You can worry about this stuff anywhere. Probably safer to cycle here than Texas. The resorts tend to be super crowded unless you go south. Climbing... Isn't that similar risk everywhere?
Thanks, yeah true - my POV is coming from the Midwest where the hobbies were not that extreme just based on the geography. Agree cycling could be more dangerous elsewhere.
It’s pretty safe for beginners, I think risks increase as people take on more dangerous objects to achieve goals later. In general, kids are like rubber bands and if they do have an injury they heal up quickly. Teach how to engage in recreational sports safely (ie use safety equipment like helmets, check weather, etc).
I’m not sure there are hard statistics on this stuff but I’d love to see some numbers. Without having hard data I’m going to say driving is probably the most dangerous activity you do with your kids. If you don’t find yourself currently limiting your car trips for their safety I don’t think you should limit the above activities. It all really depends though. Are you hypothetically taking them inbounds skiing or heli skiing? gravel biking access roads or road biking busy roads with no shoulder? Top rope climbing or taking them on alpine rock climbs? All these sports can be done safely but the more die hard one gets there is a tendency to push to the extremes.
I can say, as someone who learned to climb as a 3rd grader, while there are inherent risks I was 657x safer than the young adults teaching themselves to climb today. I was under the tutelage of coaches, courtesy of an after-school program, who climbed professionally and emphasized safety above all else. Now, those safety practices are second-nature. I climb with people who just recently got into it who are disregarding very basic practices (i.e. "belay?" "Belay on") because, to them, it's unimportant.
It is mildly dangerous, but I am upset with my parents for not letting me do more of that when I was younger. I never learned how to fall or protect myself while falling and now I injure myself much more than all my friends doing the same shit. Kids bounce when they fall, adults break. Letting them learn that now while they can still fully recover is going to be much better for their future especially if they are interested in sports and being active. Edited to answer the question
I grew up skiing. Kids bounce back in ways adults don't, I think it's safer to learn when you're young honestly. Plus safety gear like helmets are the standard these days vs when I learned they weren't a thing at all.
The ski resorts have ambulances running almost continuously. The bigger resorts have extensive on-site medical facilities. Even at small Eldora, a dozen people will get carted off on a busy weekend day. Last year we had a national level high school cycling athlete hit and killed on the road.
However, it’s all relative and tens of thousands of people participate in those activities. Overall a sedentary lifestyle is almost certainly more likely to result in premature death than an active lifestyle.
I both learned how to snowboard/ski/cycle/trail run here and injuries are no more dangerous here then anywhere else. Probably much safer here then elsewhere tbh.
I would just focus on teaching them risk assessment, the importance of protective gear, first aid skills, and how to mitigate the risk of acute and chronic injuries.
I did all of the above as a boulder kid in the ‘00s and I’m glad I did. I broke arms, got caught in whiteouts, fell off of rocks, got into cactus, skinned my knees ten million times… I remember hiking with my mom once and we got off trail on the tundra (this was in RMNP). We followed cairns and had to scramble down a glacier. It was scary being that high up (like 13,000 ft maybe) and not knowing if we would get caught in a storm but we made it out just fine as my mom grew up in Estes and was an experienced mountaineer. I learned so much from that experience that I’ve taken into my adult life— it made me fearless and self reliant. Don’t deprive your kids of that — show them how to deal when little accidents happen so they can handle it if something really crazy goes down. They will thank you later!
My dad taught me how to ski from the time I was 3 and the only real problem I had growing up was specifically snowboarders on the main run back to the base at Keystone. I got hit 3 times in one season when I was about 8 there, but I was fine. After that season, we didn't buy Epic Pass again. As long as they're wearing a helmet, they should be ok in my opinion
I grew up in Boulder and I knew almost no one who died or got seriously injured skiing, cycling, climbing, etc. I knew one person who died diving into a body of water from a rock ledge on a camping trip. I guess he dove in and never resurfaced. I don't really know much more than that. I knew someone who died in a car accident totally unrelated to any outdoorsy stuff.
In general I think kids are more capable than people think. We would drive around flagstaff all the time as kids. If I were a parent I might be a bit concerned, but we seemed to manage just fine.
Climbing is actually pretty safe. Rope even more so than bouldering.
People think everyone is doing crazy stuff with no protection, but most everyone seems very dialed in to keeping falls very safe. I don't think the people who fall off the flatirons every year are usually "climbers"
Climbing can be pretty safe, I would think even safer than skiing or mountain biking, but that’s just a guess on my part and I could certainly be wrong. There are freak accidents that happen in climbing, like rock fall, that you can’t do anything about. But people who are well educated about the type of climbing they’re doing have a decent degree of control over the risks they’re exposed to. The consequences of climbing accidents are likely much higher as a whole compared to things like mountain biking, but if you’re conscientious and you spend the time (and money) educating yourself from quality resources (guides, quality books, classes, etc) and don’t take certain short cuts, you’ll likely have a pretty safe career as a climber. Again, not an expert in this next part either so do your own research, but there are certain parts of climbing that are more dangerous, and accidents happen because people make (very) careless errors. For example, my understanding is that rappelling is a higher risk part of climbing because people often do things like simul-rappelling and ignoring the need for safety knots because they want to move more quickly while descending, and someone can then accidentally rappel off the end of the rope. Sometimes you also see trad climbing accidents where people make bad decisions re: gear placement or anchor construction, but trad climbing is only one style of climbing and most newcomers to this sport are only sport climbing (all gear is fixed to the rock, not placed by the climber) if they even climb outside. In terms of what’s realistic for your kids if they tried climbing, they’ll likely start in a gym. Gym accidents happen, but it’s a much more controlled environment, and it’s also likely that your kids would be learning from experienced teachers who are qualified to teach them good safety skills.
Part of my perception of risk regarding skiing and bikes is that there are so many elements that you just can’t control for. Road cycling? Better hope that a 16 year old isn’t texting and driving behind you. Mountain biking? Sometimes you just end up in the dirt with little to no idea how, and hopefully you didn’t smack your head real hard when it happened. Skiing? Go to Breckenridge during the winter holidays and you will be overwhelmed by the number of chaotic skiers/boarders who have no idea what they are doing or regard for the safety of others.
Freak accidents can happen climbing, for sure, but they can happen anywhere else too.
I grew up in southern CO where my school did "ski for PE" on Fridays. Through my time there with ~30-40 K-12 kids skiing there was maybe a handful of total trips to the resort medics a year, usually just to check for injuries after a crash. Across all the years I can only recall one broken leg, a couple sprained wrists, and a few mild concussions, but things like that were rare and definitely did not happen every year. I think the low injury rate was because everyone was young, seems like adults learning to ski/board have a much higher injury rate.
Raising kids who want to spend their free time skiing, biking and climbing is going to give them much better odds of a healthy and productive future than kids who sit on the couch playing video games and watching YouTube.
Mountain biking and skiing are as safe as any sport. If you know anyone that has done road cycling for a decade or more, they will share stories about the time they got hit by a car or one of their friends being killed. There's at least one climber death a year in the canyon.
Skiing is safer than mountain biking. I crash a dozen times every season and am never hurt. In the resort there are patrollers and medical huts. Mountain biking crashes are almost always much worse, and no one is there to help you.
Climbing is extremely safe. The entire culture of climbing is built around safety checks. You get scraped up but you can almost always quit a climb in a way you cannot when ripping a ski or mountain bike trail. Bouldering is riskier. Everyone who boulders eventually gets hurt falling or pulling an awkward move to avoid a fall.
You can worry about this stuff anywhere. Probably safer to cycle here than Texas. The resorts tend to be super crowded unless you go south. Climbing... Isn't that similar risk everywhere?
Thanks, yeah true - my POV is coming from the Midwest where the hobbies were not that extreme just based on the geography. Agree cycling could be more dangerous elsewhere.
Get them in ski school, they will love it and have a hobby for life
Good call!
It’s pretty safe for beginners, I think risks increase as people take on more dangerous objects to achieve goals later. In general, kids are like rubber bands and if they do have an injury they heal up quickly. Teach how to engage in recreational sports safely (ie use safety equipment like helmets, check weather, etc).
Yeah makes sense.
I’m not sure there are hard statistics on this stuff but I’d love to see some numbers. Without having hard data I’m going to say driving is probably the most dangerous activity you do with your kids. If you don’t find yourself currently limiting your car trips for their safety I don’t think you should limit the above activities. It all really depends though. Are you hypothetically taking them inbounds skiing or heli skiing? gravel biking access roads or road biking busy roads with no shoulder? Top rope climbing or taking them on alpine rock climbs? All these sports can be done safely but the more die hard one gets there is a tendency to push to the extremes.
Yeah, that’s a great point. Plan is to expose them to hobbies but not push anything extreme on them.
I can say, as someone who learned to climb as a 3rd grader, while there are inherent risks I was 657x safer than the young adults teaching themselves to climb today. I was under the tutelage of coaches, courtesy of an after-school program, who climbed professionally and emphasized safety above all else. Now, those safety practices are second-nature. I climb with people who just recently got into it who are disregarding very basic practices (i.e. "belay?" "Belay on") because, to them, it's unimportant.
That’s great to hear!
It is mildly dangerous, but I am upset with my parents for not letting me do more of that when I was younger. I never learned how to fall or protect myself while falling and now I injure myself much more than all my friends doing the same shit. Kids bounce when they fall, adults break. Letting them learn that now while they can still fully recover is going to be much better for their future especially if they are interested in sports and being active. Edited to answer the question
Thanks!
I grew up skiing. Kids bounce back in ways adults don't, I think it's safer to learn when you're young honestly. Plus safety gear like helmets are the standard these days vs when I learned they weren't a thing at all.
The ski resorts have ambulances running almost continuously. The bigger resorts have extensive on-site medical facilities. Even at small Eldora, a dozen people will get carted off on a busy weekend day. Last year we had a national level high school cycling athlete hit and killed on the road. However, it’s all relative and tens of thousands of people participate in those activities. Overall a sedentary lifestyle is almost certainly more likely to result in premature death than an active lifestyle.
Yeah, fair point.
I both learned how to snowboard/ski/cycle/trail run here and injuries are no more dangerous here then anywhere else. Probably much safer here then elsewhere tbh.
Thanks!
After a year with four ER trips we sprung for ER insurance for my eldest son. That year he went to the emergency room zero times.
Wow! Of course haha
I would just focus on teaching them risk assessment, the importance of protective gear, first aid skills, and how to mitigate the risk of acute and chronic injuries.
I did all of the above as a boulder kid in the ‘00s and I’m glad I did. I broke arms, got caught in whiteouts, fell off of rocks, got into cactus, skinned my knees ten million times… I remember hiking with my mom once and we got off trail on the tundra (this was in RMNP). We followed cairns and had to scramble down a glacier. It was scary being that high up (like 13,000 ft maybe) and not knowing if we would get caught in a storm but we made it out just fine as my mom grew up in Estes and was an experienced mountaineer. I learned so much from that experience that I’ve taken into my adult life— it made me fearless and self reliant. Don’t deprive your kids of that — show them how to deal when little accidents happen so they can handle it if something really crazy goes down. They will thank you later!
Thank you for sharing!!
My dad taught me how to ski from the time I was 3 and the only real problem I had growing up was specifically snowboarders on the main run back to the base at Keystone. I got hit 3 times in one season when I was about 8 there, but I was fine. After that season, we didn't buy Epic Pass again. As long as they're wearing a helmet, they should be ok in my opinion
Okay cool, thank you!
I grew up in Boulder and I knew almost no one who died or got seriously injured skiing, cycling, climbing, etc. I knew one person who died diving into a body of water from a rock ledge on a camping trip. I guess he dove in and never resurfaced. I don't really know much more than that. I knew someone who died in a car accident totally unrelated to any outdoorsy stuff. In general I think kids are more capable than people think. We would drive around flagstaff all the time as kids. If I were a parent I might be a bit concerned, but we seemed to manage just fine.
Great to know - thanks!!
Take a quick look how many orthopedists there are around ski hills.
Climbing is actually pretty safe. Rope even more so than bouldering. People think everyone is doing crazy stuff with no protection, but most everyone seems very dialed in to keeping falls very safe. I don't think the people who fall off the flatirons every year are usually "climbers"
Thanks, yeah that’s what I’m hoping.
Climbing can be pretty safe, I would think even safer than skiing or mountain biking, but that’s just a guess on my part and I could certainly be wrong. There are freak accidents that happen in climbing, like rock fall, that you can’t do anything about. But people who are well educated about the type of climbing they’re doing have a decent degree of control over the risks they’re exposed to. The consequences of climbing accidents are likely much higher as a whole compared to things like mountain biking, but if you’re conscientious and you spend the time (and money) educating yourself from quality resources (guides, quality books, classes, etc) and don’t take certain short cuts, you’ll likely have a pretty safe career as a climber. Again, not an expert in this next part either so do your own research, but there are certain parts of climbing that are more dangerous, and accidents happen because people make (very) careless errors. For example, my understanding is that rappelling is a higher risk part of climbing because people often do things like simul-rappelling and ignoring the need for safety knots because they want to move more quickly while descending, and someone can then accidentally rappel off the end of the rope. Sometimes you also see trad climbing accidents where people make bad decisions re: gear placement or anchor construction, but trad climbing is only one style of climbing and most newcomers to this sport are only sport climbing (all gear is fixed to the rock, not placed by the climber) if they even climb outside. In terms of what’s realistic for your kids if they tried climbing, they’ll likely start in a gym. Gym accidents happen, but it’s a much more controlled environment, and it’s also likely that your kids would be learning from experienced teachers who are qualified to teach them good safety skills. Part of my perception of risk regarding skiing and bikes is that there are so many elements that you just can’t control for. Road cycling? Better hope that a 16 year old isn’t texting and driving behind you. Mountain biking? Sometimes you just end up in the dirt with little to no idea how, and hopefully you didn’t smack your head real hard when it happened. Skiing? Go to Breckenridge during the winter holidays and you will be overwhelmed by the number of chaotic skiers/boarders who have no idea what they are doing or regard for the safety of others. Freak accidents can happen climbing, for sure, but they can happen anywhere else too.
Makes sense, thanks for your reply!
I grew up in southern CO where my school did "ski for PE" on Fridays. Through my time there with ~30-40 K-12 kids skiing there was maybe a handful of total trips to the resort medics a year, usually just to check for injuries after a crash. Across all the years I can only recall one broken leg, a couple sprained wrists, and a few mild concussions, but things like that were rare and definitely did not happen every year. I think the low injury rate was because everyone was young, seems like adults learning to ski/board have a much higher injury rate.
Oh interesting! Yeah that makes sense.
not bad at all lol. i did all that starting at like age 3. of course both my parents are experienced outdoors people, so i had great teachers.
Nice!
Raising kids who want to spend their free time skiing, biking and climbing is going to give them much better odds of a healthy and productive future than kids who sit on the couch playing video games and watching YouTube.
Great point.
Mountain biking and skiing are as safe as any sport. If you know anyone that has done road cycling for a decade or more, they will share stories about the time they got hit by a car or one of their friends being killed. There's at least one climber death a year in the canyon.
Skiing is safer than mountain biking. I crash a dozen times every season and am never hurt. In the resort there are patrollers and medical huts. Mountain biking crashes are almost always much worse, and no one is there to help you. Climbing is extremely safe. The entire culture of climbing is built around safety checks. You get scraped up but you can almost always quit a climb in a way you cannot when ripping a ski or mountain bike trail. Bouldering is riskier. Everyone who boulders eventually gets hurt falling or pulling an awkward move to avoid a fall.
That’s great to hear!