Mountain Safety with Children

500m of vertical ascent spread above us, the last mile to the summit. We had covered about 5 miles uphill. Not a great deal for an adult, but a marathon for a four year old.
"I think little legs can do this." I looked down at her big blue eyes peering out from the hood of her over sized waterproof,glistening with raindrops on her eyelashes. Then I knew Rosemary would make it all the way to the top, and was enjoying the challenge.

Climbing with young children takes a little extra planning and preparation as well as consideration for the routes selected. Below is a list of things we did and items we had that made our journey up Snowdon with Rosemary(4) and Jasmine(1) a very pleasant experience for all.

Being Prepared:
1. Selecting the right route: Little children like variety. It is helpful to have stretches of the route where the path is wide enough to hold hands and tell stories, or point out things enroute without stopping. Having varied and interesting scenery helps young children become absorbed in the experience, rather than focusing on distance. It helps to have different types of walking/ climbing, from gentle slopes, and flat areas to slightly more challenging scrambly bits. Snowdon has a Victorian railway, and you can hear the train chugging up in the mist from the opposite valley as you approach the summit ridge. The thought of going down by train would inspire most little children to keep chugging upwards!
2. Read up on local information. Children have enquiring minds are are often interested in details we may overlook. Being able to tell children about a special type of plant that only grows in a particular region, or show them tracks and droppings from the local wildlife (even if it is just sheep!) keeps their minds entertained. Our friend Steve is Rosemary's Godfather. He photographed quartzite bands of rock, and even sheep poo that Rosemary wanted as a record of her journey up Snowdon.
3. Good navigation skills are key to remaining on the right path, and ensuring everyone has a good time, and feels secure in the experience. Getting out a map and compass, and then pointing out the geographical features is fun and also instills an understanding of good mountain practice.
4.Prepare your load! On our journey we took two child carriers and two rucksacks containing food, spare clothing, and emergency equipment. We also had enough adults to carry everything, including both children should it be necessary. We never imagined Rosemary would walk all the way, and were pleasantly surprised when she did. There was no pressure on her to do it, and no pressure on us.
5. Cold, wet weather can be more fun! We took an person survival shelter which provided a great shelter from the elements for a lunch stop and nappy check. Rosemary and Jasmine loved being inside the 'tent' on the mountain, and we had a super mix and match lunch, whilst others trudged wearily on in the rain. Bringing long burning carbohydrates, flasks of warm drinks like ribena, and motivation food like chocolate make the whole thing more of an adventure for children.
6. Take regular breaks, and more when the going is steep. We were again surprised that Rosemary made the ascent fairly speedily. However we did give it a good chance by making sure we took stops before she became too tired or hungry. We also set up motivation posts on the steep sections. Every 150m of vertical ascent, Steve would gallop ahead and pour a flask of hot ribena, and organise a snack, while Jeremy, who was carrying a rather heavy Jasmine, Louise and I climbed alongside Rosemary.
7. Keep checking. Small children and babies are at greater risk in mountain environments. They are not able to verbalise things as easily, are sometimes ignored, and tend to move much more rapidly from a state of being fine, to becoming a casualty. We kept checking Jasmine to make sure she was neither overheating in her waterproof baby carrier, or become too cold. Similarly, keeping an eye to make sure children are not become exhausted or too cold, can prevent an unpleasant situation or unnecessary evacuation off a mountain.