Indoor Climbing
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Indoor climbing is a
novel way
to celebrate your birthday
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Planning birthday parties can be a bit of a parental nightmare
as you want to combine fun for the kids with stress-less organisation
for Mum and Dad.
You also need to do the right thing by the birthday girl/boy
and give them a party that makes them the talk of the school
(for a few days) by having given the invitees a gob-smacking
time.
So, one little effort we tried was taking eight young ladies
- eight to nine years old - to a climbing party.
That's right. Instead of letting the youngsters loose in
our house we decided to take them to a purpose-built building
that would allow them to climb man-made cliffs up to 15 metres
high.
It may not sound like a challenge, but climbing 15 metres
is actually quite a daunting prospect when you look at it
from the ground. And particularly from a nine-year-old's viewpoint.
While the kids are off being fitted with shoes and safety
harnesses, the adults get a fairly intensive safety course.
Why? You ask. Well, despite the fact you are paying for the
party, you need to be hands-on in the activity.
You'll learn about setting up the safety harnesses, tying
lifelines and how to belay ropes with the maximum amount of
safety for your charges.
I have to say that despite years in Scouts the knot-tying
proved a headache and I dreaded to think of the grief my young
lady was going to cop because "your Dad couldn't do the
knots within seconds."
It didn't happen as the guests seemed to have too good a
time to worry about a slow start.
The first time a youngster went up the wall, using the hand
and footholds, it was nerve-wracking stuff.
But worry warts need fear not, the rope system and equipment
used means you can easily hold a person dangling from any
height with no more than two fingers.
You count through the steps for rope belaying - trying to
make sure there is enough rope for them to use - but also
making sure if they fall they won't drop far.
Then, when they reach their chosen highpoint, that they put
both hands on the rope and then let you belay them down.
It does, however, become a fairly natural routine and soon
you are doing it with a cautious ease - sort of like a newbie
ballroom dancer who still counts the steps but doesn't look
at his feet.
The company we went with provided one guide for every five
children at $90 each for 90 minutes. They are the experts
and while they will help with belaying children on the walls,
they are mainly there to make sure you are doing things properly.
It seemed to work as everyone who attended the climbing party
survived and there were no injuries. All raved about the experience
to their families and at school, the next day, our lass was
a heroine and envy of the class.
The only downer on the event was the fact that we adult belayers
did not get the time to clamber up the walls ourselves. I
may have forgotten my knot-tying skills, but not my enjoyment
of the physical challenge of a sheer-sided (albeit man-made)
cliff.
There are plenty of indoor climbing places in all the capital
cities of Australia and New Zealand so if you want to try
something with a difference it can be heartily recommended.
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