Climbing Wall/Tower

[Rythos]

I am looking ahead to next spring, and I was curious if we could invite our Pack (Tiger Cubs on up) to attend a Open House at the Camp I work at to do the climbing wall and other activities. This would not be a "Scouting" activity but simply just letting the families know about it and anyone who comes, comes. No uniforms or offical presence.

 

This would appear to indicate not:

 

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/ageguides.pdf

 

I guess if thats the case I'm not sure why the BSA would not allow something that happens every summer our camp. Kindergarden aged and up campers climb the wall in harnesses and being belayed by trained staff. This is perfectly acceptable under our insurance guidelines at our inspected towers, and climbing walls.

 

Looking for your opinions and thanks in advance,

 

Rythos

[Beavah]

Yah, I'm confused, Rythos. If this is not a Scouting activity but rather an open house at the camp you work for, then it doesn't much matter what any of the BSA materials say, eh? It's up to your employer and the parents in your pack to make their own decisions.

 

If you're doin' this as a Cub Pack activity, then your camp is "A commercial wall", eh? It's a facility that is typically hired out for pay with trained, paid staff. That kind of climbin' is age-appropriate for all levels of cub scouts, includin' Tigers. All yeh should have is an adult leader trained in Climb on Safely, and check to make sure the camp has gear that will actually fit the little guys properly.

 

Either way it should be a "go". Have fun!

 

Beavah

 

[belayer_StLouis]

I teach climbing at Nat. Camping School and you guys are reading the rules correctly. Climb on Safely was designed for units going out and using other climbing programs and facilities just to make sure the leader is a good "buyer of climbing activities". This gives the leader a head's up so they know what to look for. Units are told "yeah, I learned how to rappel and climbing at college, in the service or whatever". When a leader has the Climb on Safely training they should know what to look for and what questions to ask. Some of us are trying to get Climb on Safely training put on line since it is not a course that teaches climbing skills, just skills to be a better consumer of climbing programs for their kids.

[Docrwm]

"Some of us are trying to get Climb on Safely training put on line since it is not a course that teaches climbing skills, just skills to be a better consumer of climbing programs for their kids."

 

THANKS! Any training, appropriate for the venue, that can be put online should be IMHO. I really appreciated the new addition of the Weather training online and if the Climb on Safety Training is designed to make us better consumers then it ought to be appropriate for online training. Frankly, there are LOTS of courses that have academic/book components that could have that part online as a prerequisite for subsequently attending the hands on portion in the field.

[belayer_StLouis]

Docrwm, thanks for mentioning the weather training. I sort of stumbled over it one day. Pretty good and really will have more impact on units than a Climb on Safely program would have. Because of my involvment with the climbing program here in St. Louis we developed Storm/Lightning procedures sheets for each program site a year or so ago and shared them with the national camping guys. We didn't do anything original, just used NOAA's stuff but identified where to take shelter in case of lightning. The only thing national puts out that is not in line with NOAA is how far to spread out in case you are caught outdoors in case of lightning. NOAA says spread out 15 ft, BSA says spread out 100 feet - a little tough depending on terrain and number of kids. If you are out with 30 kids on a ropes course or climbing that means you might not be able to see some of the kids or keep them under control and calm - really depends on the terrain. Let's hope the national office gets Climb on Safely on line, more important subjects are already on line.

[Bob White]

Rythos if the familes are coming to your facility as a family activity and unrelated to an organized pack or den activity then none of the BSA rules or policies apply to you or them.

 

The BSA does not have authority, nor does it try to establish authority, over family activities done outside the sphere of scouting.