When Brendan was 11 years old, I was trying to figure out how to get him the competition experience that would be uniquely for children. Commercial gyms really cannot train youth climbers in the way they need to because they have to cater to the adult climbing community (the folks who pay the gym's bills).
Well, I had heard of a place in Boulder, Colorado that only allowed children to climb there. They start them as young as 3 or 5 years old. My husband and I decided to treat Brendan to a trip to Boulder to visit the ABC Kids' Climbing Gym. It was amazing. Everything in the gym was specifically designed for youth climbers. I didn't have to worry about him being underfoot of adult climbers. There were none!
It was amazing to see young children having the time of their life climbing; even blindfolded on some routes! I also arranged for him to go outside with one of the coaches and climb outside. As we were driving to Eldorado Canyon State Park, we saw this huge cliff and Brendan said to me: "Mom, I bet I'm climbing that." And sure enough, he was.
My nerves, needless to say, were a mess but he did a great job. The point is, that this gym was set up and only worked with youth climbers. No wonder this gym has produced amazing climbers. Find them HERE.
There is a new gym on the West Coast that is doing the same, only the 2nd one in the country: Bend Endurance Academy in Bend, Oregon. They just got a new facility at the time of this post's writing. They are doing some amazing things in Bend. Find them HERE.
All this to say, what a great concept and why don't we have more of these types of gyms around the country? Climbing gyms can be dangerous for children so it is amazing to have a place where they can be themselves and learn to climb. Getting kids outdoors is even better!
CLIMB ON!
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