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My daughter Stella is currently 11 years old and has never been one to hide or hold back her emotions. She is sensitive, loving, caring, adventurous, and thinks outside the box. These are characteristics we love, but they have brought many challenges for Stella. She...

Making new friends is a skill we often emphasize with our children. But making friends as an adult? Not discussed nearly as much. When I moved to Ohio three years ago, I left my wonderfully supportive climbing community in Pennsylvania, and found myself at a brand new...

Rock Climbing While Pregnant and Post-Babies A lot of folks assume that rock climbing and pregnancy go together as well as ants and a picnic. With two pregnancies under my belt, and having climbed throughout both, I can honestly say that climbing can be a healthy and...

“By himself?” –Someone I just met. “Yeah.” –Me. Every two weeks or so, I find myself saying, “Yeah, alone” to someone I just met, and though the story that leads us to that point in the conversation has nothing to do with climbing, it really has everything to do with...

As parents, sometimes it’s easy to think we are the experts on climbing (and life in general!) compared to our kids. After all, we’ve often been climbing longer, and have the benefit of adult-world experience. But I am here to tell you that my kindergartener has...

My name is Kristen, I started climbing when my now 10-year-old daughter took her first climbing class (4 years ago). She instantly fell in love with the sport. As a parent, I wanted to support my daughter, so my husband and I took the Rope 101 class and our adventure...

Climbing 101 for Parent Newbies Perhaps it started innocently enough with a family trip to a climbing gym, or maybe your child was invited to a birthday party at a local rock wall. But now your kiddo is enrolled in a climbing club…and asking if you saw them do that...

To start off, I LOVE climbing. I was lucky enough to start climbing at a young age. My parents noticed my passion and skill and signed me up for a climbing team. Passion turned to love, and I was hooked. As I got older, I kept climbing and eventually started coaching...

As a wife, mom of 4, grandmom of 1, world traveler, professional belay slave, part owner and general Cat Herder at Vertical Adventures, I’ve spent a lot of time around climbers, the climbing community and industry. Our investment in the business, coupled with my...