you're missing the fact that the kid in the video and the kid in the picture are one and the same kid, Chris Lindner, in exactly the same route, Robbin's crack, Mount Woodson. In the video he's leading the route, in the pic he's soloing it.
And while that particular picture shows him just 2 feet above Tom, this other picture shows him at the top of the climb, over 30 feet high:
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c22
Nov 19, 2008, 8:04 AM
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One, robbins is barely over 20 feet, not thirty, two, chris wired the shit out of it before he did it, and he had already been climbing harder than most of the people on this board. The point was that Chris is an exceptional case. His parents knew that and could watch and teach and decide. You clearly cannot. Obviously Tom didn't just throw him on there and say go for it.
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yokese
Nov 19, 2008, 6:41 PM
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c22 wrote: chris wired the shit out of it before he did it, and he had already been climbing harder than most of the people on this board. The point was that Chris is an exceptional case.
My point exactly. He is an extraordinary climber and has been and extraordinary climber since he was a kid.
I posted the first picture to let the OP know that Chris was not only well capable of leading 5.10 trad at 4, but also soloing 5.10.
Then I posted the second picture to show TraEddie that Chris could solo not only 2 feet above Tom, but the whole crack.
Then you went ahead and posted this:
c22 wrote: His parents knew that and could watch and teach and decide. You clearly cannot. Obviously Tom didn't just throw him on there and say go for it.
Who are you answering to??. I don't recall having said anything at all about the methods or judgment of Tom (and Elke). I barely know them, but I don't have anything but respect for the three of them. Have you actually read what I wrote?
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c22
Nov 20, 2008, 5:31 AM
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Sorry haha, that wasn't addressed at you. My bad, the last part was pointed at whoever said something like "not free soloing at 4". You were just the last person to post and I hit reply.
Sorry.
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caliclimbergrl
Dec 31, 2008, 12:04 PM
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Hmmmm ... I think the kid is amazing and he's obviously well taught. I'm just impressed that he can handle the cams correctly and place them with those tiny little hands!!
And the dad seemed cool for the most part and as a climber, you have to love a climbing family!! With my luck, if/when I have kids, they'll hate everything that resembles climbing and will want to stay home and play video games all day!!
But I thought a lot of the beta was TERRIBLE!! As others have mentioned "Don't trust the gear." WTF?! What's the point of placing it if you don't trust it? That's stupid! And when he was telling the kid to place the next piece real high ... I don't know, maybe it was just a good idea for that particular part of that particular climb. I know that I do reach up high to place gear from time to time. But I think a better general rule is to place gear at eye level so you can really get a good look at it.
All in all though, I thought father and son were both pretty impressive. I'll be happy if my kids don't mind tagging along when I climb! Otherwise, I'm going to be paying an arm and a leg for babysitters or annoying everyone else at the crag with my annoying kids. And kissing multi-pitch climbing goodbye :(
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jt512
Dec 31, 2008, 10:06 PM
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caliclimbergrl wrote: Hmmmm ... I think the kid is amazing and he's obviously well taught. But I thought a lot of the beta was TERRIBLE!!
Tom Lindner (the dad) is a pretty good climbing coach. If you bet on his beta being right every time, you'll win a lot more often then you'll lose. If he said "place the next cam high" I'm sure he had a good reason.
Jay
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Adk
Jan 1, 2009, 1:25 PM
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Simply amazing but in today's day and age his parents would be brought up on charges.
There is a line as parents as to what we let our children do. IMHO this is way past the line.
Amazing but something is not quite right here!
As a child you never fully understand consequences and it's we parents that are fully responsible to ensure that our children not only make it to adulthood but also posses the skills to succeed in today's world.
Amazing but you will won't see any of my children leading anything until they fully understand what making a wrong move can spell.
I hope I spelled everything correctly! LOL
Did I say that this lead was freaking awesome? WOW!!
OK, ok, I'm jealous alright?
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jt512
Jan 1, 2009, 8:21 PM
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Adk wrote: Simply amazing but in today's day and age his parents would be brought up on charges. There is a line as parents as to what we let our children do. IMHO this is way past the line. Amazing but something is not quite right here! As a child you never fully understand consequences and it's we parents that are fully responsible to ensure that our children not only make it to adulthood but also posses the skills to succeed in today's world. Amazing but you will won't see any of my children leading anything until they fully understand what making a wrong move can spell. I hope I spelled everything correctly! LOL Did I say that this lead was freaking awesome? WOW!! OK, ok, I'm jealous alright?
On the other hand the dad (and the mom, for that matter) climbs six full number grades harder than you, and the kid now climbs one number grade harder than that. Maybe you're not in a position to be second guessing.
Jay
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Adk
Jan 2, 2009, 2:30 AM
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I'm not second guessing anything . What I did say is;
In reply to: As a child you never fully understand consequences and it's we parents that are fully responsible to ensure that our children not only make it to adulthood but also posses the skills to succeed in today's world.
as well as this; In reply to: Simply amazing but in today's day and age his parents would be brought up on charges. In reply to: I say that this lead was freaking awesome
And maybe they can all lead a higher grade than myself. I'm ok with that.
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olderic
Jan 2, 2009, 3:06 AM
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Bottom line - mediocre parents will raise mediocre kids. Extraordinary parents will raise extraordinary kids, The results speak for them selves,
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esoteric1
Jan 2, 2009, 4:28 AM
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I dont like tom, he accused me of being a pot head when I hadnt smoked in years.
his wife on the other hand, is the only woman ive ever seen that had veins poping out of her back, and a very nice woman at the same time.
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caliclimbergrl
Jan 2, 2009, 9:35 AM
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jt512 wrote: caliclimbergrl wrote: Hmmmm ... I think the kid is amazing and he's obviously well taught. But I thought a lot of the beta was TERRIBLE!! Tom Lindner (the dad) is a pretty good climbing coach. If you bet on his beta being right every time, you'll win a lot more often then you'll lose. If he said "place the next cam high" I'm sure he had a good reason. Jay
Fair enough. I did allow for that in my OP, I just wasn't sure and I don't know anything about Tom Linder. But I'm sure you're right and I know there are reasons why you'd want to do that occasionally, so I'll believe this was one of those times.
I still don't like the "Don't trust the gear," comments. But like I said in my OP, most of it seemed like good advice. And he did make sure the kid placed gear at one point when he wanted to keep climbing which was reassuring.
In the end, of the few of us (climbers) who want kids, most of us want kids like that if we're honest with ourselves. Or maybe it's just me! But with my luck, I'll end up with kids who just want to sit around and play video games or something!
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king_rat
Jan 2, 2009, 11:53 AM
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That's amazing, I had to watch it with the sound turned off because I’m at work, but the kid looked like he had his head screwed on and was confident. ……but I don't think I could ever put my 3 ½ year old son in that kind of position. Its one thing to allow your children to climb on the end of a top rope or boulder at a height where you can safely catch them, but to allow them solo what amounts to a highball boulder is another thing.
I don’t wrap my kids in cotton wool but I like to know that they aren’t in a position where a minor mistake could result in their death. That route looks like it’s about 20 or 25 foot? It’s a long way to fall for a young kid and I am not sure you could catch a child falling from that kind of distance.
(This post was edited by king_rat on Jan 2, 2009, 11:56 AM)
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olderic
Jan 2, 2009, 3:55 PM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: olderic wrote: Bottom line - mediocre parents will raise mediocre kids. Extraordinary parents will raise extraordinary kids, The results speak for them selves, Well said, Eric. I just hope you are not going by how hard your kids climb That would make you a much better parent than me. I think Dakotah has all but dispelled climbing altogether That said...You have a couple outstanding kids. Josh
Thanks Josh. We have 4 kids and the other 2 don't climb it all (the "baby" skis). So passing on the climbing genes was hit or miss I guess. They are all good kids and my wife deserves a lot (most) of the credit.
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billl7
Jan 2, 2009, 4:21 PM
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king_rat wrote: ……but I don't think I could ever put my 3 ½ year old son in that kind of position. Its one thing to allow your children to climb on the end of a top rope or boulder at a height where you can safely catch them, but to allow them solo what amounts to a highball boulder is another thing.
In the end, simply putting your kids life/health at risk in the eyes of most isn't enough to question one's parenting (I'm not saying you were).
Bill L
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