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fmd
Jul 17, 2006, 7:25 PM
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doubledare
Jul 17, 2006, 7:49 PM
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My son is only 13 and weighs probably 80 pounds soaking wet but he gives a good belay. I anchor him down well. These first couple of times I fell with him on belay I knew it was coming, warned him to lock up, and he caught me on a tope-rope just fine. He has been belaying me while I'm lead climbing lately, and caught an unexpected fall. On multi-pitch climbs, he belays from the bottom stance and then waits at the bottom until we come down. he doesn't have a problem lowering me if I fail to finish the climb for whatever reason. there is always another adult there, he knows where the cell phone is. I don't see a "con" from a safety standpoint.
Can anyone set me straight?
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thespider
Jul 17, 2006, 7:51 PM
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I think that your kids belaying is fine, except for the weight difference. If your weight pulls your kids off the ground, you may have an issue with them belaying. But if you use an appropriate belay anchor you should be fine there too. My brother is quite lighter than I am and when he belays me he could be pulled off the ground without an anchor. As far as them being be able to watch you and catch you when you fall, the kids should be able to do that no problem. Just my opinion.
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shockabuku
Jul 17, 2006, 7:51 PM
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My daughter belays me. She's 13 and weighs about 70-80 pounds less than I do so I anchor her to the ground. She does a fine job though I also worry about how she would react to an accident. I make sure to bring a cell phone for when there is service but that's not always. I taught her how to belay for TR, but now she's climbing on a team and leading (harder than me :( :D ) so she gets lots of practice. With your kids having formal first aid training, you're probably better off than with the average Joe. I think you have to evaluate the child's maturity just like you would do with anyone else.
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wrbill
Jul 17, 2006, 7:54 PM
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A friend of mind had his 8 year old girl belaying he with a grigri. I don't see a problem with it as long as they know what is going on.
Bill
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devils_advocate
Jul 17, 2006, 8:04 PM
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Just make sure you hold off the "clean your room" lament until after the weekend outting.
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kriso9tails
Jul 17, 2006, 8:21 PM
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I've been belaying my mom and brother since I was at least nine, probably a bit younger. I didn't start belaying them on lead until I was 14 though, largely because I wasn't allowed to lead at the local gym until that age and it can be hard to get people to take you outside to show you when you're that age or younger.
Wieght difference is not ideal, but it's not quite the issue people make it out to be. I stopped anchoring in on belay by the time I was 14 as well, lead or TR. I probably wieghed around 110 lbs or 115, but I didn't climb with anyone who was more than 160% my own wieght. Since then I've belayed one or two people on lead who were closer to 180% my wieght on lead and caught falls without trouble.
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fmd
Jul 17, 2006, 8:29 PM
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In reply to: Just make sure you hold off the "clean your room" lament until after the weekend outting.
No it dont work that way......I stop and buy them a milkshake on the way home from the climb (for them not dropping me), a beer for myself (for me not being dropped) and my 16 year old drives me home.............And if he drive really good, I dont make him fill up the pick up truck with gas......
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devils_advocate
Jul 17, 2006, 8:34 PM
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In reply to: I stop and buy them a milkshake on the way home from the climb (for them not dropping me), a beer for myself (for me not being dropped) and my 16 year old drives me home...
Ahhh, I am enlightened. Maybe I didn't put enough thought into this kid thing. You get a belayer and chauffeur all for the price of a milkshake, nice.
Que parents reminding me how much it costs to raise a kid in 3, 2, 1...
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macblaze
Jul 17, 2006, 8:36 PM
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My 14 year old has been TR belaying me in the gym and for a couple of years and outside all last summer. This spring we took an hour for me to do a bunch of whippers inside (I'm 200lb and he's about a 100) with someone backing him up just for safety's sake and he's been lead belaying since. It was a real hoot inside as he would generally end up higher than me and on a few occasions took my feet out from under me on they way up. He uses an XP for extra grip and I trust him absolutely... (although I might get a bit worried if he starts bringing girls along :D )
Actually what was more problematic was me belaying him. It was hard to learn to move forward into the fall for a more dynamic belay; I generally solved it by moving my brake had down towards my knee so as my had was pulled toward the atc it reminded me to give a little hop...
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alx
Jul 17, 2006, 10:04 PM
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My 16 year old son belayed me on lead for the 1st time yesterday. He's been belaying me at the gym and on top-rope for a while. He takes belaying seriously and is a muture kid so I trust him totally.
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billl7
Jul 17, 2006, 10:32 PM
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My second oldest started belaying me with an ATC when he was within a month of turning 17. However, this has more to do with the fact that we both started climbing at that time than anything else.
I have another son who wants to start belaying me - he is 11 but he hasn't yet by my choice.
That aside, I feel like the safety issues are similar to driving a vehicle. In my locale, one can start driving without oversight at 16 but no non-family members as passengers for 1 year. I tend to use that as a yardstick. We all know that there are some children who shouldn't even drive at 16. We also know of kids who are very mature before their age.
I do have some concern about very young children belaying. Suppose Mom is dropped and dies. The child has to deal with that as a child which I feel is far worse than dealing with it as an adult (which of course is no piece of cake either).
Bill L
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c_kryll
Jul 17, 2006, 10:52 PM
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I tought my son to belay me with a Gri-gri when he was 7 almost 8yr/o in our local climbing gym. Since then I've anchored him to the ground, so he doesn't get pulled up, when we've gone outside TRing.
He's almost 10 now and I let him lead belay me up an easy sport climb so I could set it up TR for him and his two friends, while we were up at Rumney last week. I'm very confident in his ability to catch my fall (if I should have one, so far only on TR) and his lowering skills are adequate but we still do a refresher everytime we go out.
On a side note, he's been putting on his own harness and tying his own fig-8 knot since he was 6. I still make sure to double check it though.
Chris
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whoa
Jul 18, 2006, 2:43 AM
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Registered: Dec 19, 2005
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Well I don't let my 12yo belay. I guess I am not totally convinced he has the attention span and seriousness for a life-and-death job like that. And I'd hate for him to have to deal with the consequences of screwing up badly on belay.
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dragonlii
Jul 18, 2006, 10:16 AM
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My son son led his first trad multi-pitch on passive pro eight years ago. He's 21 now. We BOTH use the right anchor system including an upward-pull point. I've been on staff in emergency departments since he was born, so he knows all about dead. I'd say he was more mature at thirteen than a lot of adults are. I trust him with my life. Except I've noticed I seem to be taking longer falls ever since he found out he'll inherit all my gear when I die.
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buckyllama
Jul 18, 2006, 1:06 PM
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I have 2 daughters, the first is 6 years, the second is 6 weeks. So no ;)
But I will let them when they are mature enough. I've had 12 and 13 yo kids belay me before without a problem. I've also refused belays from people well into their 20's because they were so distracted and casual about it. Depends on the person I think. My 6 year old can be pretty focused when she wants to be. She can also be completely flighty ... but she's 6. So... My 6 week old, er... well she poops a lot and looks cute.
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whitribj
Jul 18, 2006, 2:52 PM
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I have belayed my father. But I was the one that taught him how to climb.
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extremrocker12
Jul 18, 2006, 7:27 PM
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The first day I went climbing I belayed him on a multi pitch climb and he had faith in me and trusted me fully. I am 16 and have had an 8 year old belay me at a rock wall. I had no problem and I fell twice. I think as long as you trust the person you should go for it.
-Extremrocker12
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extremrocker12
Jul 18, 2006, 7:28 PM
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The first day I went climbing I belayed him on a multi pitch climb and he had faith in me and trusted me fully. I am 16 and have had an 8 year old belay me at a rock wall. I had no problem and I fell twice. I think as long as you trust the person you should go for it.
-Extremrocker12
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extremrocker12
Jul 18, 2006, 7:29 PM
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Registered: Jul 7, 2006
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The first day I went climbing I belayed him on a multi pitch climb and he had faith in me and trusted me fully. I am 16 and have had an 8 year old belay me at a rock wall. I had no problem and I fell twice. I think as long as you trust the person you should go for it.
-Extremrocker12
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rebeccajd
Sep 1, 2006, 7:35 PM
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In terms of the weight issue, I weigh just a little over 100 pounds and I have belayed people up to 225 lbs.
When I belay people who weigh significantly more than I do, I definitely need to anchor at the gym or outside. I have been pulled clear off my feet before, and would have been in the air if I hadn't been anchored.
Also, my hands do eventually get tired when I've got someone close to 200 pounds climbing and they fall and "rest" repeatedly for long periods of time (some guys will spend 15 or 20 minutes doing this, or just staring at some problem at the crux).
I would caution those with children who are light to consider these factors, make sure you anchor, and don't dangle from the rope for too long if you've got a light kid and a heavy body.
Also, with a teenager I would practice *repeatedly* falling while they belay while you are NOT dangerously far from the ground, so they get the right response into muscle memory. And check their belay technique periodically while someone else is climbing.
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