Governor’s Stable With Kids

August 15, 2012 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

Governor’s Stable

The weather this weekend was as close to perfect as you get in Pennsylvania in August. Sunny, breezy, no humidity, high 70′s etc. We decided to take the kids to Governor’s Stable, a bouldering area in Central PA that is right near Elizabethtown College and Three Mile Island.

Access to Governor’s Stable

For those that haven’t been to GS before, access to this area has been obtained through the hard work of the Friends of Governor’s Stable organization. Information can be found on their website. Memberships are available (we happen to be charter members with a 3 year pass) but day passes can also be purchased online. The kiosk at the entrance is looking great and the instructions make it quite clear that payment, a waiver, and sign in is required to access the area.

The Approach at Governor’s Stable

This trip was a lot easier than earlier trips as the kids walked the entire way. The hike in is as much of an adventure as the climbing, as there are tree stumps to protect the trail (it’s a muddy/swampy area after rain). It was quite the adventure, as C & R jumped from tree stump to tree stump the entire way in. From the park parking lot to the first boulder is well under a mile, with a bridge crossing, plank walking, and the aforementioned stump jumping along the way. The first portion of the hike is along the road (less than 400 meters) and there isn’t much of a shoulder, but there isn’t much traffic either.

Poison Ivy

Warning: Watch out for poison ivy and know what it looks like, as there is a good bit of it around. They’ve done a great job of clearing it off the trail area and away from the immediate climbing boulders, but it is out there and should be avoided.

Climbing at Governor’s Stable

While we usually stop at the warm up boulders on the way in (there’s a great area for the kids to play), we’ve gotten stuck there for hours in the past as the kids love the big flat boulder that they can play on and jump off. We skipped it this trip and went straight for some of the climbs we don’t get on very often. We went to the area known as Moby’s and friends to start. The kids love climbing the slab that is the top portion of the Moby’s Dick problem an they managed to smear up that for a bit before hanging out at the top of the boulder (picture above).

While they snacked, I climbed the v3 ish Minky Mantle (I started to the right) which went pretty quickly after a few warm up tries. We also messed around on Moby’s Dick, but didn’t give it a real try, as that is where the kids were climbing.

After an hour or so of lunch, climbing, and hanging out on top of the Moby’s Dick boulder, we packed up and hiked over to the Bread Loaf arete. I love this climb but can’t seem to top it out – it’s a head game for me, as the crux (for me) is quite high and I’m disinterested in turning an ankle (let it be known that the landing is flat, so I’m just being a bit whiner). The Bread Loaf Arete (v4ish) climb lost a hold in January but it is apparently not any harder (just headier. . . ).

After another kid climb on the backside of the Breadloaf Arete, we decided to call it a day. On the hike out, C ran theentire way, trying to beat her dad and brother. It was amazing. I could barely keep up (with the crash pad).

All in all, a successful day at GS with not too much climbing, but a lot of family adventure fun!

Filed Under: #Playoutdoors, Trip Report Tagged With: climbing, governor's stable, Kids Climbing

Kids Climbing At Elite Levels

July 27, 2012 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

2012 seems to mark the year of the pre-teen protégé. Cameron Horst, an 11 year old climber from PA has sent a number of 5.14a routes this year. His latest send was James Litz’s Private Halfenheimer (5.14a) at Ten Sleep in Wyoming.

Brooke Raboutou, also age 11, has ticked off some pro level climbs this year with her most recent send of Welcome to Tijuana (5.14b). This send has made her the youngest person in the world to climb 5.14a.

These two young climbers follow the path blazed by Adam Ondra when he became the youngest climber to send 5.14b at age 11 in 2004.

These amazing feats seem to be accomplished through hard work, specific training, and family vacations centered around climbing and projecting. This dedication is not to be undertaken lightly and seems a bit beyond my level of climbing commitment (both for us and our children). I do, however, want to identify a few things to emulate in hopes that just a little bit of their climbing magic rubs off on us.

1. Eric Horst is Cameron’s Dad. He’s one of the most prominent authors on climbing training, authoring a great book about how to climb 5.12 that focuses on training for climbing. So number one on my list is to actually “train” for climbing. Rather than use this as a vague “maybe it’ll happen someday”, I have identified a few reasonable goals for improving my physical training A) Laps on Top Roped Climbs at the Gym, once a week to build both strength and endurance. B) 2-3 times a week distance running to boost aerobic conditioning. C) Abs.

You’ll notice that my number one is pretty conservative. I’m not training for Worlds, just hoping to continue to climb hard and improve my abilities.

2. ”Project” Routes. Because we often climb with the kids, we usually just give a route a few tries and then switch it up, giving someone else a chance, or moving on to another route. To become better, we need to focus and project routes so as to learn the techniques, strengths, and endurance required to move to the next grade/level of climbing. We’ve known that this is a weakness in our climbing in the past, but we haven’t really worked to fix it. Our goal isn’t to chase hard climbs so much as climb the classic routes.

Ultimately, I’m outlining a few strategies that I think are reasonable for us to do. Are we going to light the world on fire climbing 5.14 next week? Not likely. Not everyone climbs with the level of commitment required by those like Cameron and Brooke. Still, we can learn from their commitment and challenge ourselves to meet our own climbing goals, whatever they might be. What is one small thing you can do to improve your climbing?

Filed Under: Kids Climbing Tagged With: brooke raboutou, cameron horst, Kids Climbing, training for climbing

Video, First Outdoor Toprope. Rumney NH, Age 4

November 15, 2011 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

Toproping at the Meadows in Rumney NH

The climbing at the Meadows area in Rumney NH worked out extremely well for us. The primary reason for our success was this beautiful “high ball” slab facing the main Meadows climbing routes.

As you can see from the video, we were able to put the kids in harnesses & belay them from above, one at a time (with the occasional rescue of/for C who wanted to climb without a rope.) It was a great time, with some fantastic memories of our first all family sport/rope climbing trip!

Filed Under: Kids Climbing Tagged With: 4 year old toproping, Kids Climbing, new hampshire climbing, rumney, slab climbing with kids