Adventures in Rock Climbing with Kids

My daughters fell in love with rock climbing last week at the Tennessee Bouldering Authority’s (TBA) camp. While the girls had an amazing week of training and fun, the adventures of their last day of camp is what will always stand out in my mind…

The Tennessee Bouldering Authority gym is a large music-filled room lined with climbing walls and mats – it is just plain “cool,” whether you are 6 or (nearly) 40. After visiting TBA a few times recently, my girls were hooked – and I was hooked on the sport’s strength-building aspects, as well as the fun outdoor recreation that it might offer them in the future. So I signed them up for camp.

Rock climbing camp provided the girls with a fun week of exercise, games and training. On Friday, the group was scheduled to go to Stone Fort (aka Little Rock City), which is located a short distance from Chattanooga and considered one of the most popular rock climbing areas in the Southeast. There they would try bouldering, a type of rock climbing (usually less than 10 feet high) that doesn’t require ropes and uses thick crash mats, which they had been practicing for all week.

As we left TBA to head toward Stone Fort, TBA owner Luis Rodriguez told the group that our first stop would be on the side of Mowbray Mountain to give the kids the opportunity to try rope climbing. We arrived in a beautiful area and took a short but steep trail up to the climbing rock. My mom met us there and was excited to watch her granddaughters rock climb.

Luis guided each child safely up the 35-foot bluff. I was impressed with his focus on safety and the way he encouraged the kids. They were all eager to climb and not one was afraid.

About halfway through my youngest daughter’s ascent up the bluff, my mom – who had been sitting on a rock watching the kids and chatting with some other parents – began to feel like she was going to faint. She had not been sick, so initially I thought she was just dizzy and it would pass. However, her condition worsened and we had to call 9-1-1 to get help.

Hamilton County Emergency Services arrived quickly, and rope rescue volunteers from the Mowbray Mountain and Soddy Daisy fire departments were called in to help get my mom off the trail we were on. Volunteer rope rescue teams are specially trained to safely rescue anyone in a precarious situation outdoors. Oftentimes, the teams provide mutual aid with one another and share rescue equipment, such as the rescue “basket” that was used to safely carry my mother – who could not talk, sit or walk – down the steep trail.

Fortunately, my mom recovered quickly at the hospital. The doctor said the heat, combined with a slight infection, had caused “the perfect storm.”

I am left with a deep sense of gratitude for the people who surrounded us during that harrowing experience.

One of my favorite quotes has always been, “When someone is in trouble, don’t bother them by asking what you can do, just find something that needs to be done and do it.”  That is exactly what the kind folks surrounding us in the woods did. One of the moms on the trip, Cappi, helped care for my mother as kindly as if she were her daughter. Cappi’s husband encouraged me to call EMS and ran down to meet them on the road at the bottom of the hill. Luis and Ledie, the TBA instructors, did all they could to help my mom while also keeping 10 kids engaged with climbing and calm. And, of course, the firefighters and EMS team were truly heroes in safely rescuing my mom from that dangerous situation.

The story I can’t stop telling is how one of the boys in the group used his Boston Red Sox ballcap to fan my mom to help keep her cool while we waited for EMS to arrive - without ever being asked to do so. I learned that his dad, who wasn’t on the trip, is a firefighter in Connecticut. This boy’s kindness and initiative said so much about him and the type of adult he will become.

You never know what might happen when you are outdoors – even in the safest of situations. The people who are with you, or who come to help you, can make all the difference in the outcome of any emergency.

In this case, our emergency had nothing to do with rope climbing … my mom just got really sick while on difficult terrain. However, our group worked together to take care of the situation calmly and effectively. And we are so fortunate to have men and women in the area who are willing to serve as members of volunteer fire departments and are competent and well-trained in rope rescue efforts.

This situation has encouraged me to talk with my children about helping out in emergencies. The young boy with the red ball cap is now our role model. I have shared his small act of kindness every time I have told this story – it is one of the most important parts. He showed us that we can all do our part to help someone in need. Even children can make a difference if they have been taught empathy and aren’t afraid to step forward when someone needs help.

I am grateful…