UKC

I'm thinking of taking the kids cragging on a beach in North Wales while on Summer hold. They are 10 and 9. The four year old is probably too young. I'd like to set up a top rope on something straight forward but steep enough for them to be able to hang on the rope/get lowered off. If they get on with it I might invest in a ousiti or similar but for the moment I'd like to improvise something. Obvious a full body would be better than a sit harness.

Does anyone know of a website or book with a good description of an improvised full body harness, particularly for kids? Also does anyone know of any good spots in North West Wales? Preferably on a beach, short 5m ish, quiet (not hogging popular climbs) etc?

Cheers

In reply to Pbob:

The nearest you'll get is holyhead mountain. Don't worry about hogging a route - nobody else does!

You can use a sling to create a parisienne baudrier. depending on their size, you might get away without it. a good test is to put them in a harness and pick them up and try to invert them.

In reply to Pbob:

Either using a sling like highclimber said or just trying a knot in the middle of a sling and putting their arms through it then clipping it into their gear loop.

I think a ouistiti is a bit overkill given their age, depending on their size they'll probably be ok with a sit in harness soon. You can get chest harnesses to go with the sit harness they have already for about £15-30 and they work well.

In reply to Pbob:

It's not quite clear (or perhaps it is and I'm still caffeine deprived) whether you have a sit harness you wish to supplement or whether you want to improvise the whole harness.

You could look at a bowline on a bight (bowline rescue chair?), it makes a reasonable improvised harness with leg loops and a waist or chest loop which is worth knowing but it's really not ideal for your kids first taste of climbing. Borrow or buy a proper harness.

If it's to supplement a sit harness then as already mentioned, the Parisienne baudrier is what you're after.

jk

In reply to Pbob:
If you want short (

In reply to Ron Rees Davies:

If you want short (<5m), easy climbs actually ON a beach you should probably be looking at bouldering or coasteering venues, and then hoping to find suitable top rope anchors (though that may not always be easy / possible).

Have a look at
Angel Bay (nr Llandudno),
Benllech Beach, Moelfre (Anglesey) and Royal Charter Walls (NE Anglesey),
Rocky walls around the beaches at Porth Dafarch and Lon Isallt Bay (Holyhead)
Porth Ysgo (Abersoch) and
Cae Du (S of Dolgellau)

Porth-y-Garan does have a number of easy climbing routes on a seaside crag near Rhoscolyn, though the base is rocky rather than a beach and the rock is quite spiky so expect grazed knuckles and knees.

If the parameters extend to allow crags within a few miles of a beach there are areas better suited to top roping - particularly
Barmouth Slabs and
Holyhead Mountain

and if 'beach' includes the freshwater lagoons of Llyn Padarn (Llanberis() you could also consider
No match for crag id:8936 and
Lion Rocks

In reply to Pbob:

Great. Thanks folks.