Alpine Adventures with Children with Helen Teasdale
In the latest installment in our Thursday evening online Alpine Stories we were joined by Helen Teasdale. Helen is a Senior Instructor at Plas Y Brenin in North Wales, and holds the Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and the International Mountain Leader qualifications.
Helen and her husband Andy (a British Mountain Guide) take their son Ollie (plus teddy) on Alpine Adventures each year and have done since he was small. Ollie enjoys mountaineering, ice climbing, ski touring and also mountain biking.
Family summit
From their Swiss holiday home they have carefully introduced Ollie to all kind of journeys and activities, and ensured that they still enjoy their family time together.
Helen shares her experiences of how to plan and structure alpine adventures to ensure they are appropriate and motivating to young legs and minds, plus her top areas to spend time in as a family.
“One of the nice things about doing alpine stuff with kids is being able to take time to look around more”
Walking to the Dix Hut, Arolla
Helen describes the technical aspects of keeping Ollie safe and the ropework systems they use when climbing, scrambling and abseiling. Helen and Andy give careful consideration to the length of route, the aspect and exposure plus the rock quality. This has also become important when introducing Ollie to ski touring and Helen tells us their safety strategies.
Ollie and Teddy scaling the ladders on the approach to the Dix Hut
The areas that Helen covers in this talk include around Evolene and Arolla in Switzerland, the Gran Paradiso area of Italy, the Winwannihorn in Switzerland and Pointe Percee in the Aravis, France.
“Helen’s Top Tips:
Make it fun!
Choosing sensible routes - places with minimal objective danger
Be realistic about how long it will take
Eat lots of chocolate and cake!
Take lots of furry friends”
Watch the full talk plus hear Helen answer questions around fitting qualifications around having a family, taking children to altitude and what ages to introduce lead climbing to children.