KSL Article on Canyoneering with Kids

It was as bad as you can imagine.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=43473944&nid=1288&title=8-tips-for-canyoneering-with-kids

A few excerpts:

Just like you wouldn’t take your 5-year-old on a 20-mile hike right out of the gate, you wouldn’t take her on a class 4-V canyoneering trip, either.

This is why it is important to start out simple by studying the area and finding canyons that fit the age and ability of the child or children you are taking. To make things easier on you, CanyoneeringUSA.com has come up with a rating system that will help you in your search for the perfect beginning canyon.

Thanks for inventing that rating system Tom. I'm totally intimidated by 4V canyons though. I thought 4B was bad, 4V must be crazy.

Perhaps you have a couple of harnesses and helmets or were able to borrow some from a friend. That’s great— if you only have a couple of people going. However, if you have several children you are taking with you, it might be worth the investment or time to purchase or borrow enough gear for everyone.

Utah County father of four and avid outdoorsman Forrest Megargel knows this firsthand.

“Avoid sharing equipment by getting things for everyone in the family,” he said. "You may think that you’re saving money, but the time you’ll end up spending passing harnesses, carabiners, helmets and such will add up to a tedious, time-consuming trip.

Just pass that helmet around every time the rock fall comes.

With technology, many feel that maps in paper form are unnecessary. However, this is often not the case when deep down in a canyon, too far from cellphone towers. This is where guidebooks like the ones created by Michael R. Kelsey are crucial.

Yes. Crucial. Get yourself a Kelsey book. Spend the next decade reading the tiny type and deciphering the topos. Then go do the canyon. I don't think I've ever made it all the way through a Kelsey canyon description. It's like the Blue Gnome ones. After the 17th set of GPS coordinates I kind of zone out.

If reading the above tips scared you from taking on the adventure of canyoneering with your little ones, that wasn’t the intent. Just like running around the house with Legos on the floor and sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag, there are inherent risks.

Yes, the risks of canyoneering are comparable to navigating a lego-strewn hallway. Good comparison.

Just make sure to hand the helmet to the kid standing in the trajectory it'll be fine.

Don't forget the link to Hansen Mountaineering - which is no longer in business. Their URL is still active, so the reference must have come from a quick Google search. Kudo's to their SEO provider...I guess.

Yeah, it probably won't win a Pulitzer... I didn't think it was a BAD article. In fact, it did have several references of appropriate caution, including the Editor's note at the beginning. It also featured a nice quote and picture from one of our own - on the CC. (I won't play spoiler and reveal the moniker of David Coffman, a little research will accomplish that.)

The biggest fear with any article like this - with public exposure - is in the power of suggestion. "Now kids, while your mother and I are away, whatever you do, don't climb on top of the refrigerator and open the jar of dried peas and stick them up your nose."

Kuenn, don't ask me how I know, but I can say it is better to stick a dried pea up your nose than to stick a red hot candy up your nose.

ROFL!!!

I'm going to take you for your word on that one.

“Avoid sharing equipment by getting things for everyone in the family,” he said. "You may think that you’re saving money, but the time you’ll end up spending passing harnesses, carabiners, helmets and such will add up to a tedious, time-consuming trip.

Just pass that helmet around every time the rock fall comes.

You clearly misread my quote and did you see anyone in my family without a helmet in the photos? - Forrest

I didn't read it that way...more a reinforcement of your quote. I think there's a bunch of folks out there who do share gear. Was a poke at them and not you, methinks.

But, the Canyonero can shed additional light on the commment....

Not a bad article. Pretty sensible comments at the end too. With a shout out to Tom and Shane's beta sites.

Of course it was a poke at anyone who would consider it acceptable to share a helmet.