Summer holidays are about to start and a trip to the mountains together is the great way to spend time with the family. For a successful experience for children and adults, the GERMAN ALPINE CLUB (DAV) offers tips on what families should consider.
Children love to explore and discover. They climb, jump, dig and want to get to know the world on their own. To satisfy their urge to move, nature is the best place. "Children must be able to move freely, be allowed to work out, be courageous and self-effective. A joint trip to the mountains is a wonderful idea for this," says Catherine Wirth, in charge of family mountaineering at the DAV.
"In the mountains, children can try things out, be active, play and experience adventures." For children, climbing a summit doesn't necessarily matter. Instead, the journey is the goal with small adventures and mysteries hidden on the way. Wirth added, "Anyone who gets involved in the children's world of adventure and lets themselves be carried away by the children's imagination and thirst for adventure will discover the mountains in a completely new way."
"It all starts with tour planning," advises Wirth. "If you want to go to the mountains with children, you should pay particular attention to the age of the children when choosing the right tour." For pre-schoolers, the walking time should not exceed four hours. The chosen route should be varied at best and also offer opportunities to play and relax. You should avoid tours where long passages are exposed or there is a risk of falling.
Children from the age of six are already a little more resilient, so tours with up to five hours of walking time are possible. Steeper paths, where you even have to scramble a bit, are also possible as long as parents are ready to support them. "In general, how difficult the tour can be depends on how experienced the children are already in mountain tours. Then multi-day tours are also conceivable for children aged ten to 14," she said.
"Nevertheless, the walking time should not be more than six to seven hours during the day." The times in guide books and on signposts are based on the normal walking time of an adult. If there are children, you can count on a rule of thumb: walking time for adults x 1.5 = walking time with children."
It is best to involve children in the selection, planning and, if possible, also on the trail. "A good tour structure helps to better manage one's own strength and that of the children," advises Wirth. "If you tell you a thing or two about planned rest areas or attractive sections of the trail in advance, you also increase the anticipation."
It is best to plan flexibly and enable extensions and shortenings at any time and spontaneously - depending on motivation, weather and condition. On the tour itself, sufficient breaks, as well as time to play and relax, should be planned. Discovery and observation games help against energy slumps: counting ants or looking for beetles. Inspiration for break games can be found HERE.
Safety on the mountain
Safety and equipment play an important role on a family trip to the mountains. Through good planning and the right choice of tours, many pitfalls can be avoided. "However, you should always take into account that children often have no eye for dangerous situations," explains Wirth. "You should keep an eye on children at all times and only let them lead the way in safe and manageable terrain."
During the ascent, adults should stay directly behind the child to catch possible slips or to provide assistance with large steps. If there is a risk of slipping or falling on the descent, hands should be held. Especially with smaller children, situations and actions that they are afraid of should be avoided. "Terrain at risk of rockfall should be avoided at all costs and extreme weather conditions such as thunderstorms must also be avoided," advises Catherine Wirth.
Healthy days up the mountain and back down again also mean keeping an eye on supplies. Is enough fluid packed? Are spare underwear, rain jackets and warm clothing for the children in the adults' rucksacks? Plus, of course, sun protection, such as cream, hat and sunglasses, and a first aid kit.
Header image credit: DAV/Norbert Freudenthaler
Other images: DAV/Hans Herbig
No comments:
Post a Comment