How should you choose best equipment and harness for kids who want to climb?
Admiring those kids “glued” to the crag, how many times have you thought back to when you caught the “climbing bug”?
Today’s kids have the opportunity to try climbing, thanks to the many courses offered by climbing schools, Alpine guides or associations such as:
- Club Alpino Italiano (CAI)
- Federazione Arrampicata Sportiva Italiana (FASI)
- In France Club Arc Alpin (CAA) or Fédération Française de la Montagne et de l’Escalade (FFME)
- In Spain Federación Española de Deportes Montaña y Escalada (FEDME)
- In Germany Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV)
- In Switzerland Schweizer Alpen Club (SAC)
Thanks to schools and associations, kids and young people can safely experience the pleasure that comes from ( and the effort needed for) climbing, using suitable equipment and under the instruction of qualified instructors. Many climbing gyms have new courses starting at this time of year!Sharing the passion for climbing with kids is very rewarding but safety must never been underestimated.
Using an adult’s harness, not designed for a child’s body, is very dangerous. Have you ever asked yourselves if climbing equipment specifically for kids and young people exists? It certainly does! Climbing Technology’s priority is safety; this is a basic condition to be able to put everything into and enjoy a sport.
Climbing Technology, for more than 30 years aware of the specific needs of kids, does not only produce equipment for kids but aims to involve them in projects tailor-made for them.
The most recent such project will take place during the exclusive The North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival which will be held 9-12 October on the Greek island of Kalymnos. We’re referring to the “starting climbing project”: to promote sport climbing among young people with a minicourse for kids from one of the island’s secondary schools. In addition to specialised teaching and belaying staff, we will make available our best Quickdraws, Click Up Belay , and special harness such as the Jungle.
What’s special about the Jungle harness for kids?
Jungle is a full-body harness(registered design), completely adjustable, for children 95 -140 cm tall and weighing less than 40 kg. Its ergonomic structure offers robust support and the padding combines safety, a high level of comfort and freedom of movement. Jungle is the only harness on the market with these characteristics.Comfortable and safe, Jungle has been designed for belaying, climbing and abseil descents in the mountains, sport climbing, indoor climbing and vie ferrate, adventure parks etc.
If you put it on wrongly, you realise straight away! The innovative Magnetic Twist strap with the anti-release function lets you put on the harness simply and quickly. The magnetic inserts keep the straps stable during use. The arrow marked on the strap shows the correct sense when inserting. If you get this wrong, the “danger” symbol warns you of the mistaken insertion.
Jungle is the only harness of its type which has a single orange tie-in loop, easy to identify, which reduces the risk of tying-in wrongly.
The harness must only be connected to the “system” with the tie-in loop. To join the rope to the harness, it’s preferable to use a Figure of Eight knot(Fig. 9.1) or two connectors with three-movement screw gates back-to-back (Fig. 9.2).
Don’t miss the new 2015 Climbing Technology products especially for kids!
There’ll be the VERY NEW Eclipse helmet, designed specifically for kids.The Eclipse helmet is designed for mountaineering, climbing, vie ferrate and adventure parks.
It’s a multi-purpose helmet whose close-fitting form is designed for smaller heads (kids and women).Very comfortable, the light ABS outer and internal expanded polyester shell guarantee light weight and comfort, The many openings present in the shell guarantee good ventilation. The helmet can be adjusted for all head sizes.It also has four attachment points for a head torch.
Eclipse will be available in blue, white and green with two choices of internal padding material : white and green with absorbent material or washable non-absorbent padding to guarantee better hygiene and facilitate washing, for frequent use in adventure parks and climbing schools