Climbing with my bros.

A couple of days after we took the kids climbing near Calabogie, my brother, brother-in-law and I went out for a bit of our own climbing fun.


"No climb is too challenging" was our motto.

Most of the pictures are of me climbing because, well, my brother looks too cool when he climbs.

See what I mean?





If I posted a bunch of pictures of him, all I'd get are requests from newly adoring fans asking when I'm going to post more pictures of him. So that's all you get. Three and no more, so don't even ask.

I mean it.

And here's my brother-in-law. He's over fourteen feet tall and can reach the top of the cliff without even thinking about it. Here he is pretending that climbing takes any kind of effort for him.








I mean, look at that reach!

I has been years since I've done any climbing. My very unstylish helmet is a testament to that. It's hard to look cool when one is wearing a giant blue mushroom on one's head. Nevertheless, my lack of coolness didn't prevent me from having some great climbs. It was like riding a bike! But up a cliff!

 When you've done it once you never really forget how to do it.





What style! What grace! What is that? A frog?





This was a spot that I had to attempt several times.  Oh, it looks easy in the pictures, but I assure you that it was not.  It was a tricky little overhang...



... but I got it!

My success inspired me to try another one.





I got that one, too!



Before long, the sun came around and started baking the cliffs.  It got too hot to climb so we packed it in.  It was great to get out and spend some quality time with my brother and brother-in-law.  Later that afternoon I would some quality time with my dad doing what we like to do best - exploring.  Details to follow!

Climbing with Kids

I have a severe blogging backlog that I will try to address over the coming week. Get ready for a bounty of binge blogging!

First up is a continuation of our trip to Ontario. My family (parents, brother and sister and respective partners and their kids) all went rock climbing at Calabogie.

First up was a short hike, followed by some preparation (getting the ropes ready for climbing, etc.).  The kids were, naturally, excited.









It was Jade's and Halia's first time climbing in a harness. They're natural climbers (as most kids are) but once the harness and rope was on they temporarily forgot how to climb - but not for long!

First up was Halia, belayed by my brother, Tim...






Then Fawn took a turn.  She went up the wall like a bolt of lightning!







Even my Mum tried it, much to our delight.


I belayed Jade for her turn.




She didn't make it to the top, but it was fun while it lasted!  It didn't take her long to get comfortable with the idea of being in a harness.



There are lots of great climbs around Whitehorse.  It makes me want to get a new rope and a couple of kids harnesses and do some family climbing.  I'm putting that on the agenda for next summer!

Earning the bell...

"I want a bell for my bike!" Jade announced.

"After you learn how to ride without training wheels," I replied.

I knew it wouldn't be a simple task.  When I said it, Jade still had some lingering balance issues.  At the time, we weren't 100% certain if the balance issues were because of epilepsy-related complications or chronic inner-ear infections.  Still, her balance was improving and she seemed eager to learn how to ride.

Most of the time, anyway.

We started with training wheels.  I raised the wheels higher and higher and encouraged her to lean from side to side and then try to ride in the middle so the training wheels wouldn't touch the ground.  Most of the time she listed to port like a holed schooner.

"Can I have my bell now?" she would ask.  A big, squeaking frog, it sat there, tantalizingly, on the kitchen table.

"When you ride your bike without training wheels," I reminded her.

Then Fawn bought a Gyrobike Gyrowheel.  The wheel was four times the cost of her bike and when I heard about it, I winced.  The Gyrowheel is a heavily-weighted gyroscope that helps the bike stay upright at low speeds.  The company claimed it would make learning to ride much easier and with fewer falls.  Money down the drain, I figured.  An expensive gimmick, I thought.

 Almost right away, though, Jade started developing good riding technique, understanding how to lean and turn properly.  It all seemed very intuitive to her with the Gyrowheel.  Very quickly, she unlearned all of the bad habits that she had developed with the training wheels.  After a couple of short rides on the Gyrowheel's highest setting, I let go and she was riding on her own.

She stopped almost immediately.  I'd get her going, let go, and she'd stop again.  She kept stopping, only ever riding ten feet at a time.

"Why do you keep stopping?" I asked.

"I want to you hold onto my seat."

I pretended to hold onto her seat, but didn't.  She couldn't tell.  After we had ridden all the way down the street I told her that I wasn't holding on, she was surprised and very impressed with herself.

"Papa, I rode my bike without training wheels.  Can I have my bell now?"

"You're riding without training wheels, but the special wheel is still helping you.  After we don't need the special wheel anymore you can have your bell.  OK?"

"Ok."

In very little time, with the wheel on the highest setting, she went from being a Nervous Nelly who didn't want me to let go of the back of her seat to a giggling maniac, high on the power of riding on her own.  She started making tight turns.  She knew how to stop, but she would aim at the curb or ride for the ditch at full speed - just because she could.  My heart would race and I would pull muscles with sudden lurches forward to save her, but it was all pure hilarity to her!  I began to realize that somewhere inside my quiet, little child lurks a daredevil.  A real, honest-to-goodness daredevil.

After each round of riding, I lowered the power of the gyroscope.  If she ever noticed, she never said so. She just kept riding.

She only fell once, during one of her maniacal daredevil gigglefests.  A few tears were shed, a little sand was wiped off a knee and a hand, and she was on her way again within a minute.

This morning, I turned the Gyrowheel off altogether.  She was riding on her own!

And she got her long-awaited "bell"; that big, squeaking frog that sat tantalizingly on our kitchen table.  Together, we put it on her bike and then she rode off, squeaking her horn as she made her way down the street.

I think we're both pretty proud.