Why should all kids try climbing?
If your reading this… you already have your foot in the door and will have some appreciation of how amazing climbing is! However I’m here to give you more of a reason to stop scrolling, put the kids in the car and come for a climb with us!
Climbing is literally for everyone!
You are only competing against yourself, the end goal is to complete the climb whether you climb at intro level or world cup standard! You see the thing about climbing is that it also teaches you so much more. It teaches you haw to problem solve. It develops your fundamental movement patterns, and most of all it teaches you how to deal with failure.
If you’re not falling off – you’re not developing.
Dealing with failure and learning how transform that into success is a great skill for any young person to develop. That’s just scratching the surface of the benefits of climbing.
In this post we want to get you in the know about all things YOUTH CLIMBING so that you can help us inspire your NEXT GEN CLIMBERS, and with the youth programme dates being released for booking on Wednesday 19th Feb, we thought it would be good to let you know why we, at Parthian Climbing love our NEXT GEN CLIMBERS so much.
We are a family focused community and that starts with the youngest little monkeys that are literally climbing the walls at home.
We offer a range of sessions that can keep your kids occupied whilst you have some much needed chill time in our café. Here is some frequently asked questions to keep you informed:
What’s the minimum age for my child can try climbing?
Generally if we can safely fit them into a harness then they can have a go at climbing. Typically this is from 4-5 yrs old. We recommend our Wild Climbers sessions which is tailored to kids of this age. The scheme uses a mixture of ground based activities and climbing games to introduce the concepts of climbing.
Can I just turn up and climb with my kids?
Whilst we recommend an instructed session if you are completely new to climbing, Yes you can also just turn up, if we have an instructor available we will be able to get you climbing! We can teach you how to use the automatic belay units (like they have in Clip n’Climb) or we can teach you how to supervise your kids in the bouldering area. Terms and conditions apply, including strict supervision ratios of 1 adult supervising up to 2 children.
What’s next if my kids really enjoy it?
Well we’ll do our best to ensure that you have a great experience with us. We can then tell you all about our progressive youth climbing scheme which follows the National indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) syllabus. More info on that bellow.
What is NICAS?
We run the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) as weekly 1.5-hour sessions during term time. These sessions are open to kids aged 7 – 18 and cover 5 levels of a nationally-accredited scheme covering; basic safety and best practice, climbing technique, lead climbing, and general fitness and nutrition for training. All required equipment hire is included in the course, but we do suggest that, as they progress, participants invest in their own equipment to ensure they are getting the most progression out of their sessions.
What if my kid shows real talent?
Well if you think that your kid is a future Olympic star, or shows a willingness to train and develop in a more athletic capacity, then our Youth Climbing Squad may be of interest. Spaces on the Youth Squad are by invitation only, however we also hold annual try-outs where the NEXT GEN climbers can try and get a place on the Squad. Click HERE for more info on the YOUTH CLIMBING SQUAD schemes at Parthian Climbing.
