Tag: Child-friendly

Hiking

Never Had I Ever…Walked Up Cat Bells

In none of my many visits to the Lake District had I ever walked up Cat Bells. I don’t think I ever consciously decided to not set foot on this fell. It’s more likely that an underlying desire to avoid crowded mountains meant that walking up the incredibly popular Cat Bells never occurred to me. Yet, it’s the very things that make Cat Bells well-liked that are the reasons I chose it as the first Lake District fell for my son to climb. Continue reading Never Had I Ever…Walked Up Cat Bells

the Severe climber17 Comments
Rock climbing

Back to Climbing (Concrete)

It was really good to get back to climbing after so long.  My weekends away climbing, and weekend visits to the climbing wall all stopped with the pandemic lockdown.  I’ve missed it in so many ways.  Over the long weekend I took the chance to go climbing on the concrete boulders at Fairlop Waters Boulder Park, and it was brilliant.  The best bit was taking my son climbing again, and seeing him climb really well. Continue reading Back to Climbing (Concrete)

the Severe climber12 Comments
Rock climbing

Bouldering in Fontainebleau with a Toddler

The woods around Fontainebleau have a reputation as one of the best places in the world to boulder. Thousands of sandstone boulders, with tens of thousands of boulder problems, scattered about a pretty forest that covers some 300 square kilometres. Fontainebleau also has a reputation as being a great place to take kids. That’s a reputation that my wife and I have found to be deserved on our trips over the last few years. Continue reading Bouldering in Fontainebleau with a Toddler

the Severe climber12 Comments
Rock climbing

Pod, Tor and Bude

In the year and a bit since Valerie and I became parents we’ve been slowly and carefully been working out how our young family can spend time climbing and walking. We started with visits to the climbing wall before moving on to bouldering and walking trips in which we stayed in hotels and hostels. Last weekend we took the big step of taking Leo camping for the first time. Although, to be honest, it might be more accurate to say that we took the baby step of taking him glamping for the first time. Continue reading Pod, Tor and Bude

the Severe climber2 Comments
Rock climbing

Fontainebaby

An Easter break to the woods of Fontainebleau to climb on its famous sandstone boulders was our first real test as rock climbing parents. We had been taking our baby son, Leo, to the climbing wall on a regular basis and to some artificial boulders not far from where we live in London. He’d enjoyed the trips and we had managed to get a good amount of climbing done. But several days of outdoors climbing in a foreign country, with a teething seven-month old baby, felt like more of a challenge. Continue reading Fontainebaby

the Severe climber2 Comments
Rock climbing

Baby Hits The Wall

Like all new parents, my wife and I are trying to work out how to manage our lives now that we have a baby.  Even seemingly simple tasks, like going to the shops or visiting relatives, now feel like a major logistical undertaking.  Resuming our regular trips to our local climbing wall felt like a particular challenge.  Such a trip would involve ensuring baby Leo is happy and safe in an environment not designed for babies while, at the same time, ensuring both Valerie and I enough of a chance to climb. Continue reading Baby Hits The Wall

the Severe climber8 Comments