MACCIZA MACPHERSON, BEARDED TRAD GRANDDAD, AND HIS NOW-ADULT DAUGHTERS RAIEN, SHANA + TARYN

A “Climbing with Kids” story in just 400 words? Haha, that’s right, you VL editors don’t have kids. Kids are worth a thousand words…or something like that.

“Oh, daddy! You got me rocks! I love them,” my then 5-year-old daughter Raien proudly squealed.

Not quite, the climbing holds were actually for me. Well, to make a small wall the kids could climb on too, but it was near her birthday or Christmas, or something. Aaah, a heartmeltingly proud dad moment…

“It’s okay for you,” Taryn, then 8, commented to Zac. “You’re not the one about to go over the edge of the cliff...and die!” Or maybe it was some other equally melodramatic child-type comment from my youngest daughter that I recall hearing.

Zac had been helping with the logistics of getting my three daughters, Raien,12, Shana, 11, and Taryn, out for their first major abseil. They already had the basics down, this was just bigger. And, after overseeing her two elder sisters' descent, it was now Taryn’s turn.

As we dropped over the edge her tenseness dropped away. “Wow, are those people down there? They look like ants—they’re tiny! Oh, and there’s sissies [Three Sisters]…They look so small.”

We were of course abseiling down my favourite cliff, the mighty 100m Dogface, to spend the night at my camp. I’m sure they still remember the experience. I certainly do.

Then there were the times when we would go outdoors climbing, even without a car, catching the train to Blackheath and walking down the bush track to Shipley.

“Look at the cute snake!” Shana once said as she stepped over a small whip snake on the track down.

Rocking up at the crag with three pre-teen girls in tow would often lead to offers of belay assistance, from people asking if I wanted to climb.

“Nah, all good, just gonna set up some topropes for my kids. My eldest can belay me, it’s not like I’m going to fall, cheers,” I’d say, often getting some interesting responses.

Perhaps the best comments were when people remarked on how good my daughters’ footwork was. Of course it was. They had been climbing from toddlerhood and learnt to climb as they learnt to walk, after all.

So yeah, climbing with kids is great, you should try it sometime. Borrow some if you don’t have any of your own lying about… If you like it, with a bit of practice, you could get some of your own.

But beware, girls will be girls, and quicker then you can say “Ewbank Rocks” they may combine their love of climbing and dance, and take up “Cheerleading”, like mine did. It’s a far more dangerous sport than climbing, and for my daughters it led to many injuries.

Though should a climbing accident befall you, one positive of having climbing kids is that they will understand and visit you every day in hospital. Mine did.