Rappelling Age

[RingTwist]

I rappelled once when I was 10 years old. I figure that was old enough since I could follow directions without randomly doing crazy stuff. Do you think 10 years old is the minimum age to rappel? If not, with what age would you be comfortable?

 

[Grandpa]

Since I ride herd on a bunch of 10 yr old cub scouts, I would say about half of them could rapel more than twice without dying. It really depends on the kid. Problem is, I don't know one ten yr old that wouldn't want to try it, whether through peer pressure or overestimation of ones strength and skills.

 

[wvbreamfisherman]

Not too bad if you have a rack or a figure 8 descender and a man at the bottom to put tension on the line and keep things from running away.

I'd probably let a mature 10 year old do it, but have to make it a kid-by-kid judgement.

 

[oldsarge]

I've put 8-10 year old girls scouts off a rappel tower. The key here is safety, if you have a belay person at the bottom, you can put a 5 year old off a tower. The belay person can safely control the persons descent. Of course I suggest that if you are working with really small children, start with a short rappel, maybe ten feet or so, until they can get used to the technique. It's a great confidence builder.

 

[ejdixon]

I rappelled once when I was 10 years old. I figure that was old enough since I could follow directions without randomly doing crazy stuff. Do you think 10 years old is the minimum age to rappel? If not, with what age would you be comfortable?

It depends on the person's ability to follow directions. I know a few adults that tend to be quite stubborn when it comes to following directions than young kids.:tinysmile_twink_t2:

 

[TroyS]

For me, it depends on two people. First is the kid, of course. Aside from being responsible and mature, the kid would, of course, want to give it a try. My nephew is 13, and responsible. But he has got this thing about heights, and his mom is quite worried that he might easily panic once he is up there. Which brings me to the second person: the mom. Based on experience, dads seem to be more willing to let their kids to become more adventurous than most moms.

 

[Marshmallow]

I've seen my grandchildren make decisions that just aren't smart. They think they are invincible, or they just quit in the middle and think screaming fixes things. It depends on the child, I think. Ten is mighty young for children with little outdoor experience.

 

[CaverGroupie]

Any age is dangerous, so...

I disagree with Marshmallow. Since rappelling is dangerous to begin with, we have to assume that when someone asks when to let a child rappel, then he means a closely supervised and well-trained child. Given that, any age that the child can follow directions is old enough.

Safety is key—make sure you have at least two grownups teaching. One to insure a safe belay, and one to coach. Start them rappeling by stepping from a chair, and then something higher.

Make sure that they understand that they will land, and that the ground is not soft!

 

[carmen]

Age and maturity, along with following instructions. If you have those three and a good mix of them you should be fine. Our youngest grand baby has just started (late from what he thinks of course) but he really never showed any interest until now and he is 12.