“Are we going to be late?” my 5-year-old son asks as I step into the driver’s seat. I can hear my 10-year-old daughter drumming fingertips against her knees. They both count down the days to Wednesday, when they take their weekly rock climbing class together, and they don’t want to miss a minute.
“Nope,” I say. “We’re going to be right on time.”
It Runs in the Family
In my 20s, I loved the full-body workout of climbing and the exhilaration of being dozens of feet above the ground, my hands and feet pressing into the rock as though magnetized. Not long ago, I asked my children if they’d like to try indoor climbing themselves, and from day one they were hooked.
Intrinsic Motivation
Solo sports, particularly those that aren’t inherently competitive, don’t always get the attention they deserve. There’s nothing wrong with playing on a team, and some children thrive in a competitive environment. But childhood should also present opportunities to learn about intrinsic motivation – that internal drive that pushes us to push ourselves. Climbing does just that.
Bouldering vs. Roped Climbing
There are two main styles of indoor climbing available to children: bouldering and roped climbing. Bouldering can be especially fun for tree-climbing young kids who may appreciate both the freedom and the lower heights. Bouldering Project in Eckington in D.C. is a bouldering-only gym that’s worth a try. Good news: it’s still a great workout, so your kids will sleep well.
Roped climbing allows students to move higher up the wall, their ascent and descent safely controlled by a certified belayer, so a slip off the wall means floating rather than falling. Either way, the mantra “climbing is inherently dangerous” is worth reminding your kids, so they don’t become complacent on the wall.
Courage
Whether roped or not, climbing will require bravery. It’s no wonder that Sportrock – with locations in Gaithersburg, Alexandria and Sterling – highlights courage first in their list of reasons all kids should climb. Some children may need a warming-up period, but ultimately it can provide a major boost in self-confidence when they reach the top of their first route.
Fun with Friends
Climbing offers the opportunity to be social. In my kids’ class, the students clap for each other when they reach the top of a route and offer one another tips, which allows them to consider other people’s ideas about how to solve a problem. The result feels, perhaps surprisingly, like teamwork.
Many climbing gyms make a point of offering youth classes and teams. Vertical Rock Climbing and Fitness features climbing teams at its Manassas location and bouldering teams at its Tysons location, so your child can train in their preferred style. Movement – with locations including Rockville and Crystal City – offers age-specific after-school programs, as well as kids’ climb time, all supervised by expert climbing instructors.
Grip Strength
After a few months of climbing lessons, my 5-year-old son went from scribbling in coloring books to drawing inside the lines, and his letter formation seemed to improve dramatically. In trying to figure out what had changed, I conjured up a mental picture of him: hands firmly gripping the molded plastic holds as he moved up the wall. I knew climbing would be good for gross motor skills, but I underestimated the fine motor skills it would also foster.
A Level Playing Field
Professional climber Sasha DiGiulian put it best when she wrote in The New York Times, “One of the beautiful aspects of climbing is that mountains don’t have genders, and neither do the grades applied to them to measure their difficulty.” With mixed-gender kids five years apart, it’s a big deal for me to find a class they can do together. My children tackle the wall differently, but they’re both able to meet the moment to the best of their ability, without questioning whether they have the right to be there. Perhaps equally importantly, climbing is not a sport they will age out of, proof of which is the 99-year-old woman who became a social media darling when she tried indoor climbing for the first time and found it “marvelous.”
Shared Language
One last benefit of climbing, at least in our house, is that it’s become a shared sibling language. My kids chatter about the routes they’ll take the next time they’re at the gym and sit together wide-eyed as they watch professional climbers scale impressive rock faces on the Nat Geo channel.
Price
One drawback to indoor climbing can be cost, but there are workarounds. Members of the Anthony Bowen YMCA in D.C. climb free during open climb hours, with shoes and harness included. Many kids’ classes also include shoe rental, but if your gym does charge, consider buying shoes for your kids rather than paying a rental fee each time. And if you’ve got generous family members, you might ask them to support your children’s interest as a birthday or holiday gift, which experts say can strengthen relationships.
“A Puzzle You Do With Your Body”
Back at the rock gym – right on time – I watch my children pull on their own harnesses and shoes as the teachers supervise their gear check. The kids make their way to the wall, chatting lightly with their friends, but with their eyes always looking upwards. My daughter once described rock climbing as “a puzzle you do with your body,” and it’s an apt description. It’s both physical and mental, and it’s a pretty great way to spend their Wednesdays.
Liz Bolton holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology, and she has been published widely in the parenting space.
Liam McCrickard holds a B.A. in creative and professional writing from Goucher College. He is former assistant editor at Washington Parent. He works as a freelance designer, writer and editor of tabletop role-playing games.
Liz Bolton holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology, and she has been published widely in the parenting space.
